Deaf King Kong: Jay Harris (2014)
Deaf King Kong: (Signed by five
Communications)
Deaf King Kong: CJ Jones (2016)
different
storytellers)
(2015)
(Produced
by
Sorenson
While the works by Bienvenu and De Rose are about a giant, the protagonist in other versions is
King Kong. An English translation of the joke is below:
A huge giant is stalking through a small village of tiny people, who are scattering throughout the
streets, trying to escape the ugly creature. The giant notices one particularly beautiful blond-
haired girl scampering down the cobblestone street. He stretches out his clumsy arm and
sweeps up the girl, then stares with wonder at the sight of the shivering figure in his palm. ‘You
are so beautiful,’ he exclaims. The young woman looks up in fear. ‘I would never hurt you,’ he
signs. ‘I love you. I think we should get MARRIED.’ With the production of the sign MARRY the
beautiful young woman is crushed. (Recall that to produce MARRY the speaker claps the
cupped hands together.) (Lane, Hoffmeister, & Bahan, 1996, pp. 122 – 123)
While the plot of these versions is basically similar with some variations, all of them have the
same punchline. Because the ASL sign MARRY involves clasping the hands together, the woman is
unintentionally crushed (see below for Bienvenu's 1980 rendition). The versions “ta ke the form of high
expectations comically transformed into disappointments” (Tanner, 1996, p. 54). Interestingly,
Bienvenu and De Rose go beyond the punchline. The former ends the joke with a lamentation, “See,
oralism is better!” The latter ends with a question, “Is ASL dangerous?” Both are good examples of
self-defeating humor.
Baker-Shenk, C., & Cokely, D. (1980, 1981, 2007). American Sign Language: Tales from the green books [DVD]. Burtonsville, MD: Sign Media, Inc. Used by permission from Sign Media, Inc.
Known as one of the oldest jokes in ASL literature, Please But is frequently the first one told
when deaf people are asked for an instance of a deaf joke (Rutherford, 1993). As with the King Kong
renditions, the joke will fail if translated into English for someone who knows no ASL. To date, there are
three videotaped versions.
(Continue on the next page)
The Power of ASL
3
Summer 2018 – Issue 10