The opening joke of Matt Rife’s Netflix special, “Natural Selection,” uses shock value and subversion of expectations as its primary humor device. Set in Baltimore, which Rife describes as “ratchet,” the joke begins with a seemingly ordinary observation: a hostess at a restaurant with a black eye. The expectation is that the joke might revolve around the hostess’s appearance being an odd choice for a welcoming face of a company. However, Rife takes a dark turn by suggesting, through his friend’s comment and his own response, that domestic violence could be the reason behind her black eye.
The punchline, “Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye,” is a jarring and controversial comment implying that domestic violence could be avoided if the victim had better domestic skills. This is a form of dark humor, which finds comedy in topics that are generally considered serious, distressing, or taboo.
Rife’s follow-up, “Testing the water, seeing if y’all are gonna be fun or not. Just wanted to see,” acknowledges the edginess of the joke and serves as a gauge for the audience’s reaction to controversial humor. It suggests an understanding that such humor can be divisive and is being used to test the boundaries of the audience’s sensibilities.

The statement “What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor? ‘Where’s my tractor?!?'” is an example of an anti-joke. Anti-jokes subvert traditional joke structures by providing an expected, straightforward answer that lacks a typical punchline, thus creating humor through the absence of an expected witty or clever twist. In this case, the setup leads the listener to anticipate a humorous or pun-based punchline related to farmers or tractors. However, the answer is simply a literal and realistic response to the situation posed in the setup – a farmer inquiring about his missing tractor. The humor in anti-jokes like this one comes from the surprise and the subversion of the listener’s expectations for a conventional joke. The straightforwardness of the answer, “Where’s my tractor?!?”, contrasts sharply with the anticipated clever or humorous twist, making it funny in a different, more understated way.

The joke “How do farmers party? They turnip the beets” is a pun that plays on the double meanings of the words “turnip” and “beets,” which are both types of vegetables, and the phrase “turn up the beats,” which is a common expression used to mean increasing the volume of music, typically in a party setting. “Turnip” sounds like “turn up,” and “beets” sounds like “beats,” which refers to musical rhythms. The humor arises from the clever wordplay, where agricultural terms are used in a context that is usually associated with a lively, music-filled party atmosphere.

The joke “How do you turn a dishwasher into a snow blower? Give her a shovel” is a play on traditional gender stereotypes and wordplay. The setup starts with a seemingly technical question about converting a dishwasher (a kitchen appliance) into a snow blower (a machine for removing snow). However, the punchline unexpectedly shifts the context from machinery to gender roles, with “dishwasher” and “snow blower” being used as euphemisms for a woman performing household chores. “Give her a shovel” implies that by handing a woman (implied by “her”) a shovel, she changes from doing one chore (washing dishes) to another (shoveling snow).

The joke “What’s the difference between a woman and a dishwasher? I know how to turn on a dishwasher” relies on a play on words and a double entendre involving the phrase “turn on.” In a literal sense, “turning on” a dishwasher refers to activating the appliance to wash dishes. However, “turning on” someone is a colloquial expression meaning to arouse or excite them sexually. The humor in the joke comes from the speaker implying they understand the straightforward, mechanical process of operating a dishwasher, but are clueless or inept when it comes to romantically or sexually engaging with a woman. The joke plays on common stereotypes about relationships and the perceived complexity or mystery surrounding romantic interactions, particularly from the perspective of a male who might find understanding and responding to his wife’s romantic or sexual cues challenging or confusing.