00:01You know what else I noticed?
00:02I noticed more things.
00:04I noticed that the...
00:05Not just product renaming.
00:07The Cold War.
00:08The Cold War.
00:09CW.
00:10Could have been a World War.
00:11DCW.
00:12But a cache of Soviet jokes that was compiled by CIA agents during the Cold War has been released among a cache of declassified documents.
00:23Soviet jokes.
00:24Jokes.
00:24Designed for what purpose?
00:26It's hard to say because they mainly make fun of the Soviet Union.
00:32So all the jokes were told between Soviets but picked up by CIA operatives before being relayed back to Washington.
00:40Do we believe that perhaps it were American operatives and spies to be armed with these jokes?
00:47It might be a way of sort of ingratiating themselves to...
00:51In other words, if you could tell a funny Soviet joke to another person.
00:55I don't...
00:56They're not clear on what the purpose of this was.
00:58Or was it for their...
00:58I think it was just them.
00:59Soviet review.
01:01It was just part of the gigantic lists of stuff that they have in the CIA.
01:05So there's a lot of Yakov Smirnoff stuff here, right?
01:07The list was addressed to the deputy director of the CIA but is believed to have been circulated among senior White House officials.
01:14One joke featuring Ronald Reagan made it to the president's desk and he found it so funny that he began to use it himself.
01:22That's the goddamn funniest thing I've ever heard.
01:24So here...
01:25Do you want to hear the joke?
01:26Please tell me.
01:27Tell me, Mommy.
01:28An American tells a Russian that the United States is so free that he can stand in front of the White House and yell,
01:34To hell with Ronald Reagan.
01:36And the Russian replies,
01:38That's nothing.
01:39I can stand in front of the Kremlin and yell,
01:41To hell with Ronald Reagan, too.
01:43I don't get it.
01:44Ah!
01:45Oh!
01:46Yeah!
01:48Did you say penis?
01:49I must have missed it.
01:50No.
01:51You said it was a dirty joke.
01:53No, I didn't say it was a dirty joke.
01:54Oh, yes, you did.
01:55Where?
01:56What?
01:57No, I didn't say it was a dirty joke.
01:59You said it was filthy.
02:00I think the Alzheimer's is kicking in, Ronnie.
02:01Goddammit.
02:02Yep.
02:03Where are my jelly beans?
02:06It is not known exactly why the CIA began doing this.
02:08It wasn't filthy.
02:09Though, since there were no polls in Soviet Russia, it could have been a good way for agents to judge public mood towards politicians and the government.
02:18Why did chicken cross the road?
02:20Why?
02:20To escape the extreme starvation caused by Stalin.
02:24One particular figure of fun was Mikhail Gorbachev.
02:28Why do I have stain on head?
02:30The last leader of the Soviet Union who worked to end the Cold War by reforming the USSR.
02:35While this made him popular overseas, he was often reviled at home, as revealed by this joke, which tells of a man waiting in line at a liquor store.
02:45Tell the joke.
02:46A worker standing at a liquor store line says, I have had enough.
02:51Save my place.
02:52I'm going to go shoot Gorbachev.
02:54Two hours later, he returns to claim his place in line, and his friends ask, did you get him?
02:59He said, no.
03:00The line there was even longer than the line here.
03:03This is a good one.
03:04It's very funny.
03:05Another joke compares Gorbachev to...
03:08You know, maybe we don't laugh at the same kind of jokes or something, but...
03:12You know, he told me that Gorbachev line joke, and it wasn't funny.
03:17But, uh, I have one for you.
03:20Knock, knock.
03:21Who's there?
03:22Orange.
03:23Orange who?
03:25Banana.
03:25I don't think you told that correctly.
03:34Shut up.
03:38Banana.
03:39So, Stalin...
03:47I'm going home.
03:48Stalin was also...
03:50Knock, knock.
03:50Who's there?
03:51Stay in your seats or you'll all be shot.
03:55It's funny, yes?
03:59Knock, knock.
04:00Who's there?
04:01You will starve in gulag.
04:02I'm here all as a week.
04:07I would say try Seville, but there is no meal.
04:10Try cannibalism as we starve out all of the population in Siberia.
04:16Because of extreme poverty caused by Stalin.
04:19Thanks for coming.
04:24Knock, knock.
04:25Who's there?
04:26They murdered my wife.
04:29That's not...
04:30That's sad.
04:32Yeah.
04:34But if you think about it...
04:36She was, uh, nagging.
04:39It's a way homer.
04:41Have you heard the banana joke?
04:43Heard funny joke from Rocky.
04:45Knock, knock.
04:46Who's there?
04:47Orange.
04:48Orange who?
04:48Banana.
04:54Oh, God.
04:56Well, these are CIA files.
05:03Hey, I am having literally to hold stomach from pain of laughing.
05:07Yes, yes, exactly.
05:09Okay, I just, I noticed that, uh, and I figured we might have to...
05:12I noticed or noticed.
05:13I noticed the Soviet humor.
05:14I noticed the Soviet humor.
Comments