Best of Jokes Current Jokes RHF Home Search ClariNet
Fun Stuff & Jokes

Best of RHF: 'True' Stories

Best of RHF: 'True' Stories


This page contains direct links to the best jokes from the early years of rec.humor.funny. Enjoy them, but don't read them all at once.

Visit the Home Page for more jokes, or topic index page for other subjects.

Be warned that this is not a joke collection for children. If you are under 18, check with your parents before browsing these jokes.


True News

True News

Recently, I've been getting a lot of submissions that weren't exactly jokes, but rather were anecdotes or descriptions of funny things that people had experienced or seen. These stories are all true or supposedly true -- this is known as ``found humour.'' Sometimes found humour is the best humour, sometimes you ``had to be there.'' I hope that all these rate a smile from you.

Also included here are some things that were intended to be funny or clever, but were simply reported by readers who witnessed them. Snappy comebacks, bumper stickers, T-shirts, etc. all belong here.

Once again, we must also make the warning that since the jokebooks were added on as a bonus to the SF in this anthology, careful proofreading was not possible and formatting errors will be present.


  • Reclassify (Gideon B. Sheps) true, unrated
  • A message from the Duke of Wellington, 1812 (psc@lznv.UUCP) true, smirk
  • Cromwell and Rasputin (kenny@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu) true, smirk
  • Slugs (Michael O'Hair) smirk, true
  • Fish Story (grant@looking.UUCP) true, smirk
  • Anecdotes (Phillip Garding) true, chuckle
  • Yes, people are that dumb... (Mike Godfrey) true, smirk
  • No room at the Inn? (Andrew Malton) true, chuckle
  • Thank Heavens for Schools (Steve Neighorn) rec_humor_cull, true, chuckle
  • Something fun...? ("Henry_Cate_III.PA"@XEROX.COM) rec_humor_cull, chuckle, true?
  • Russel's Papadox (Donald Chinn) rec_humor_cull, true, chuckle
  • Tales of Fast Food (Clif Flynt) rec_humor_cull, true, chuckle
  • Strange things were happening in his yard (Stan Reeves) true, chuckle
  • How's your flow? (Joseph Nathan Hall) smirk, true, racist
  • Dicky is still tricky (Allan Pratt) true, chuckle
  • 1988 election observations (The Happy Hacker) funny, true
  • Quotes from students (Brent Nordquist) rec_humor_cull, chuckle, true
  • A Math Teacher's Story (John George) true, chuckle
  • Gurkhas - the Martial Race (Rahul Dhesi) true, chuckle
  • Misplaced modifier (Wm E. Davidsen) true, chuckle, sexual
  • Shotgun Weddings (Grant Robinson) true, chuckle
  • FAA saves the day (Tom Proett) true, smirk
  • Stupid Game Show Contestants (three embarassing portraits of a fish) rec_humor_cull, true, chuckle
  • Confused persons (Chunky Molestrangler @ The Idiosts' Shcool of Typnig) rec_humor_cull, true, chuckle
  • Safety in numbers (Jim Gardner) chuckle, true
  • Driver Gets a Stiff Fine (James Harvey) rec_humor_cull, funny, true
  • Something to think about ("Henry_Cate_III.PA"@XEROX.COM) rec_humor_cull, true, smirk
  • Quality Control (Mark Brader) true, smirk
  • Practical Joke Down South (Dave Jones) rec_humor_cull, true, funny
  • Poor Ben (Jeffrey S. Salowe) true, smirk
  • Amusing true law case (Fred Genoese-Zerbi) true, smirk
  • Odds and Ends (Maurice E. Suhre) true, chuckle
  • The Coolidge Effect (Matthew Bradburn) true, chuckle
  • Dope in the Supreme Court (Roy Smith) true, chuckle
  • Politics, dirty tricks (Larry Hardiman) swearing, true, chuckle
  • Creativity in bait'n'switch? (David Sherman) true, funny
  • When would you use Ollie North to sell? (Jim Valerio) true, funny
  • Signs of our times (Paul A Vixie) funny, true
  • Amateur robber (John Palmer) truenews, smirk
  • No Professional Courtesy (David Sherman) smirk
  • Just Say No (Bob Jordan) true, smirk
  • Don't talk that way to a mother.... (brad@cs.utexas.edu) true, funny, sexual
  • Drunk man and the cat (David Pascoe) true, mildly sexual, smirk
  • You can't trust a lawyer? (Richard Sexton) true, chuckle
  • New era of enlightenment at the Klan (Frederick Wamsley) true, chuckle
