My son wants me to tell him a shaggy dog story.  He says it's some kind of joke.  I've never understood what makes a joke work, much less, what a shaggy dog story is.  Explain how jokes work and exactly what is a shaggy dog story.  It will be helpful if you give examples along with the explanation.
system
My son wants me to tell him a shaggy dog story.  He says it's some kind of joke.  I've never understood what makes a joke work, much less, what a shaggy dog story is.  Explain how jokes work and exactly what is a shaggy dog story.  It will be helpful if you give examples along with the explanation.
user
Every joke consists of a set-up which, like the exposition of a play, tells the listener or reader everything necessary to understand the finale called the punch line which, in itself needs to be unexpected based on the set-up. Here is an example.

Set-up: A skeleton walks into a bar.  The bartender asks, “What will you have?” The skeleton says,
Punch line: “A beer and a mop.

The set-up puts the image of a skeleton, a bar, and the bartender in the listener’s mind and presents a question. The listener will try to anticipate how the skeleton will respond, which, unless the listener had heard the joke before, they will be unlikely to guess. This creates tension in the listener. The unexpected answer found in the punchline surprises the listener who laughs because of the surprise that releases the tension.

A Shaggy Dog story, named after a famous, oft-told joke, is similar. It has a set-up but then has lots of generally irrelevant information added. During the conveying of the information (the story), the listener tries to figure out how all this information will lead to a punchline and what that punchline will be. The punchline to a Shaggy Dog story is often nonsensical as well as being a surprise. Theoretically, the more tension created by the long story, the greater the laugh and release, but with Shaggy Dog stories (that do not always involve a dog), the response is often a groan. Here is an example.

A man and a dog walk into a bar. The man sits on a bar stool and invites the dog to do the same. 

As soon as the dog jumps onto the stool the bartender says, “Get that dog outta here.  We don’t allow no mangy mutts in here!”

The man says, “But sir, this is a very special dog. He talks.”

“Dogs don’t talk, mister. Get it and you outta my bar,” says the bartender.

“Well, sir,” says the man, “I can prove he talks.  In fact, I’d be willing to bet that he does. Whatta ya say, if he talks, you apologize to him and give me a free beer. If he doesn’t talk, then we will leave.”

The bartender thinks this over a moment and then agrees saying, “This is against my better judgment, but go ahead. Make him talk.”

The man turns to the dog who has been waiting patiently on the next stool and asks, “What is the opposite of smooth?”

The dog says, “Ruff!”

“See,” says the man, “He can talk.”

“No, he can’t,” says the bartender, “That’s just him barking. Get outta here, both of ya.”

“Ok. Wait, wait, wait,” says the man holding up his hand, “That wasn’t the best example. Let me try again, please.”

The bartender growls and looks at the dog who wags his tail. “OK.  You get one more chance for the dog to talk.”

The man turns to the dog and asks, “What’s on top of a house?”

The dog says “Ruff!”

“See?” asks the man.

The bartender who is getting angry says, “That’s just a bark again. You ain’t foolin’ no one. Get outta here before I call the cops!”

The man says, “I can see your point. Another bad question. Let me ask one more to prove it to you.”

The bartender looks at the man and then at the dog which has but its chin on the bar and stares lovingly at the bartender with its big, dark eyes.

“OK. Last time. He better talk or me and my friends are gonna throw you out on the street!”

The man turns to the dog again and asks, with an imploring look in his eyes, “Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?”

The dog says, “Ruff!”

The bartender comes around the bar and calls over his friends who pick up the man and the dog, carry them to the door, and toss them onto the sidewalk.

The man, sits against the building stunned, rubbing a new bump on his head. The dog walks over to the man, gives the bump on his head three licks and says …

“You think, maybe, I should have said DiMaggio?”
assistant
<|system|>
</s>
<|user|>
My son wants me to tell him a shaggy dog story.  He says it's some kind of joke.  I've never understood what makes a joke work, much less, what a shaggy dog story is.  Explain how jokes work and exactly what is a shaggy dog story.  It will be helpful if you give examples along with the explanation.</s>
<|assistant|>
Every joke consists of a set-up which, like the exposition of a play, tells the listener or reader everything necessary to understand the finale called the punch line which, in itself needs to be unexpected based on the set-up. Here is an example.

Set-up: A skeleton walks into a bar.  The bartender asks, “What will you have?” The skeleton says,
Punch line: “A beer and a mop.

The set-up puts the image of a skeleton, a bar, and the bartender in the listener’s mind and presents a question. The listener will try to anticipate how the skeleton will respond, which, unless the listener had heard the joke before, they will be unlikely to guess. This creates tension in the listener. The unexpected answer found in the punchline surprises the listener who laughs because of the surprise that releases the tension.

A Shaggy Dog story, named after a famous, oft-told joke, is similar. It has a set-up but then has lots of generally irrelevant information added. During the conveying of the information (the story), the listener tries to figure out how all this information will lead to a punchline and what that punchline will be. The punchline to a Shaggy Dog story is often nonsensical as well as being a surprise. Theoretically, the more tension created by the long story, the greater the laugh and release, but with Shaggy Dog stories (that do not always involve a dog), the response is often a groan. Here is an example.

A man and a dog walk into a bar. The man sits on a bar stool and invites the dog to do the same. 

As soon as the dog jumps onto the stool the bartender says, “Get that dog outta here.  We don’t allow no mangy mutts in here!”

The man says, “But sir, this is a very special dog. He talks.”

“Dogs don’t talk, mister. Get it and you outta my bar,” says the bartender.

“Well, sir,” says the man, “I can prove he talks.  In fact, I’d be willing to bet that he does. Whatta ya say, if he talks, you apologize to him and give me a free beer. If he doesn’t talk, then we will leave.”

The bartender thinks this over a moment and then agrees saying, “This is against my better judgment, but go ahead. Make him talk.”

The man turns to the dog who has been waiting patiently on the next stool and asks, “What is the opposite of smooth?”

The dog says, “Ruff!”

“See,” says the man, “He can talk.”

“No, he can’t,” says the bartender, “That’s just him barking. Get outta here, both of ya.”

“Ok. Wait, wait, wait,” says the man holding up his hand, “That wasn’t the best example. Let me try again, please.”

The bartender growls and looks at the dog who wags his tail. “OK.  You get one more chance for the dog to talk.”

The man turns to the dog and asks, “What’s on top of a house?”

The dog says “Ruff!”

“See?” asks the man.

The bartender who is getting angry says, “That’s just a bark again. You ain’t foolin’ no one. Get outta here before I call the cops!”

The man says, “I can see your point. Another bad question. Let me ask one more to prove it to you.”

The bartender looks at the man and then at the dog which has but its chin on the bar and stares lovingly at the bartender with its big, dark eyes.

“OK. Last time. He better talk or me and my friends are gonna throw you out on the street!”

The man turns to the dog again and asks, with an imploring look in his eyes, “Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?”

The dog says, “Ruff!”

The bartender comes around the bar and calls over his friends who pick up the man and the dog, carry them to the door, and toss them onto the sidewalk.

The man, sits against the building stunned, rubbing a new bump on his head. The dog walks over to the man, gives the bump on his head three licks and says …

“You think, maybe, I should have said DiMaggio?”</s>
