Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
It was spring 2020, when COVID lockdown kept the entire world inside. We all went a little stir crazy as uncertainty dominated the news cycles and social media. Determined to lighten the mood a little, I shared a silly Star Wars joke on Twitter one fateful Sunday morning:
Where does Palpatine hide his Sith armies? In his sleevies.
Did it instantly go viral? No. Did it get more than 50 likes? Also no. But I enjoyed the distraction, so I decided to share an original, terrible, Star Wars-themed dad joke every day, for as long as I could, with the goal of brightening someone’s day somewhere. The key to a good dad joke? It should be just like Luke Skywalker in stormtrooper armor: short and sweet.
Fast-forward to 2024, and now you can hold an entire collection of jokes and puns inspired by the galaxy far, far away in your hands! Star Wars: Dad Jokes from Chronicle Books, out on April 2, is packed with galactically groanworthy puns. Colorful Star Wars illustrations by Johnny Sampson are scattered throughout the book, each one so delightful that I promise you’re going to laugh at the sight of them. And that’s a real promise — they’re that funny.
Some jokes in the book, like the Palpatine one above, are inspired by dad classics given a Star Wars twist. When my daughter was in elementary school, I wrote a little note with a joke for her lunchbox every day, so I was already familiar with many of the old standbys. (“What do you call an alligator wearing a vest? An in-vest-a-gator.” An instant hit with third graders.)
