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Line 1: {{trope}} [[File:Lightbulb wh.png\|~~frameless~~thumb\|422px\|link=Cyanide ~~and~~& Happiness~~\|right~~]] {{quote\|''"How many members of a specified ethnic demographic does it take to change a light bulb?"'' ''"Ten-- one to screw in the light bulb and nine to act in a manner stereotypical of their ethnicity."'' }} Line 32: Compare [[Knock-Knock Joke]]. ~~{{examples\|Examples in fiction:}}~~ {{examples}} == [[Advertising]] == * There was an ad for fluorescent bulbs, bragging about lasting seven years. There's a kid who was newborn when the bulb was put in, and near the end of those seven years, he doesn't get a light bulb joke, saying "Change a light bulb? Why would anybody need to change a light bulb?" Line 38 ⟶ 39: == [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] == * [[Axis Powers Hetalia]] plays with this in one strip in which [[Moe Anthropomorphism\|Poland]] asks Lithuania to turn the table as he stands on it in order to change a lightbulb. Most likely a [[Shout-Out]] to the original joke. ** They also do type 2 [https://web.archive.org/web/20210306081109/http://aph.starry-sky.com/~~files/grsy~~404.~~gif~~html with Greece].{{Dead link}}. * [[Black Lagoon]] does this when Rock tries to entertain Revy while they're running errand around town. [[Hair-Trigger Temper\|Unfortunately, Revy knows all his jokes, which almost results in a car crash.]] {{quote\|'''Rock:''' Okay, how many Polacks does it take to change a lightbulb? Line 44 ⟶ 45: '''Rock:''' Um... er... let's see. So, the Pope says to the guy who dressed like he's homeless... '''Revy:''' Yeah, "I thought I told you to get out of here yesterday". Yeah, good one. Do me a favor and just shut up and drive, will ya?! }} == [[Fan Works]] == * ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'' - Frieza, after wiping out most of the Namekian species except for Nail, Dende and Guru.▼ {{quote\|'''Frieza:''' How many Namekians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Their whole race! One to screw in the lightbulb, and the rest to ''die''....and then the other one dies too.}} ** Later, when Piccolo shows up:▼ {{quote\|'''Frieza:''' Well, well, well! I'm legitimately surprised I missed one of you. But that's just fine, because I've been working on some jokes. Now tell me if you've heard this one. How many Namekians does it take to -▼ '''Piccolo:''' ([[Talk to the Fist\|punches him across the sky]]) ''Just one.''}}▼ == [[Film]] == Line 50 ⟶ 58: == [[Literature]] == * The [[Discworld]] novel ''[[~~Discworld/Sourcery\|~~Sourcery]]'' has [[Hold Your Hippogriffs\|lamp-wick jokes]] (no [[Pinocchio\|relation]]): {{quote\|'Do you know any lamp-wick jokes?' he said, settling himself comfortably on the sand. 'I don't think so,' said Nijel politely, tapping a slab. 'I know hundreds. They are very droll. For example, do you know how many trolls it takes to change a lamp-wick?' 'This slab moves,' said Nijel. 'Look, it's a sort of door. Give me a hand.' }} ** Also featured in the ''[~~http~~https://web.archive.org/web/20071009213558/http://www.cheerycomic.co.uk/ch33.html Adventures of Cheery Littlebottom]'' webcomic. * ''Hominids'' by Robert Sawyer is about a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel universe who falls into our universe as the result of a lab accident. A news dump at the beginning of one of its chapters has: {{quote\|'''Q''': How many Neanderthals does it take to change a light bulb? Line 73 ⟶ 81: {{quote\|How many [[Proud Warrior Race Guy\|Dzur]] does it take to sharpen a sword? Four: one to sharpen the sword and three to put up enough of a fight to make it worthwhile. How many Yendi does it take to sharpen a sword? Three: one to sharpen the sword and one to confuse the issue.}} [http://www.speakeasy.org/~mamandel/Cracks-and-Shards/swordjokes.txt This] has a bunch more Dragaeran sword-sharpening jokes written by fans. The [[Planet of Hats]] setting really lends to them. ~~{{quote\|How many [[No Sense of Humor\|Dragonlords]] does it take to sharpen a sword?