Lightbulb joke

A lightbulb joke is a joke that asks how many people of a certain group are needed to change, replace, or screw in a light bulb. Generally, the punch line answer highlights a stereotype of the target group. There are numerous versions of the lightbulb joke satirizing a wide range of cultures, beliefs and occupations.

Early versions of the joke, popular in the late 1960s and the 1970s, were used to insult the intelligence of Poles ("Polish jokes"). For instance:

Q. How many Polacks does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Three—one to hold the light bulb and two to turn the ladder.

Although lightbulb jokes tend to be derogatory in tone (e.g., "How many drummers..." / "Four: one to hold the light bulb and three to drink until the room spins"), the people targeted by them may take pride in the stereotypes expressed and are often themselves the jokes' originators. Lightbulb jokes applied to subgroups can be used to ease tensions between them.

Some versions of the joke are puns on the words "" or "":

Q. How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. None–the light bulb will change when it's ready.

Q. How many flies does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A. Two, but don't ask me how they got in there.

Lightbulb jokes may be responses to current events, particularly those related to energy and political power. For example, the lightbulb may not need to be changed at all due to ongoing power outages.The Village Voice held a $200 lightbulb joke contest around the time of the Iran hostage crisis, with the winning joke being:

Q. How many Iranians does it take to change a light bulb?
A. You send us the prize money and we'll tell you the answer.

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