2015-02-20
Explanation
The Joke
Two children are playing a board or strategy game. One declares "My fortress shall not be taken!" while looking at what appears to be a game board. The other child says "Boo" (as in a ghost), and the first child responds with an elaborate speech about how the other player is more powerful than imagined, and proposes that the victor should observe the traditional rites of burial. The second child then puts a sock on the first child's game piece (or hand), and the first child screams "NO! NO!" and "My flesh! My flessshhh!!" A parent watching says "I don't like this game," and the other parent responds "You should read more literature."
The Humor
The comic contrasts the grandiose, literary language of the first child (speaking like a medieval lord in a siege) with the absurdly simple tactics of the second child (saying "boo" and putting a sock on things). The first child has clearly read too much epic fantasy or historical literature and is treating a children's game with deadly seriousness, including dramatic death throes when defeated. The parent's exchange at the end provides the punchline -- one parent is disturbed by the intense theatrics, while the other (presumably the one who raised the dramatic child) suggests the solution is more literature, not less. The humor lies in the mismatch between the child's operatic intensity and the mundane reality of children playing with socks.