A Punchline In Search Of A Joke—Five Minute Freewrite

So, the bartender says, "It's in the club!"

Ha ha ha. That's hilarious. Great joke, my man.

Thank you, Chuck. I've worked on that for a while now.

Enjoy the party.

Thanks, you, too.

Hey, Dale. Long time no see!

Oh, hey, Larry. It has been a while. How are you?

I'm great. It's nice seeing all kinds of people from our high school days.

Yep. Lots of them here this time around. This your first reunion?

Yeah. I thought they might be lame. This has been cool so far, though.

Yep.

I guess you were telling a joke. Something about, "It's in the club?"

Well, that's the punch line. Kind of had to be there.

I'd love to hear the rest.

I don't know. It's probably not going to be that funny now that you know how it ends.

Try me.

I don't know...

No really. I'd really like to hear it.

All right. You asked for it. So, it goes like this. A neanderthal walks into a bar...

What? Wait. A neanderthal? Are you sure? Bars didn't come along until millions of years after the neanderthals died out.

See. I told you it wouldn't work.

No, no come on. The other guys thought it was funny. I want to hear it.

Okay, but you need to let me get through it.

No problem. Fire away.

Okay. Ahem. So, this neanderthal walks into a bar...

Right.

********END OF FIVE MINUTES*******

...and he asks the gal waiting tables where he can hang his club.

So, this neanderthal speaks English? Or does the waitress speak neanderthal?

It's a joke, Larry. It's not meant to be literal.

Right. Sorry. Continue.

Okay. So the waitress tells the neanderthal "Far wall." Now, the neanderthal, he doesn't hear so well, so he says, "Did you say narwhal?"

Ha ha. Now that's funny. The idea a neanderthal would even know what a narwhal was...

Larry...

Sorry. Sorry. Go ahead.

So, the waitress, thinking the neanderthal is too thick to understand, decides to speak slower and louder, "The. Club. Rack. Is. On. The. Far. Wall."

Did that help?

No, Larry. It didn't. The neanderthal still doesn't hear things clearly, so he says, "The rub clack is on the war fall?"

Ah, ha ha. I see what you did there. You reversed the first letters of the words!

Yes, I did. You know what? I don't think this is such a good idea. No worries, though. It just so happens, I haven't really eaten yet. So, I'm just going to head over to the potato bar, get something, then maybe do some more mingling. It was nice to see you.

Now, hold on there. You're not finished.

It's okay. The joke isn't going anywhere, anyway.

Why don't you just tell me why the bartender says, "It's in the club!"

That's because a T-Rex was enjoying a large barbecued rib and the neanderthal wondered where the flavor came from.

It's in the club!

Exactly.

Ha ha ha. I don't get it.

That's okay. Neither did the neanderthal.

_{Image source—Pixabay. Post is part of the five minute freewrite. Friday's prompt—in the club.}