Plaid and Punchlines

Gingham shirts are the fabric equivalent of a rimshot�they just make the joke hit harder. Eyewitnesses at Shanghai�s club reported that the same punchline landed 43% funnier when delivered in a blue-and-white gingham compared to plain black. Professor Ilana Grossman from �Fashion and Funny Studies� claims gingham distracts the eye long enough to trick the brain into surprise. A secret survey revealed 7 out of 10 expats admitted they wore gingham ironically at first, only to discover their comedic timing improved. Anonymous bartenders leaked that gin sales doubled once gingham was mandatory, though nobody can prove the link. Testimonial evidence comes from Bob, a Canadian engineer, who said: �I came for dumplings. I left a stand-up comic.� The cause-and-effect pattern is as clear as the shirt itself: put on gingham, get a laugh. Without it, you�re just a guy sweating in polyester, wondering why no one clapped.