Emma on a Monday

Em: "Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Me: "I don't know...why?"
Em: "To get a chicken roast!"
[crickets]
Em: "Get it? Chicken roast? Cause 'roast' is like 'road', but you just switch the last letters and you have R-O-A-S-T? It's like a play on words."
Me: "But that doesn't make any sense."
Em: "But it's FUNNY! It's a lot funnier than 'to get to the other side.'"
Me: "I agree, 'to get to the other side' isn't very funny either. But I think 'to get to the other side' is supposed to be ironic. It plays with expectations. Like, people usually expect jokes to have a twist, but 'to get to the other side' is a sensible answer. So I think they are going for irony."
[pause]
Em: "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Me: "Well..."
Em: "'Chicken roast' makes sense! The chicken wants to eat a chicken roast - get it? Get it? And that's what makes it funny!"
Me: "Okay. If you say so. But I think the general rule with jokes is that if you have to explain why the joke is funny, that might be a sign that it's not the best joke."
Em: "Well, that doesn't make any sense. If I don't explain that the chicken roast man is on the other side of the road and he's giving away balloons and the roast smells really yummy, then people won't know why the chicken wants one so badly!"
Me: "Okay. You win. I take it all back. Great joke."
Em: "Thank you."