~~ ~~One. This is not a joke. }}~~ Vlad also pulls one about <s>humans</s> Easterners that probably counts as the [[Fantastic Racism]] form of [[N-Word Privileges]]: {{quote\|How many Easterners does it take to sharpen a sword? Line 89 ⟶ 94: {{quote\|'''John Sheridan''': How many Minbari does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. They surrender right before they finish the task and they never tell you why. '''Londo Mollari''': How many [[Vestigial Empire\|Centauri]] does it take to screw in a light bulb? Only one. But, in the [[Glory Days\|grand old days of the Republic]], hundreds of servants would change thousands of light bulbs at our slightest whim!}} * From ''[[V (TV series)\|V]]'': {{quote\|'''Q:''' How many Visitors does it take to change a light bulb? '''A:''' None, they ''like'' the dark! }} Line 112 ⟶ 117: == [[Radio]] == * Dave Broadfoot of the ''[[Royal Canadian Air Farce~~\|Dave Broadfoot~~]]'' played with both this trope and the pun noted above: {{quote\|How many civil servants does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, but he's promoted three levels before it's all screwed up.}} == [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] == * As part of his (in)famous routine [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=602B5AXT0GQ "I'm Tuff"] from the 1980s, then-punk comedian [[George Smilovici]] rattles off several standard light bulb jokes in between his other material, but they're just the setup for the [[Brick Joke\|last joke of the routine]], which turns out to be a [[Shaggy Dog Story\|shaggy dog]] of a [[Subverted Trope\|subversion]]: {{quote\|'''Smilovici:''' How many punks does it take to screw in a light bulb? '''Audience:''' (shouts various answers) '''Smilovici:''' Four! '''Audience:''' (after a confused moment) Why four? '''Smilovici:''' I just reckon it'd be about four!}} == [[Tabletop Games]] == * The card game ''Apples To Apples'' has these as flavor text on all of its nationality cards: {{quote\|"How many [[Eagle Land\|Americans]] does it take to change a lightbulb?" \|/ "Hey! That's not funny! WE'RE SUING!" "How many [[Canada, Eh?\|Canadians]] does it take to change a lightbulb?" \|/ "10. 9 to chip it out of the ice and one to change the lightbulb." "How many [[Animeland\|Japanese]] does it take to change a lightbulb?" \|/ "Who needs lightbulbs when you've got ''our'' technology?"}} == [[Video Games]] == Line 126 ⟶ 139: {{quote\|How many Jacobans does it take to empty a chamberpot? It depends on the current proclamation.}} * The [[wikipedia:Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego\|Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego?]] video game had Good Guide Renée Santz try to tell Mona Lisa a joke ("How many ACME agents does it take to screw in a light bulb?"), to which Mona Lisa replies "What's a light bulb?" Dee Cryption derisively asks the same question in Thomas Edison's lab when the player has to change one in order to complete a circuit. * The question is never answered in canon, though it looks like the VILE perspective is [https://web.archive.org/web/20160313044911/http://carmensandiego.info/blogs/entry/~~How~~how-many-~~ACME~~acme-agents-does-it-take-to-screw-in-a-light-bulb- "ALL OF THEM. Because that's what it would take for them to get the bulb back from Carmen after she's stolen it."] == [[Web Animation]] == Line 134 ⟶ 147: == [[Web Comics]] == * ''[[Cyanide ~~and~~& Happiness]]'' has [http://www.explosm.net/comics/1416/ its own] variation. * ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'' had "Inverse light bulb jokes" to reveal his friends' prejudices. The strip is [~~http~~https://~~www~~web.archive.org/web/20090501004120/http://qwantz.com/archive/001145.html number 1145]. * ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'' has Donovan crack one off to the orc shaman Thuen Gor: "How many Callanians does it take to install a lamp post? One - he sticks it in the ground and waits for the world to revolve around him." * ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' gives us the [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1087.html formulaic lightbulb joke]. * Mitch Clem of ''[[Nothing Nice to Say]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20131027173739/http://www.mitchclem.com/mystupidlife/97/ went self-referential] in his journal comic. * ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had a pair about [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-08-13 recalibrating