bar-joke-2
Explanation
This comic is a twist on the classic "walks into a bar" joke format. A priest, a rabbi, and a clown walk into a bar, and the bartender says "Is this a joke?" In the next panel, it's revealed that they have come not to make the bartender laugh but to drink, "for they had all been replaced by machines that could perform their jobs with fewer demands and better alcohol."
The punchline takes the familiar joke setup and turns it into a commentary on automation and technological unemployment. Rather than delivering a traditional bar joke punchline, the comic reveals that religious leaders and entertainers alike have been made obsolete by machines. The final panel, where one says "I feel vodka will make you cool, friend," implies the machine replacements are stilted and awkward -- yet still apparently preferable to the humans they replaced. It's a darkly humorous take on the anxiety that no profession, no matter how seemingly human, is safe from automation.