History Main / ChickenJoke

[[caption-width-right:358:Why did the chicken cross the Pacific Ocean?[[labelnote:Note]]To get to the other [[{{Pun}} tide]]. [[/labelnote]]]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Pop Fever]]'', Raffina references the joke when she dodges Hohow Bird's attack and responds with "Hey! Which way are you looking? I'll bet you don't even know why you crossed the road!"
* In one of the extra story mode chapters of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', for a comedy routine with Tee, Maguro tells a variant of this joke where it's a tetrimino walking across the road. Tee guesses it's because of a dimensional merge, but it's actually because the road was "blocked".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Log Date 7-15-2", Peridot tries to [[FishOutOfWater acclimate to life on Earth]] by practicing telling jokes, including the old "Why did the chicken cross the road?" joke. She not only [[CannotTellAJoke stumbles over the punchline]], but after awkwardly laughing at herself she wonders "What's a chicken?"
** When Amethyst shapeshifts into a chicken to show her was a chicken is, she laughs and says that she gets the joke now. Probably because chickens are CluckingFunny.

* In one of the extra story mode chapters of ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo Tetris]]'', for a comedy routine with Tee, Maguro tells a variant of this joke where it's a tetrimino walking across the road. Tee guesses it's because of a dimensional merge, but it's actually because the road was "blocked".

Where the joke originally came from is not entirely certain. Most folklorists believe it was originally an example of AntiHumor, with the setup leading the listener to expect a traditional {{punchline}} but the answer being a [[MathematiciansAnswer mundane factual explanation]]. As such, it makes a very bad example of a joke to use as an introduction to humor (as it is often used in media), since it requires the listener to already be familiar with the concept of a joke in order to understand the "punchline" at all.

* When the question "Where did Mr Chicken[[note]]the last private resident of [[{{Whitehall}} 10 Downing Street]][[/note]] live?" came up in the "Common Knowledge" episode of ''{{Series/QI}}'', Sean guessed "The other side of the road?"

[[folder:Rides]]
* In the pre-show for ''Ride/MuppetVision3D'', Fozzie gathers all the penguins for an orchestra rehearsal. After all of the penguins leave, a chicken is left to which this exchange occurs.
-->'''Fozzie''': Hey, hey! You're not a penguin, you're a chicken. I told you chickens to stay on the other side of the road. ''(to no one in particular)'' Okay, everyone! Why did this chicken cross the road?!
-->'''Chicken''': Bagawk, buck, bagawk, bawk, bawk, bagawk.
-->'''Fozzie''': Ahhhhhhh! That's funny! ''(leaves with the chicken)'' Hey, everyone! Why did the chicken cross the road?
[[/folder]]

* In ''The Good Lie'', three Sudanese refugees were telling each other the ChickenJoke and they all find it very hilarious. Makes sense, since they're hearing it for the first time.

* ''Happy, Texas'' begins with the protagonists WorkingOnTheChainGang. One of them raises the question, "Why did the armadillo cross the road?" This turns out to be a trick question, as the armadillo is roadkill.

* ''Film/{{Stripes}}'': John Winger leads a squad of soldiers in a close drill where they recite this joke:
-->'''John Winger''': Why'd the chicken cross the road?
-->'''Soldiers''': To get from the left to the right
-->'''John Winger''': He stepped out of rank, got hit by a tank
-->'''Soldiers''': He ain't no chicken no more

* This joke was used visually in ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' by the title character while he also climbs up a telephone pole in a similar vein to ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', gets stuck in road gum...and loses his pants, all while trying not to be late for school.

There are others who think the joke is actually a [[BlackComedy suicide joke]] with "[[NoLongerWithUs The Other Side]]" referring to the afterlife.

* This joke was used visually in ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' by the title character while he also climbs up a telephone pole in a similar vein to ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', gets stuck in road gum...and loses his pants, all while trying not to be late for school.

* In ''Film/AlienNation'', Newcomers sometimes have problems with human humor, but George has learned one joke he considers extremely funny. "Stop me if you've heard this one..."
* In ''The Good Lie'', three Sudanese refugees were telling each other the ChickenJoke and they all find it very hilarious. Makes sense, since they're hearing it for the first time.
-->[Paul is laughing on his bunk bed]\\
'''Mamere:''' What is so funny?\\
'''Paul:''' I'm thinking about that chicken.\\
[All three boys [[ContagiousLaughter laugh hysterically]]]

* Played with in Creator/TerryPratchett's short story "Hollywood Chickens", in which a flock of chickens get stranded on a road island in the middle of a busy Los Angeles freeway after falling off the truck that was transporting them. As the narrator notes, in this case the question is not "why?" but "how?".

* ''Literature/{{Clue}}'': In book #7, ''The Picture-Perfect Crime'', Mr. Boddy has been telling several jokes, including one of these. His guests are not amused.
-->'''Boddy''': "Why did the chicken cross the playground?" ... "To get to the other slide!"
* In the ''A is for Amber'' books from the ''Literature/AmberBrown'' series, Amber's best friend Justin declares that first grade is the "year of the Chicken Joke" and tells only chicken jokes the whole year. This was a form of AuthorAppeal, as series author Paula Danziger stated in the About the Author section of one of the original books "I love chicken jokes."
* In the ''Literature/MythOMania'' book ''Literature/HaveAHotTimeHades'', Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, shares one after introducing herself to her uncles and aunts, Zeus' siblings:
-->'''Thalia:''' Why did the chicken cross the road?\\
'''Hera:''' To be sacrificed to the gods, of course.\\
'''Thalia:''' Wrong! To get to the other side!

