2015-01-27
Explanation
The Joke
Two people are walking through a graveyard and both say they love it. The woman explains she finds it peaceful because everything is in its place. The man then reveals his much darker reason: "All these people are dead so I'''m like, hey, I'''m better than all of these people." He then proceeds to taunt the dead, gloating to a dead governor about being alive, mocking a dead painter, and taunting a dead family who all died on the same day. In the final panel, he declares "I am so pumped" while his companion stands in stunned silence.
The Humor
The comedy derives from the bait-and-switch between two very different reasons for enjoying a graveyard. The woman'''s reason is the expected, reflective, slightly melancholic appreciation for the peace and order of a cemetery. The man'''s reason is a hilariously petty and narcissistic one: he feels superior to dead people simply by virtue of being alive. The escalation of his taunting -- from a governor to a painter to an entire dead family -- makes it increasingly absurd and uncomfortable. The joke plays on the idea that some people can only feel good about themselves through the most meaningless possible comparisons, in this case comparing themselves favorably to people who are literally dead.