# Jokester > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jokester > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jokester.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokester > Source revision: 1355056409 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{about|the 1956 Isaac Asimov short story|"someone who makes jokes"|wikt:jokester{{!}}Wiktionary's dictionary entry|practical joker|Practical joke|other uses}} {{distinguish|Jester (disambiguation){{!}}Jester|Joker (disambiguation){{!}}Joker}} {{Notability|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox short story | |name = Jokester |title_orig = |translator = |author = [Isaac Asimov](/source/Isaac_Asimov) |country = United States |language = English |series = [Multivac](/source/Multivac) |genre = [Science fiction](/source/Science_fiction) |published_in = ''[Infinity Science Fiction](/source/Infinity_Science_Fiction)'' |publisher = Royal Publications |media_type = Magazine |pub_date = December 1956 |english_pub_date = |preceded_by = [The Last Question](/source/The_Last_Question) |followed_by = [All the Troubles of the World](/source/All_the_Troubles_of_the_World) }} "'''Jokester'''" is a [science fiction](/source/science_fiction) [short story](/source/short_story) by American writer [Isaac Asimov](/source/Isaac_Asimov). It first appeared in the December 1956 issue of ''[Infinity Science Fiction](/source/Infinity_Science_Fiction)''.{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Isaac_Asimov_the_Foundations_of_Science/OeAOAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover |page=71 |title=Isaac Asimov: the Foundations of Science Fiction |first=James E. |last=Gunn |via=Google Books| date=1982|isbn= 9780195030594|publisher=Oxford University Press}} It involves a common theme in a number of Asimov's stories about a powerful fictional computer called [Multivac](/source/Multivac): only a specialist knows which questions to ask Multivac in order to receive meaningful answers.Max Maxfield, [https://www.eejournal.com/article/university-degrees-in-generative-ai-prompt-engineering-mind-blown/ "University Degrees in Generative AI Prompt Engineering (Mind Blown!)"], ''Electronic Engineering Journal'', June 20, 2024 ==Plot summary== Noel Meyerhof is a "Grand Master", one of a small cadre of Earth's recognised geniuses, who has the intuition to know what questions are important enough to ask Multivac. The senior computer analyst notices that Meyerhof tells jokes to Multivac and becomes worried about the mental state of Meyerhof. Eventually Meyerhof discloses that he wants to ask Multivac two questions he feels to be important. The first one is, what is the source of the jokes. He explains that whoever tells a joke, they either heard it from someone else or read in a book and nobody claims to be an author of the joke. The only kind of humor that can be non-borrowed are [pun](/source/pun)s. But puns are supposed to be unfunny and the proper response to a pun is to groan rather than laugh. Multivac eventually tells them that humour is actually a tool for the psychological study of the human race by [extraterrestrials](/source/Extraterrestrials_in_fiction), similarly to [how humans study mice](/source/Laboratory_mouse). They needed to isolate the responses to their jokes from original ones, so they "programmed" us to react differently to puns. The second Meyerhof's question was, what will happen when the humankind learn the answer to the first question. Multivac says this will make humour useless as a tool, so the aliens will cease using it... And suddenly the characters of the story feel that they cannot recall any joke. ==Prints== It first appeared in the December 1956 issue of ''[Infinity Science Fiction](/source/Infinity_Science_Fiction)'' and was reprinted in the collections ''[Earth Is Room Enough](/source/Earth_Is_Room_Enough)'' (1957), ''The Far Ends of Time and Earth'' (1979), ''[The Best Science Fiction of Isaac Asimov](/source/The_Best_Science_Fiction_of_Isaac_Asimov)'' (1986), ''[Robot Dreams](/source/Robot_Dreams_(short_story_collection))'' (1986), and ''[The Complete Stories](/source/The_Complete_Stories_(Asimov))'', Volume 1 (1990).[https://sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/details2.php?id=2267 Jokester by Isaac Asimov], SFandFantasy.co.uk ==Adaptations== The story was adapted as a 30 minute broadcast, read by [Henry Goodman](/source/Henry_Goodman), in 2006 by BBC 7 (now [BBC Radio 4 Extra](/source/BBC_Radio_4_Extra)).{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jwnj |title=Jokester by Isaac Asimov - BBC Radio 4 Extra |website=BBC |access-date=March 26, 2024}} == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{ISFDB title|58950}} {{Earth is Room Enough}} {{Authority control}} Category:1956 short stories Category:American short stories Category:Science fiction short stories Category:Multivac short stories by Isaac Asimov Category:Works originally published in Infinity Science Fiction Category:Short stories adapted into radio programs --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jokester](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokester) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jokester?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.