Regina dad's 'pun-demic' board offers laughs, groans during COVID-19

Graeme Parsons's two kids aren't the only ones laughing and groaning at his dad jokes these days. Most of his neighbourhood is, too.

Last week, the Regina man began setting up a daily "pun-demic" board on his Uplands driveway, with a joke, pun or groaner for those passing by to read.

Parsons said the idea first came about a couple of weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic when he read the line, "I hear dad jokes are on the rise. This is turning into a real pun-demic."

From there, the father knew he had to share his wit and punniness with the world — or at least his neighbours.

"I see people walking by and, every once in a while, they stop and a smile comes across their face — that's what I originally started it for," Parsons said. "If I can bring a smile to one person's face, then it makes it all worthwhile." 

He also created an Instagram page featuring the jokes of the day to spread his humour with people elsewhere.

"It's just absolutely astounding the amount of people who are jumping on [Instagram] with positivity and just wonderful messages of support for what I'm doing — and for everyone else out there who is struggling through these times," Parsons said.

Punniness runs in the family

While many of Parsons's groaners come from the Internet, he said a good chunk are shared through friends, family and the dad joke veteran — his own father, John Parsons.

"My dad is a punster at the most of times," Graeme said. "You can't say much around him without any punny remark coming back."

John said he's been telling dad-style jokes for most of his life — long before he became a father decades ago.

"They come in and out of my head, kind of like rain," John said with a laugh. "To me, a pun is the best form of humour because it doesn't make fun of anybody — it makes fun of the language."

Watching his son grow up to share the humour he was raised with fills John with pride.

"I'm proud as heck of him," John said, adding he thinks the pun-demic board is a wonderful idea.

"There's a lot of darkness in the world and it's nice to be able to shine a light when you can."