2014-09-19
Explanation
The Joke
A woman thanks her friend for coming over, saying she does not know what to do -- then lists a series of increasingly bizarre and controlling commands: "The TV will turn off. Ever. Again." "The TV will suddenly go to a religious channel." "Tell me, is the channel for weather or politics?" "Your hair. Your hair will be in it." The other woman responds with escalating confusion.
The first woman then orders her friend to "Come out! I order you to come out! Bring cargo shorts, scope, and sweatpants!" and then commands "Again!" A figure emerges, and the friend says, "I'm claiming we seize this place under the Agricultural Adjustment Act of Nineteen-Thirty-Three, these are adjuster-culture farms and... your house is very clean!"
Finally, the first woman says, "Aha! So I married..." implying a twist ending.
The Humor
This comic appears to be a parody of paranormal/haunted house reality TV shows and domestic sitcom tropes. The woman has invited her friend over because strange things are happening in her home (the TV turning on by itself, switching to strange channels), which are classic "haunting" symptoms. However, the escalating absurdity of the demands and the bizarre invocation of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 push the scenario into complete nonsense, satirizing how these shows and storylines often spiral into increasingly ridiculous territory.
The punchline -- the friend complimenting how clean the house is in the middle of trying to perform an "exorcism" or "seizure" of the property -- undercuts the drama entirely.
References
- The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was a U.S. federal law that reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies to not plant on part of their land. Its invocation here is deliberately absurd and out of context.