* In ''Series/{{Mongrels}}'', Nelson (a fox) helps a chicken across the road, and says he has to ask; why she was doing so? The chicken replies that it was because she saw a black man coming and was afraid he might mug her.
-->'''Nelson:''' Turns out she was just a casual racist.
* ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'': Julie tries to tell some jokes but she mixes up the punchline of this joke with the punchline of "Why do firemen wear suspenders?" a less famous but very similar joke.
* Parodied on an episode of ''Series/NightCourt''. Harry is depressed because his girlfriend has been forced into the Witness Protection Program. The others try to cheer him up by arranging for him to try a jaywalking case involving a man named De Shicken. (Spelling unknown.) They end up asking [[{{Pun}} "Why did De Shicken cross the road?"]]
* In one episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', the Swedish Chef does his "Spring Chicken" sketch which ends in bouncing chickens escaping and the Chef pursuing them. Immediately afterward, Fozzie goes up to a stressed Kermit and starts to ask, Why did the chickens cross the road?" Kermit answers, "Because an angry Swede was chasing them with a cleaver!"
* When the question "Where did Mr Chicken[[note]]the last private resident of [[{{Whitehall}} 10 Downing Street]][[/note]] live?" came up in the "Common Knowledge" episode of ''{{Series/QI}}'', Sean guessed "The other side of the road?"

* One ''ComicStrip/GetFuzzy'' strip had Bucky attempt to tell this joke as "Why did THIS chicken cross the road?", with Rob telling Bucky to knock it off as that joke confuses Satchel. Sure enough, Satchel ends up confused from the joke, trying to figure out which road the chicken was trying to cross.

* The one panel comic [[http://fuffernutter.com/2013/10/29/roadkill/ roadkill]] by mite farmand, where the chicken has "gone to the other side".
* [[http://thecomicninja.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/b-c-why-did-the-chicken.gif?w=640 This]] ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'' strip where the chicken who just have crossed the road asks the turtle not to ask.

** Another strip had a chicken couple confronting each other at their home's threshold: "Oh, I see! You return covered with blond feathers, and I'm supposed to believe you crossed the road ''just'' to get to the other side?"

* In the ''VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997'' level featuring UsefulNotes/JohannesGutenberg the alchemist tells you the following joke if you try to drop the sooty chicken on his equally sooty oil lamp:
-->"Why did the chicken cross the road? Because she did not want to get roasted on an oil lamp!"

* ''VideoGame/CrossyRoad'' may be reminiscent of ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}'', but the starting player character is a chicken.
** Activision's ''VideoGame/{{Freeway}}'' is basically both games' predecessor.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2100/fc02062.htm Dvorak spent two weeks studying it, but was pleased with how it paid off when Florence thought he was developing a sense of humor]].

* A variant in the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "How To Be Funny", where Garfield claims that the very first joke, which had been told by a caveman comedian, was roughly translated as "Why did the brontosaurus cross the road?"
* The Season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' ended with a ''Series/YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'' parody that resulted in the titular Robot Chicken and the Mad Scientist [[TalkingWithSigns using signs]] to tell the joke.
-->'''Scientist:''' "Why did the Chicken cross the road?"
-->'''Robot Chicken:''' "Bawk-bawk?"
-->'''Scientist:''' [[ForScience "TO DIE IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE!"]]
* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'', Bessie sees a driver speeding, and cries, "He could've hurt a chicken crossing the road!".
* The "Honesty" episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresFromTheBookOfVirtues'' has Aristotle telling the joke "Why did the bobcat cross the road? To bother somebody ''else'' for a change!".
* Also, Pepper from ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' (as well as pet celebrity Old Bananas) crack a few jokes of this variety on the show.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Log Date 7-15-2", Peridot tries to [[FishOutOfWater acclimate to life on Earth]] by practicing telling jokes, including the old "Why did the chicken cross the road?" joke. She not only [[CannotTellAJoke stumbles over the punchline]], but after awkwardly laughing at herself she wonders "What's a chicken?"
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' episode "Mathmagic", Janna tells Star this joke during math class. Having never heard the chicken joke before, Star finds it hilarious that [[AntiHumor instead of a punchline, the answer is simply logic]]. When Star gets stuck in an unstable GroundhogDayLoop, one of the things that keeps changing is the punchline to Janna's joke.

[[caption-width-right:358:Why did the chicken cross the Pacific Ocean?[[labelnote:Note]]To get to the other [[Pun tide]]. [[/labelnote]]]]

[[caption-width-right:358:Why did the chicken cross the Pacific Ocean?[[labelnote:Note]]To get to the other [[IncrediblyLamePun tide]]. [[/labelnote]]]]

* In the ''Literature/MythOMania'' book ''Have a Hot Time, Hades!'', Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, shares one after introducing herself to her uncles and aunts, Zeus' siblings:

* '''Wiki/SCPFoundation''' has a rather [[BlackComedy dark version of this]] with a tape that changes the peception of people who see it: after seeing a particular scene, the watcher will percieve every character, fictional or not, watched on TV or in a movie, hear on radio, or read about, to choke and die. This includes incredibly short jokes as well.

** One version keeps the same joke, but changes the chicken to food; the other "side" in this case is standard fare like [[{{Pun}} green beans or mashed potatoes]].

* This joke was used visually in ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' by the title character while he also climbs up a telephone pole in a similar vein to ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', gets stuck in traffic gum...and loses his pants, all while trying not to be late for school.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'': In book #7, ''The Picture-Perfect Crime'', Mr. Boddy has been telling several jokes, including one of these. His guests are not amused.