  • Garment care instructions (Robert Garvey) true, chuckle
  • Mind your Manners (Devin.E.Ben-Hur@cup.portal.com) true, chuckle
  • Funny linguistics (Edwin) true, chuckle
  • Schoolroom Humour (David Purdue) true?, sexual, smirk
  • Revisionist historian (Link Madison, E118 student) true, chuckle
  • Sheriff's Log (offensive to Hoosiers) (Rodney Mood) true, funny
  • Laboratory Experiment (Mark Noworolski) sexual, true, funny
  • The True News Digest, Issue #1 (Brad Templeton) smirk to funny, true, long
  • Moms... (JimThe Big Dweeb Griffith) true, chuckle
  • Witzelsucht (Julian Vrieslander) chuckle, true
  • A Jury of his Peers (mark@sickkids.toronto.edu) chuckle, true
  • Sign on a hospital bulletin board (ark@research.UUCP) true, smirk
  • Excerpt from book about Canada and the USA (D. Daniel Sternbergh) chuckle, true
  • Fun with latex (Mark Champine) sexual, true?, chuckle
  • Those Helpful Troopers (dwv@ihuxz.UUCP) true, smirk
  • Use a cane; go to prison (Mason Woo) true, chuckle
  • Intelligence at GA Tech (Dave Smith) true, funny
  • My kid sister could paint like that.... (Gregory Sandell) true, chuckle
  • Winning numbers (Steve Wolfe) true, funny
  • California Raisins (john eaton) true, chuckle
  • Sex Aid financial appeal (David Wright) true, chuckle, sexual
  • Amusing Story (Paul D'Eath) chuckle, true, possible urban legend
  • Drowning in red tape... (Steve Norton) true, chuckle
  • What will they think of next (Howard Stateman) true, smirk
  • Watch where you're going (Grant Robinson) true, chuckle
  • What's the point? (REMCKE01%ULKYVX.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca) chuckle, true
  • Cremation (Joe Dellinger) true, sick, smirk
  • Speeding Tickets (Norm Gee) true, smirk, sexual
  • On "reserve" with an airline (Katherine Albitz) true, chuckle, mildly sexual
  • Mensa Geniuses Discover New Day (Jim Tubman) chuckle, true
  • The Marshmallow of the 23rd Century (Steve Robert) true, smirk
  • Pacifists don't always eschew violence (Russ Nelson) chuckle, true
  • More news clippings (Jerry Cornelius) true, chuckle
  • Mort Sahl on Haig (John Shipman) true, funny
  • Size not important (Jon Boede) true, chuckle
  • Interesting Solicitation (Brian McClendon) true, chuckle
  • Large rodents (Steve Lamont) true, smirk
  • Holiday pics (Carol Gibson) true, smirk
  • Kids - The Natural Comedians (Adnan Yaqub) true, smirk, scatological
  • A funny thing happened... (Jeff Sloan) true, chuckle
  • in case you thought you could predict Bork's position on anything (Glenn Hyatt) true, chuckle, sexual
  • Statisticians (Jonathan R. Partington) true, chuckle
  • San Francisco Earthquake (gruesome...) (Robert Bowdidge) true?, smirk
  • A Clint Eastwood picture (Paul Partholomew) true, funny
  • An Audiophile, she's not (Bryan Hoog) true, chuckle
  • Re: People can be so gullible (Christopher Neufeld) smirk
  • Dropping Intelligence Levels (Joe Dellinger) true, chuckle
  • Pia Zadora (James Nicoll) true, funny
  • When in doubt, think. (Darren F. Provine) true, chuckle
  • BUY AMERICAN! (David Beams) smirk, true
  • Pit bulls (Joel Fine) true, funny
  • Is This Job For You? (Paul Fuqua) true, chuckle
  • A flare for the unusual (snider@inf.ethz.ch) true, funny
  • Re: Kids - The Natural Comedians (Wayne Hathaway) true, funny
  • Hubert Humphrey goes politicking (Hal Lillywhite) true, chuckle
  • Novice trooper - true story (Miles ONeal) true, chuckle
  • The power to cloud mens' minds (harris@sauron.UUCP) sexual, true, smirk
  • Prescription Drugs (Chuck Musciano) true, chuckle
  • Aviation snicker (Darren S. Bush) chuckle, true
  • The real difference between boys and girls (Taed Nelson) true, funny, mildly sexual
  • Practical joke (Lindsey Durway) true, funny
  • Nay, Fair Maid (Dan Barrett) chuckle, true
  • What are you gonna do now? (Ross Bradley) true, chuckle
  • A Beeper Story (Cheryl Marks) true, chuckle
  • Bambi's got a gun (tarsa@abyss.pa.dec.com) true, chuckle
  • Prescription confusion (Patrick R. Gold) true, chuckle
  • Finding a cop (barring@fiji.cs.umass.edu) true, chuckle
  • Wedding gifts, allegedly true (Richard S. Holmes) true, funny
