“A cannibal is a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter” (joke)

“A cannibal is a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter”  is a joke that has been attributed to American television actor and comedian Morey Amsterdam (1908-1996) since 1955. “CANNIBAL: A man who goes into a restaurant and orders a waiter,” however, was cited in a syndicated newspaper “Daffynitions” humor column in 1947.
 
 
Wikipedia: Morey Amsterdam
Morey Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American television actor and comedian, best known for the role of Buddy Sorrell on CBS’s The Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961 to 1966.
   
2 February 1947, Seattle (WA) Times, “Daffynitions,” Comic Section, pg. 13, col. 4:
CANNIBAL: A man who goes into a restaurant and orders a waiter.
 
Google Books
Strictly for Laughs
By Joey Adams
New York, NY: Pocket Books
1956
Pg. 19:
Amsterdam. C is for Cannibal. A cannibal is a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter.
 
Google Books
Speaker’s Encyclopedia of Humor:
Stories, Quotes, Definitions, and Toasts for Every Situation
By Jacob Morton Braude
Englewood Cliffs, NL: Prentice-Hall
1961
Pg. 335:
Cannibal: a guy who goes into a restaurant and orders a waiter.
   
Google Books
Goofy Jokes and Giggles
By Charles Keller
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
2002
Pg. 68:
Cannibal — a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter
   
Google Books
Almost:
A Time to Be Remembered
By Donald Thomsen
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse
2010
Pg. 329:
A cannibal is a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter. — Morey Amsterdam
 
BrainyQuote
A Cannibal is a person who walks into a restaurant and orders a waiter.
Morey Amsterdam