‘Bad dad jokes’ inspire laughs, kids’ reading skills, donations

The “Bad Dad Jokes” sign that stands proudly in front of Tom and Ann Schruben’s Maryland home has become a neighborhood destination in recent months.

The jokes Tom scribbles each morning are meant to be groaners, but people love them anyway. They regularly walk or drive by the home on any given day.

Example: A rabbit, a priest and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and says, “Is this a typo?”

Tom, 62, started posting the jokes to boost his mood soon after coronavirus stay-at-home orders began.

His jokes, which he often selects with his daughter Darcy, 11, became a hit. After The Washington Post ran an article about them, the Schrubens began noticing a lot more foot traffic in front of their home, and Tom was flooded with new jokes. Happy about all the goodwill in an otherwise uncertain time, he decided to pay it forward.

He held a Father’s Day contest for bad dad jokes, with entries costing a suggested donation of at least $5. He plans to send all donations to Martha’s Table, a D.C.-based nonprofit that supports children and families.

Tom said he, like dads before him, has wholeheartedly embraced the bad dad joke.

“Why dads?” he asked. “There’s always been a tradition of dads embarrassing their children.”

Young kids are drawn to the sign, Tom said, as he sometimes hears children who are about 5 or 6 carefully sounding out the words. A mother told him she counted the sign as part of her daughter’s school-required 15 minutes of daily reading.