Remember those halcyon days when we would scroll Twitter for a good time? Once a home of memes, jokes, and gossip, Twitter used to be fun. Remember fun? Remember laughter? Now, we refresh our news feeds with dread, waiting to see what new horrible headline awaits us in the timeline. That’s not to say that Twitter was a picnic before 2016, but the Trump era has ushered in a seemingly relentless demoralizing news cycle.

So now, when a goofy joke or meme starts trending, it feels strangely quaint. Jokes just hit differently amid a global pandemic and economic collapse. They’ve shifted from something we enjoy to something we need on a primal level. We’ve reached a point now where laughter achieves almost the same catharsis as tears.

Which is all to say that we’ve been entertained and delighted by the “I have a joke…” jokes currently taking over Twitter. The setup is simple: you start with “I have a joke about BLANK but INSERT A TRUTH ABOUT BLANK.” Like all good Twitter joke forms, it is endlessly applicable and adaptable for everyone.

Here are some of our favorite takes on the joke:

I have a joke about unemployment, but I’m not sure it works. https://t.co/o2MZnXY6hi

— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) July 25, 2020

I have a joke about procrastination that I’ve been meaning to tell for some time now.

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 25, 2020

I have a joke about what it's like being a woman on the internet but I need a man to explain it to me.

— Amanda (@Pandamoanimum) July 25, 2020

I have a universal health coverage joke but in the U.S. no one gets it.

— Josh Michaud (@joshmich) July 25, 2020

I have a literary studies joke. It contextualizes political discourse within the histories of the late capitalist imaginary and there’s a bit about Foucault that I will address later in the joke, which problematizes “humor” as a form of social division https://t.co/0tIBlaX8Ve

— Sæthelred the Unsteady (@SethRudy) July 24, 2020

I have a Charles Manson joke and it kills. https://t.co/uybZPMbkF6

— Nell Scovell (@NellSco) July 24, 2020

I have a minimalist joke.

— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) July 25, 2020

I have a joke about masculinity but its too fragile

— Amaarah Garda (@amaarahg) July 25, 2020

I have a joke about monopolies but Amazon already told it.

— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 25, 2020

I have a gerrymandering joke, but it may cross some lines. https://t.co/J7SaHFUFFP

— J. Miles Coleman (@JMilesColeman) July 25, 2020

I have a Schrodinger's joke that is both funny and not funny.

— fritzco😷#WearAMask🆘️ (@fritzcokid) July 25, 2020

I have a joke about the president but it wouldn’t win the popular vote.

— Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) July 25, 2020

I have a New Mutants joke but I wont release it. https://t.co/qgK9lAHFZ9

— Dylan Macri, B.L.M. (@Dylan_Macri) July 25, 2020

I have a Mitch McConnell joke, but it’s in Russian.

— Charles Booker (@Booker4KY) July 25, 2020

I have a joke about Kevin McCarthy, but it does nothing for his constituents.

— Kim Mangone for Congress 2020 (@KimMangone) July 25, 2020

Do you have a favorite “I have a joke” joke? Share it in the comments!

(image: Twitter)

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