THE HISTORY OF MAMA JOKES
The ‘yo mama’ joke is in a unique category of humor in that it is one
of the few comedy genres that actually has a traceable history or
background. Yo mama jokes, also referred to as ‘the dozens’ was a
tradition in many African-American communities that became widely
popular during the twentieth century. Basically, two people (usually men
or boys) compete against each other by out doing each in trash talking.
It is all in good fun, often draws an audience and in the middle of it
are always quips about their mothers. The two competitors take turns
exchanging jokes about each other’s mothers until one gives up in
defeat. Playing the dozens and using yo mama jokes was used as a way to
determine who has the strongest mental toughness or mental agility. Each
joke is stronger and harsher, making it that more difficult for
opponents to respond.
Playing the dozens is not only credited with of the mama joke, it is
also often attributed with the birth of ‘battling,’ the elements that
weave the common threads in many hip hop songs. But the dozens has it’s
origins in a very dark time in African American history. The term, ‘the
dozens’ was once used to refer to the devaluation of slaves on the
auction block. It was first used in New Orleans to define slaves who
were either deformed, aged, or no longer useful after many years of
back-breaking labor. Because of their lack of value to they were often
sold by the dozen. Being sold in a lot by ‘the dozens,’ was the lowest
possible blow to a black person’s ego. After slavery, the dozens
emerged as a contest of verbal agility because takes great mind power to
keep it going. Defeat can b e humiliating, but for a skilled contender,
even losing can earn great respect among their peers. While the
competition usually appears to be very light-hearted, smiles very often
hide very real tensions lying just beneath the surface. Most yo mama
jokes are used to poke fun at others, with no one taking the barbs
personally. However, when it does become personal, anger can easily
escalate into a fight or some other form of violence.
The irony, however, is that the joke form that is most often
attributed to African-American humorists, quite probably had its origins
long before the discovery and development of the Western Hemisphere.
William Shakespeare actually used an early form of the now infamous
mama joke in at least two of his plays. In the opening scene of Timon of
Athens, the character Apemantus is called a dog by Painter. His
response, “Thy mother’s of my generation. What’s she if I be a dog?”
Shakespeare uses the mama joke again in the fourth act of his play Titus
Andronicus, when Aaron taunts the sons of his lover. Insulting one’s
mother has long been a means of finding humor in a very sensitive
subject. When used as a insult, the yo mama joke can be painfully cruel.
When taken in fun, however, the yo mama joke can be one of the funniest
forms of humor anyone can come across. The verbal sparring that goes
along with yo mama jokes has developed into a true art form, one that
many people cannot fathom. Yo mama jokes are very enigmatic, short, and
in most cases side splittingly hilarious. All yo mama jokes have a set
formula… “yo mama is so X [stupid, fat, lazy, slow, skinny, dark, etc.],
she Y [This is where the mental agility, verbal skill and quick wit
comes in]. Variations of yo mama jokes include one liners aimed at
fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands and wives. The best yo mama jokes
are originals, not taken from a book or another individual’s repartee,
but straight from the brain to the lips. However, the jokester who is in
search of yo mama material can find an endless supply of yo mama jokes
on the internet and in several mama joke books that have popped up over
the last twenty years.
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