Three wishes joke

The three wishes joke is a form of joke in which the protagonist is given three wishes by a supernatural being, and fails to make the best use of them. Common scenarios include releasing a genie from confinement - perhaps finding an old oil lamp and rubbing it; catching and agreeing to release a mermaid or magical fish; or crossing paths with the devil.

The protagonist of the joke makes their first two wishes and finds that all is well. Often, the third wish is either misinterpreted, or intentionally granted in an awkwardly literal fashion, and cannot be reversed because it is the final wish, resulting in the punchline of the joke. Alternatively, the wishes are split between three people, with the last person inadvertently or intentionally messing up or undoing the wishes of the others with their wish to form the punchline.

An example of the three wishes joke runs as follows:

Variations

One variation on the theme has the protagonist turning the tables on the genie, who for some contrived reason has placed a condition on the wishes that would result in an opponent of the protagonist also benefitting from the wishes. An example of this joke was used in The Simpsons episode, "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife". There, a character tells Marge Simpson a joke in which a genie promises to grant a man whatever he wishes, with the caveat that the man's wife's lover gets double whatever the man gets. After first wishing for a house and a car, the man wishes to be beaten "half to death" — which Marge doesn't understand.

Three wishes

Three wishes may refer to:

See also

Three Wishes (Spyro Gyra album)

Three Wishes is the sixteenth album by the American jazz group Spyro Gyra, released in 1992 on the GRP label. This album reached #4 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Three Wishes (Miki Howard album)

Three Wishes is the seventh studio album by American R&B singer Miki Howard released under Peak Records. The album peaked at No. 60 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums but failed to chart on the US Billboard 200. The song, "Meant to Be", was produced by singer/actor Darius McCrary of the television sitcom Family Matters, who also sings background vocals on the track.

The tracks, "Nobody" and "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady", were produced by Barry Eastmond and co-written by singer/songwriter Gordon Chambers and Barry Eastmond. The album consists of mostly ballads which Howard delivers vocally.

Executive producers on Three Wishes include Russ Freeman of jazz band The Rippingtons and Andi Howard. The album was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album at the 2002 Grammy Awards.

Track listing

Charts

References