15 Examples of Cringeworthy "Boomer Humor"
Updated Jan. 28 2020, 4:03 p.m. ET
Like any art, humor is always evolving,. Though some jokes are as classic as a single-breasted blazer and a crisp white oxford shirt, mot humor that was funny a few decades ago is as stale and unfashionable now as a leisure suit.
I'm talking about the sorts of jokes your uncle might share on his Facebook timeline. They're the eyeroll-inducing wisecracks on the Hallmark Shoebox greeting cards your great-aunt sends you for your birthday. Similar to dad jokes, they are a brand of humor that seems exclusively by and for people born before 1964 — AKA boomer humor. While you might not find them funny, here are 15 examples of boomer humor that will definitely delight your grandma's best friend, Gladys.
Wife jokes are a big subgenre of boomer humor. There's nothing people who've been married for 35 years find funnier than jokes about how fat, ugly, and annoying their spouses are. Aside from the joke, everything about this cartoon screams boomer. For some reason, boomer comics almost universally have at least one person holding a newspaper and characters with impossibly large noses.
Not all boomer humor is conservative, but all conservative humor is boomer humor. It's just inherently "OK boomer" humor when your punchline rests on making fun of people for standing up for inclusion of a marginalized group like the transgender community.
Let's see, we've got a lazy reference to a current fad (Baby Yoda), an entitled teen, and a clueless dad. That's a boomer humor hat trick!
Another big theme of boomer humor is a deliberate misunderstanding of modern technology. Honestly, though, it would be nice if somebody was physically reserving items you add to your online shopping cart. Anyone who has ever added something to their online cart only to find it's sold out upon checkout knows where I'm coming from here.
"Ah the good ol' days" is another common boomer humor trope, as is thumbing one's nose at advances in technology and education. The Romans may have build roads that still technically exist, but they haven't been driven for centuries by so much as an ox-cart, let alone the millions of automobiles that traverse modern roads each year. But sure, engineers bad — super funny, grandpa.
This one made me literally groan. I don't know why men being mean to their wives is so funny to people of a certain age. Especially since reality isn't far off from this comic for a certain breed of man.
Political cartoonist Ben Garrison is like the king of boomer humor with his self-described "politically incorrect" humor. This one, where Mother Nature is denying the existence of climate change while spanking a girl who resembles climate change activist Greta Thunberg, is definitely one of the more glaring examples.
Yep. Wives nag.That is a piping hot fresh take. Also, why do so many boomer comic artists draw noses like this? The groom's nose is bigger than his foot! He should see a doctor about that.
The only thing boomer guys hate more than their wives is technology. Computer bad!
"In my day, if we wanted to hear music, we had to walk through the snow barefoot to the town radio, and there were only two stations to choose from and one was news!"
Another topic boomers love to harp on: dietary restrictions. Food allergies are on the rise, and while the cause for the rise in negative reactions to certain foods is unknown, it is likely environmental. Nevertheless, boomers like to conclude it's just that young people are delicate snowflakes who want to feel special.
Not to sound "triggered" or whatever, but freak shows aren't exactly a wholesome tradition worth preserving. It's not a bad thing that the world has become a more accepting place for different body types and for people with disabilities so that they don't have to put themselves on display for people to gawk at.
Ah yes. Nothing says boomer humor like an old guy with a big pot belly calling his wife fat as if he's some Adonis who's been keeping it tight for the last 30 years.
Women are bad drivers haha! Even when they're not driving haha! They're always sitting there in the passenger telling you what to do, those nagging backseat drivers!
We've got: making fun of youth culture; a bad pun; an outdated pop culture reference; giant noses; and goggly eyes. I think that's a Boomer Humor Bingo!