Jester Jokes »

Jester is a project of the University of California, Berkeley that uses the Eigentaste algorithm to recommend jokes you may like.

After playing around with it for a while, the system consistently displays jokes which I find at least somewhat funny. Interestingly, their database showed me the supposed funniest joke in the world, which is very un-funny compared to other jokes it showed.

I also learned of an anecdote former President Jimmy Carter told on the David Letterman show. Allegedly, while Carter was opening a speech with a joke in Japan, the translator quickly relayed the joke--which Carter found only mildly amusing--to the audience who burst out in an uproar of laughter. Confused, Carter asked the translator how he told the joke to the audience. The translator said something to the effect of "I said 'the President just told a very funny joke, please laugh now'."

I could not find a definitive answer to the validity of this story, but it is echoed on the Carter Center website and tentatively researched by this mailing list poster.