“A robot walks into a bar…” (bar joke)
“A guy walks into a bar…” is a typical form of what has been called the “bar joke.” A robot version is:
“A robot walks into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender says, ‘Hey, we don’t serve robots.’ The robot replies, ‘No, but someday you will.’”
The joke has been cited in print since at least 1996, when the music group Silver Jews included the line in the song “The Frontier Index.”
Wikipedia: David Berman (musician)
David Cloud Berman (born David Craig Berman; January 4, 1967 – August 7, 2019) was an American musician, singer, poet and cartoonist best known for his work founding and fronting the indie-rock band the Silver Jews.
OCLC WorldCat record
The natural bridge
Author: Silver Jews (Musical group)
Publisher: Chicago : Drag City, [1996]
Edition/Format: Music CD : CD audio : English
Contents:
The frontier index—
4 October 1996, Santa Fe (NM) New Mexican, “Terrell’s Tune-Up” by Steve Terrell, Pasatiempo sec., pg. 48, col. 4:
The Natural Bridge by Silver Jews.
(...)
Another song, The Frontier Index, is built around jokes. A robot walks into a bar, one verse begins.
Google Books
February 1997, CMJ New Music Monthly, “Inspirational Verse,” pg. 9, col. 3:
“A robot walks into a bar/ orders a drink/lays down a bill/The bartender says, hey we don’t serve robots/and the robot says, oh but someday you will” —Silver Jews, “The Frontier Index”
Google Groups: alt.punk
humor a la servotron
what else? records
1/23/98
a robot walks into a bar. the bartender says “we don’t serve robots”.
the robot says “oh but you will…”.
Google Groups: alt.games.final-fantasy
A Fuckin’ Survey!
JackieBlue
10/15/99
(...)
> 19. Favorite joke?
Robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, lays down a bill.
Bartender says “Hey we don’t serve robots”, robot says “Oh, but someday you will.”
Google Groups: alt.music.hardcore
robot walks into a bar
Yarnbald
11/28/99
orders a drink, lays down a bill. bartender says hey we dont serve robots and the robot says oh but someday you will
heather g
Twitter
thename
@thename
@RevFry true. So a robot walks into a bar. Bartender goes “sorry we don’t serve robots” Robot says “don’t worry, you will.”
12:55 PM - 11 May 2008
Twitter
Becky Haycox
@hambox
A robot walks into a bar. The bartender says “we don’t serve robots.” Robot says “Oh, but you will. You will.”
11:48 AM - 28 Jul 2008
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Really Silly Jokes
By Geoff Tibballs
London: Constable & Robinson, Ltd
2011
Pg. 369:
A robot walks into a bar, orders a drink and lays down some cash. The bartender says, “We don’t serve robots.” The robot says, “Maybe not now, but someday you will.”
YouTube
the silver jews - the frontier index
Drew Greene
Uploaded on May 20, 2011
“When I was younger, I was a cobra.”
0:50
“A robot walks into a bar/ orders a drink/lays down a bill/The bartender says, hey we don’t serve robots/and the robot says, oh but someday you will”
Reddit
A robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, and lays down some cash.
submitted September 20, 2016 by Reddit_User_157
The bartender says, “we don’t serve robots.” The robot replies, “oh, but some day you will.”
Twitter
Micah Carver
@ThisMicahCarver
“Robot walks into a bar, orders a drink, lays down a bill. Bartender says ‘hey, we don’t serve robots’ and the robot says ‘oh, but someday you will.’” - David Berman
1:02 PM · Jun 27, 2020·Twitter for iPhone