transponders and getting beaten up in a tavern]. * ''[[xkcd]]'' [~~http~~https://xkcd.com/841/ #841]: How many audiophiles does it take to screw in a lightbulb? * '' Chuckle-A-Duck'' comics has [https://web.archive.org/web/20131016152314/http://chuckleaduck.com/comic/tough-question/ one] about [[Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup\|congressmen]]. * ''RuoHammer'' has "[https://www.ruohammer.com/comics-1/2020/10/14/so-how-many So, how many?]": a guardsman asks the tech priests, and… they are swamped in a theological discussion. == [[Web Original]] == * ''[[Reddit\|/r/Jokes]]'' came up with [http://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/3fasbs/how_many_tumblrinas_does_it_take_to_change_a/ another one]: ▲* ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'' - Frieza, after wiping out most of the Namekian species except for Nail, Dende and Guru. {{quote\|~~'''Frieza~~Q:~~'''~~ How many ~~Namekians~~[[tumblr]]inas does it take to ~~screw in~~change a lightbulb? ~~Their whole race! One to screw in the lightbulb, and the rest to ''die''....and then the other one dies too.}}~~ A: You may think that a burnt out bulb needs to change just because the room is too dark ''for you'' to see anything, so it ''must'' be changed, but I don't care, it's beautiful, [[Political Correctness Gone Mad\|you should respect its right to be burnt out and learn to be more accepting of darker rooms, check your filament privileges you ableist scum]]. [[Appeal to Fear\|Anyone who disagrees]] with this is a burnt-out-bulbophobe and a darknessphobe. Thanks for being so understanding. }} ▲** Later, when Piccolo shows up: * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160904162910/http://clientsfromhell.net/post/15090866914/how-many-seo-experts-do-you-need-to-change-a One] from ''Clients From Hell'': "How many SEO experts do you need to change a lightbulb? lightbulbs buy light bulbs neon lights sex porn" ▲{{quote\|'''Frieza:''' Well, well, well! I'm legitimately surprised I missed one of you. But that's just fine, because I've been working on some jokes. Now tell me if you've heard this one. How many Namekians does it take to - ▲'''Piccolo:''' ([[Talk to the Fist\|punches him across the sky]]) ''Just one.''}} == [[Western Animation]] == * In the ''[[Gargoyles]]'' episode "The Reckoning", Fang uses this joke - and unless I'm just hearing things, his inflection must have been skirting the radar: "How many gargoyles does it take to [[Double Entendre\|''screw'' in a light bulb]]?" (Emphasis his.) The question is never answered, and the creator, [[Greg Weisman]], eventually turned it into a contest on his "Ask Greg" website. If you were hearing it right, the answer is "Two, but it has to be a ~~BIG~~''big'' light bulb." He gets another in the ''Bad Guys'' sequel in comic form. "How many mutants does it take to change a lightbulb? Three to sit there and one to hang [around]." {{spoiler\|Cue him nearly getting his head cut off because Yama considers making a joke about traumatised victims, one of whom hanged themselves, of a mad scientist seriously ''not cool''.}} * ~~From~~ ''[[SpongeBob\| SquarePants]]'': From "Squirrel Jokes"]]: "How come it takes more than one squirrel to screw in a lightbulb? Because they're SO. DARN. STUPID!" ** Presumably a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Raising Arizona]]''. * In ''[[Family Guy]]'' - Brian mentions that Peter doesn't have a great history when it comes to telling jokes. [[Cutaway Gag]] to Peter on the [[Planet of the Apes]], surrounded and held at gunpoint. {{quote\|'''Peter:''' How many dirty, stinkin' apes does it take to screw in a light bulb? Three. One dirty, stinkin' ape to screw it in, and two dirty, stinkin' apes to throw feces at each other! ''(the apes cock their guns)''}} * Rather than asking the question or giving a straight answer, the intro to the [[Dexter's Laboratory\|Justice Friends]] demonstrates us that at the very least, three [[The Avengers (Comic Book)\|Avengers]] [[Expy\|expies]] are ~~NOT~~''not'' enough to change a lightbulb. == [[Real Life]] == Line 168 ⟶ 181: {{reflist}} [[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼ [[Category:Comedy Tropes]] [[Category:Stock Jokes]] ▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]