  • A place to hunt (Mike Harris) heard it, funny
  • A Slight Problem with a Rescue (Hal Lillywhite) true, chuckle
  • An Object's Private Parts (Christopher) true, chuckle, sexual
  • Buss Service (Michael J. Irvin, WSU) chuckle, true
  • Soviet Humor: Hungarian shortages (Tom Comeau) true, chuckle
  • A Pointed Warning (Darren Leigh) true, chuckle
  • Cabbage patch kid? (Eoin O'Coindealbhain) sexual, chuckle
  • Natural childbirth (Sue McPherson) chuckle
  • Customer Oriented Marketing (Dave Gross) true, chuckle
  • Noted from Herb Caen (Dave Turner) funny, true
  • Outhouses (John Rickert) true, chuckle, scatological
  • Burger King's ad slogan (Max Pandaemonium) original, true, chuckle
  • A Cat, a Tree, and a New Word Definition (Larry Lippman) funny, true
  • More cats in trees (VSAARIOKARI@finabo.abo.fi) true, smirk
  • PC to the rescue (Brian Hoffman) true, chuckle
  • Student Evaluation of Teaching (Jeff Martens) original, true, chuckle
  • Global warming (elnitsky@math.lsa.umich.edu) true, chuckle
  • Practical Jokes (JOKE BOY) chuckle, original
  • Diplomacy with the police (John C Green Jr) chuckle, true
  • P. T. Barnum (Ernst W Mayer) true, chuckle
  • Self-conscious caffeine (Chuck Reiman) chuckle, true
  • Hi! Do you know me? I'm the King of Sweden. (Brendan Kehoe) chuckle
  • Why I love public radio (Penny Padgett) true, chuckle
  • Car-sicles (Alvin) original, true, chuckle
  • Dumb Ads & Newspaper Headlines (K.BISHOP@genie.com) true, funny
  • Spelling bee (Joseph Lazio) true, chuckle
  • A child's questions (Michael Sinz) true, chuckle, sexual
  • Reality! What a concept! (T. William Wells) chuckle, true
  • A cop with a sense of humour (Mark J. Reed) true, funny
  • Cash vs. credit (Harold E Austin Jr.) chuckle, true
  • Radio Giveaway (Michael J Graven) true, chuckle
  • Diplomacy with the police II (Dan N Wiebe) true, funny
  • Don't need it now, but maybe someday! (Jeffrey Eric Francis Friedl) chuckle, true
  • A comedian at city hall... (Matt Thompson) true, chuckle
  • Racial stereotype avoidance (PJ Geraghty) chuckle, true
  • Mindless receptionist (salzman@athena.mit.edu) chuckle, true
  • Shopping for funeral services (true story) (Bob Morris) chuckle, true
  • Anecdotes on old institutions (Mark Brader) true, smirk
  • More anecdotes on old institutions. (Gillett, David) true, chuckle
  • Mess Found In A Septic Tank (Steve Simmons) funny, true, sexual
  • How much is a pizza worth to Bill Gates? (H. Alan Montgomery) true?, smirk
  • The Old Man in the Phone Line (Shawn V. Hernan) true, smirk
  • Overhead at the King Bush protest... (Tom Limoncelli) true, smirk
  • This really happened in church... (Blackmore/Dean Wagner) true, chuckle
  • Drinking and Driving (David Jenkins) chuckle, true
  • Good Investigator (cak@inel.gov) true, chuckle
  • More questions kids ask (Topher Eliot) chuckle, true
  • Radio Shack Q&A (Jonathan) original, laugh, true
  • A smooth talker (Peter Hickey) original, true, chuckle
  • Man vs. Nature (WATERS,SHELDON) true, chuckle
  • Golf Quote (Campbell March) chuckle, true
  • Phone Company Writes to a Public Telephone (Warren Burstein) chuckle, true
  • A rather exclusive warranty (Gabe M Wiener) chuckle, true
  • I Love Lemon... Not (Michael Gordon Shapiro) chuckle, true, original
  • Kentucky Fried Commercial (Marc Sabatella) chuckle, true
  • A Head for Numbers (Samuel E. Buttrey) chuckle, military, true
  • World standards (rlang@firebird.newcastle.edu.au) chuckle, true
  • Ice Cream Parlor Emasculation (Lawrence Curcio) chuckle, sexual, true
  • I have no mouth and I must scream (Mark Chartrand) chuckle, true
  • Mispellers [sic] of the world, unite! (Walter Daugherity) topical, true, chuckle
  • Computer Nightmares (Jeff Liebermann) chuckle, original, computers, true
  • TV: Truth in advertising (Gail Elber) chuckle, tv, true
  • Truth in Advertising for Psychobabble Testimony (dbakken@bbn.com) chuckle, true
  • Store sign (Max Stevens) chuckle, true
  • Deer hunting the hard way (David Hinerman) chuckle, true
  • ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Best of Jokes | Current Jokes | RHF Home | Search | ClariNet