The Bunker Jokes is a parody series in which Fritz Tornow, Walther Hewel, Hans Krebs, Eva Braun, Ernst-Günther Schenck and a few others, most of which are at least half-drunk, makes a one-liner joke about a certain character in the Hitler Parodies, characters from other films or other one-liner jokes.
The series as it is known today makes almost exclusive use of the generals drinking scene, though in the end of the parody characters from other scenes are usually shown.
Origins and developments[]
The first joke-themed parody (using the Reviews Scene) was introduced by thelobsterperson in his parody "Günsche's joke of the day! Justin Bieber".
Parodies that uses this particular scene and format (and thus establish the series familiar to many today) was introduced by FuhrerFegelein, with the characters joking about Joseph Goebbels, e.g. why is his name Goebbels, his favorite song, his favorite band, etc. It usually shows Goebbels being angry or sad in the end. Unlike the first incarnation by thelobsterperson, the present Bunker Jokes proper are mainly one-liners.
This meme developed significantly, with the characters joking about other characters, such as: Günsche, Goebbels, Hitler, Jodl, Göring, Eva, Burgdorf, Fegelein, Traudl, Krebs, Reitsch, Schenck, Mohnke, Grawitz, Keitel, Högl, Greim, and Blondi. Some Untergangers, including series originator FuhrerFegelein, give appropriate titles according to the character being joked (e.g. Hitler Jokes or Goebbels Jokes) while others stick to the Bunker Jokes label. There are also jokes about non-Downfall characters, or simply generic one-liners.
A few joke subsets have emerged within the series, such as jokes referencing Hitler's Parkinson's and the characters' pick-up lines. There are also derivative series that serve to counter this series, presenting the joke in different ways (see this section).
Types[]
Multiple types of the series exist, each differentiated by the sequence of speakers. Some of them include:
- Hewel-Tornow (short)
- The most typical of the bunker jokes. Hewel presents the question, and Tornow delivers the punchline.
- Hewel-Tornow (long)
- A variant of the above, but using Tornow's longer dialogue (which is actually the original in Downfall).
- Hewel-Tornow-Krebs-Tornow
- Most probably used on jokes involving Krebs. After the punchline is given by Tornow, Krebs refutes it, and Tornow replied with the final verbal blow.
- Eva-Hewel-Tornow
- Eva presents a fact, then Hewel asks why, to which Tornow replied with the punchline.
In almost all cases, the characters being joked about is shown at the end of the video, mostly displeased by the joke. Some even reacted violently. Interesting to note is that a lot of these characters are themselves present with the drinking party (such as Günsche, who can be seen next to Hewel).
Derivatives[]
Smell of the Ice has also created the opposite of the Bunker Jokes, Anti-Joke Keitel, in which Keitel answers Schenck's question correctly, which causes him to leave the room, while Tornow smokes his cigarette without laughing and the whole room is silent.
Mfaizsyahmi had also started a spinoff series called the Fail Joke Stehr on late-May 2013. In this spinoff Stehr replies to Hewel's question with slightly funny to unfunny one-liners and a rimshot (ba dum tss) is played. Everyone gives an awkward look and Schenck leaves the room. Unlike the Anti-Joke Keitel, the Fail Joke Stehr still contain actual jokes. A little comparison made by mfaizsyahmi shows that parodies containing the exact same joke is more well-received in the Bunker Jokes format than the Fail Joke Stehr one, probably due to the title.
Trivia[]
- The scene of Fritz laughing was first used in KakashiBallZ's Before Fegelein...there was HIMMLER!! in a humorous way, but it is not a Bunker Joke.
- In Günsche Jokes, the ending shows Günsche in the Hitler Reviews Scene, even though he is seen in the beginning with the others, beside Hewel.
- Despite being one of the most hated characters, Fegelein enjoyed being free of jokes directed at him for some time, until Fegelein's Jokes - Fegelein's Least Favourite Bug Tricks is uploaded.
- Göring almost always reacts very violently toward his jokes; he checks his watch and then blows up the room with his... fart?
- mfaizsyahmi's Göring jokes are almost always followed by a longer laughter edited in, doubling the video duration.
- A subset of Hitler's jokes involve his Parkinson's, inspired by Michael J Fox's jokes.
- It is interesting that many characters that are being joked about, like Günsche, Burgdorf, Krebs and Eva are actually in the scene, and Burgdorf himself is seen laughing, possibly even Krebs.
- If the laughing part is not edited properly, Eva will show up walking in, which might pose the same paradox if she was seen in the joke's antecedent.
- After the laughing scene, they have sometimes completely opposite reactions:
- Krebs once told Tornow that he's right near him, but Fritz did not cared.
- After laughing in the scene, Burgdorf has sometimes reacted extremely violent, he even tried to shoot the laughing characters several times. On rare occasions, he laughed.
- Günsche reacted violently only once.
- One parody has been made highlighting Burgdorf's awkward moment in the scene, as Krebs talks to Tornow.
- When uploading Bunker Jokes parodies on YouTube, the default thumbnail (the middle thumbnail) usually reveals Tornow's punchlines. Many Untergangers changed the thumbnail to the first (Hewel asking the question) or the third (everyone laughing). Non-standard formats may have different thumbnails.
- A close cousin of the Bunker Jokes is the "Yo Momma" jokes, started by FegeleintheLostTapes in his Viva La Fegel series. The Mohnke talks to Goebbels scene where the showdown occurs becomes very notable for subsequent Yo Momma jokes made by later Untergangers.
External links[]
- Fegelein's Jokes - Fegelein's Least Favorite Bug Tricks
- Krebs Jokes: Favorite Sandwich
- Anti-Joke Keitel: Hitler's favourite food
- Fail Joke Stehr: the place where Göring cries