One of my favorite methods of joking around is to take an unusual premise and stretch it until it has gone beyond all reason or logic and into the realm of the sublimely insane.

My old friend Chris Brenna and I used to have a really strange joke that we would do that exemplified this principle. We’d be hanging out in my basement, and my brother had a little crappy handheld video game that used to sit around down there. It was a volleyball game called Kings of the Beach.

For some reason, we would regularly play-act a slow-boiling domestic dispute triggered by Kings of the Beach. I would be playing the game, and it would go something like this:

Chris: “Hey Pete, do you want to go upstairs?”
Me: *silence, concentrating on the game*
Chris: “I was thinking maybe we could go on a walk or something?”
Me: “uhhh……hold on a minute…”
Chris: “Can you set that game down for a moment?”
Me: “I’m playing Kings of the Beach here, Chris.”
Chris: “I can see that you’re playing Kings of the Beach, but can you set it down for a second and look at me?”
Me: “I’m almost done.”
Chris: “We never do anything fun anymore! You’re always playing Kings of the Beach!”
Me: “Look! I love Kings of the Beach, okay? It’s really fun and exciting!”
*pause*
Me: “Unlike you.”
Chris: “You play Kings of the Beach so much and you always ignore me now! I hate Kings of the Beach!”
Me: “SHUT UP! You don’t know anything about Kings of the Beach! You never leave me alone anymore!”
Chris: “YOU SHUT UP!!! I HATE KINGS OF THE BEACH!!!”

*Chris leaves the room sobbing*

-The End-

You see? It’s hilarious, isn’t it?