The Common Denominator
...a timeless joke that cracks up today's kids.
Something magical happened recently, at a birthday party I watched as a group of six year olds discovered whoopee cushions for the first time. I’d forgotten about the fake fart bags but was comforted to see decades on from my own childhood toilet humour still had cut through with today’s kids.
A lot of adults feign they’re above it. Once we graduate university or enter the workforce the serious phase of our lives begins.
We try so hard to project the grown-up image we’ve been striving for sometimes we forget to joke at all. For my husband and I this humour is part of our love language, and whether by nature or nurture it too has become crucial to our family as a uniting release valve.
This past weekend when our daughter was entering the energy crash phase following another birthday party I was at a loss for how to calm her so instead asked the car, “Siri, play fart noises on Spotify.”
I thought the bot would come back as she usually does, with a tune not at all like I’d asked for, but instead she more than delivered. “Over 1000 Farts (1 Hour)” started playing and the six year old and I were in instant hysterics. We even put the windows down to play it a little louder as we approached our house, shocking afternoon walkers.
Our two year old has inherited the genes too. When I fumbled to play music that afternoon but accidentally played farts on our speaker he gave off delicious, deep belly laughs. Days later as I was trying to pry him away from the playground without a tantrum I hopefully suggested we go home to listen to more farts, he leapt to his car seat giggling in anticipation.
As printed in Village Voice June 2024