“A man walks into a bar and hears a voice say, ‘Nice tie!’” (bar joke)
“A guy walks into a bar…” is a typical form of what has been called the “bar joke.” A classic joke involves a man who walks into a bar, and he hears a voice say, “Nice tie!” Another voice says, “Nice shirt!” He tells the bartender about the voices, and the bartender says, “It’s the peanuts. They’re complimentary.”
The “complementary/complimentary” pun has been cited in print since at least 1997.
Google Groups: alt.mindcontrol
Mindcontrol
b
3/12/97
>A guy goes into a bar and orders a tall one. As he takes a sip of his
>beer, he hears a tiny little voice say: “Nice tie.” He looks around but
>sees no one. He take another sip of his beer and hears: “A nice shirt,
>too.” Again he looks around and sees no one.
>
>He signals the bartender over, and hesitantly explains that he’s hearing
>voices talking to him… “Of course,” smiles the bartender. “It’s the
>peanuts— they’re complimentary.”
Google Groups: rec.humor.funny
A man walks into a bar
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
5/7/97
[Heard on WPLJ radio - New York City- 4/21/97]
A man walks into a bar and orders a drink. After sitting for a few minutes, he hears a voice say, “nice tie.” He looks around but doesn’t see anybody near him and so he forgets about it.
Some time passes and he hears the same voice say, “nice shirt.” This time he looks everywhere; behind him, up and down the bar, under the chair, behind the bar, everywhere he can think to look, but he doesn’t see anyone.
A few minutes later he hears, “nice haircut.” He can’t stand it any more, so he calls the bartender over and tells him he has been hearing this voice but can’t figure out who is speaking.
The bartender says, “Oh that…that’s the nuts….................”
”.....they’re complimentary.”
Google Groups: alt.penpals.forty-plus-yrs
A guy goes into a bar.
Cathy Gleber
11/10/97
A guy goes into a bar. He’s sitting on the stool, enjoying his drink when he hears, “You look great!” He looks around - there’s nobody near him. He hears the voice again, “No really, you look terrific.” The guy looks around again. Nobody. He hears, “Is that a new shirt or something? Because you are absolutely glowing!” He then realizes that the voice is coming from a dish of nuts on the bar.
“Hey,” the guy calls to the bartender, “What’s with the nuts?”
“Oh,” the bartender answers, “They’re complimentary.”
A Prairie Home Companion
Opening Jokes
Saturday, April 10, 1999
(GK: Garrison Keillor, SS: Sue Scott, TK: Tom Keith, TR: Tim Russell, PP: Paula Poundstone, RW: Robin Williams, LW: Linda Williams)
(...)
GK: So, A man walked into a bar and sat down, ordered a beer and sat and drank it and he heard a voice.
SS: Nice tie.
GK: Nobody was there except him and the bartender.
SS: Really cool shirt, too.
GK: He thought he must be losing his mind.
SS: I like your hair that way.
GK: He said to the bartender, “I keep hearing this voice.”
TK: Those are the peanuts, sir. They’re complimentary.
Google Groups: misc.news.internet.discuss
In celebration of Cheers - A man walks into a bar…
cg
12/31/01
A man walks into a bar - Joke #1
A man walks into a bar and orders a drink. After sitting for a few minutes, he hears a voice say, “nice tie.” He looks around but doesn’t see anybody near him and so he forgets about it.
Some time passes and he hears the same voice say, “nice shirt.” This time he looks everywhere; behind him, up and down the bar, under the chair, behind the bar, everywhere he can think to look, but he doesn’t see anyone.
A few minutes later he hears, “nice haircut.” He can’t stand it any more, so he calls the bartender over and tells him he has been hearing this voice but can’t figure out who is speaking.
The bartender says, “Oh that…that’s the nuts….................”
”.....they’re complimentary.”