Parnell: Why Dad jokes are so bad that they’re good for you

They might make everyone groan in mock pain, but it’s been proven dad jokes are both therapeutic and make our kids better adults, writes Kerry Parnell.

Attention all fathers: never stop telling dad jokes, they’re good for our health.

They might make everyone groan in mock pain, but it’s been proven dad jokes are both therapeutic and make our kids better adults.

According to humour researcher (how good a job is that?) Marc Hye-Knudsen, cringe comedy is “a pedagogical tool that may serve a beneficial function for the very children who roll their eyes at them”.

In other words, by continually telling your kids jokes so bad they’re almost embarrassing, you will be increasing your offspring’s tolerance for embarrassment, which is especially pertinent when they become mortified teens.

“This is an immensely valuable lesson,” he writes in a paper for the British Psychological Society, essentially toughening them up and helping them cope with life.

It’s been proven dad jokes are both therapeutic and make our kids better adults. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

I knew it – I’ve always loved a bad dad joke – those exquisitely corny jokes that make the family collectively cry out in complaint. My dad still bats them out in his eighties, like a sit-down comedian. He has a never-ending supply, which he tops up from the men’s club he belongs to, where he and other retirees come together once a week to basically out-pun each other. According to one insider, my dad’s output is so prolific, the club has had to introduce a wooden spoon for speakers and, from what I hear, it might have to be hidden from the comedy king.

The Little Book of Dad Jokes — Orange, Orange Hippo.

However, in the ultimate example of how dad humour is good for everyone – the men’s club is so popular, several widowers have admitted it’s become a lifeline for them, literally bringing them out of their homes and themselves. Isn’t that just the absolute best.

Not many people tell jokes anymore, so it’s up to the dads of the world to keep the art form going, because there’s something life-affirming about them. At the very least, they serve to lighten the mood and get everyone laughing, but more than that, puns and humour, particularly in times of crises, can be both a relief and serve to put things in perspective. Making jokes at the worst of times is a kind of sweet relief.

Like Hye-Knudsen says, if you can teach your kids to not take things too seriously and laugh at themselves, then they’ll be winning at life, even when they’re losing.

I couldn’t end this column without a dad joke, so here’s a classic my father told me, which made me laugh out loud, followed by the obligatory, “Oh, Dad…”

“A woman took her sick duck to the vet, who, after checking it over, told her it had died.

‘Are you sure?’ she said, ‘Can’t you do some more tests?’

If you can teach your kids to not take things too seriously and laugh at themselves, then they’ll be winning at life, even when they’re losing. Picture: iStock

The vet went out and returned with a black Labrador, which sniffed the duck from top to bottom, then shook its head and left. Next, the vet fetched a cat, which jumped on the table and also sniffed the duck from bill to webbed foot, then shook its head.

‘I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do,’ said the vet, presenting the woman with an invoice for $150.

‘A hundred and fifty dollars just to tell me my duck is dead?’ the woman exclaimed.

‘Well it would have been $20,’ said the vet, ‘but we did a lab report and cat scan…’”

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