Category:Articles that attempt to explain jokes

Attempt to explain joke This article attempts to explain a joke in minute detail, as if to an idiot, a very small child, or a very small child who is also an idiot. It also attempts to explain its own explanation, which, if successful, could result in crashing the universe. Please do not crash the universe.

This is the category of articles that attempt to explain a joke occuring in Uncyclopedia in minute detail, as if to an idiot, or to a very small child, or to a very small child who is also an idiot.

As you can see, this category itself explains such a joke, namely the joke of giving an explanation of another joke in such painstaking detail that the original joke loses its humor. A typical outcome of this is that readers are so embarrassed by having the joke explained to them that they pretend that they did find the original joke funny, even if, in fact, they did not. This, of course, is itself funny to onlookers, as is the self-reference involved in telling a joke about a joke.

Speaking of which, it may have escaped you that, in this case, the joke which is now being explained to you is the very joke which you are now reading. For that reason, it contains the "Attempt to explain joke" message box at the top. Of course, this is an instance of the very kind of self-referential humor to which the previous paragraph refers.

So, to sum up, we have identified four ways in which explaining a joke can be funny:

1. The act of explaining a joke is itself a joke, and may be funny for that reason.
2. Jokes about jokes are self-referential, and many people find self-reference to be funny.
3. The person to whom the joke is being explained may come to find that the joke explained to them is funny.
4. The embarrassment of the person to whom the joke is being explained is funny to third parties.