Knock, knock, who's there? Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

These lines are the origin of the knock-knock joke. How could you not care about that? Everyone has heard one. Everyone has told one. It's usually the first joke we learn.

But if that doesn't do it for you, then maybe this will. At this point in the play, there's so much tension. Macbeth has just killed King Duncan. Lady Macbeth is helping wash off the blood and plant the daggers on some guards. And in rolls the Porter in all his glory and tells essentially the world's first knock-knock joke.

And the thing is, he steals the show. We were anxious and jumpy before he came on stage. Then he rolls in and starts telling jokes, and suddenly, our minds are a million miles away from the murder. The fact that Shakespeare thought to do that and came up with a whole new joke format at the same time? Well, we think that's worth caring about, don't you?