“How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” (joke)
The lightbulb joke has an Irish version, and it involves drinking alcohol.
“How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? A hundred. One to hold the bulb and 99 to drink until the room spins” was printed in the San Francisco (CA) Examiner on October 27, 1985. “Q: How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Four. One to hold the bulb and three to drink until the room spins” was printed in The Leader (Surrey, BC) on March 26, 1989. “How many Irishmen does it take to change a light bulb? Two. One to hold the bulb and one to drink enough whisky to make the room spin” was printed in The Montana Standard (Butte, MT) on May 8, 1989.
Newspapers.com
16 March 1971, Oneonta (NY) Star, “Who knocks Irish?” by Jim Bishop, pg. 4, col. 4:
“How many Irishmen does it take to change an electric bulb?” “Six. One to hold the bulb and five to turn the ladder.”
Newspapers.com
27 October 1985, San Francisco (CA) Examiner, “TV idle” by Rob Morse, pg. A-20, col. 1:
How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? A hundred. One to hold the bulb and 99 to drink until the room spins.
Newspapers.com
11 May 1986, Orlando (FL) Sentinel, “Man races to keep his speed in check” by Bob Morris, pg. B1, col. 1:
Stout humor: I’m part-Irish so I can make Irish jokes, right? So . . . how many Irishmen does it take to change a light bulb? Nine. One to change it and eight to stop the room from spinning.
Newspapers.com
26 March 1989, The Leader (Surrey, BC), “Free Speech” by Tom Fletcher, pg. A6, col. 2:
Q: How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Four. One to hold the bulb and three to drink until the room spins.
Newspapers.com
8 May 1989, The Montana Standard (Butte, MT), “Sniff carefully” by Jeff Gibson, pg. 4, col. 1:
How many Irishmen does it take to change a light bulb?
Two. One to hold the bulb and one to drink enough whisky to make the room spin.
Google Groups: rec.humor
Lightbulbs! Lightbulbs! Lightbulbs!
Jon Hodapp
Feb 13, 1992, 4:36:32 PM
(...)
Q. How many Irishmen does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Five. One to hold the lightbulb, and four to drink until the room starts to spin.
Google Books
Intensely Gross Jokes
By Julius Alvin
New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corporation
1993
Pg. 14:
How many Irishmen does it take to change a light bulb ? Just one . He holds the bulb and chugs whiskey till the room spins .
Google Groups: rec.humor
Canonical List of Light Bulb Jokes
Daniel B Case
May 5, 1993, 7:26:00 PM
(...)
Q. How many Irishmen does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. 21, one to hold the bulb and 20 to drink until the room spins.
Google Books
Blanche Knott’s Treasury of Tastelessness
By Blanche Knott
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press
1994
Pg. 17:
How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? Two. One to hold the bulb, and the other to drink till the room spins.
Twitter
rodrigo_ukulele_groovador
@rodrigo_cantini
How many Irishmen does it take to change a lightbulb?
10. One to hold the bulb in place and 9 to drink until the room spins.
1:42 PM · Dec 23, 2008·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Laura Codd
@TastyKisses
@nick_carter How many Irishmen does it take to replace a light bulb? 30, 2 to hold it and 28 to drink till the room starts spinning.
9:28 PM · Apr 17, 2009·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Don Castella
@doncastella
Q. How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? A. four. One to hold the bulb and three to drink until the room spins.
11:21 PM · Apr 18, 2009·Twitter Web Client
Reddit—Jokes
Posted by u/Somandrius December 4, 2012
How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Two. One to hold the bulb and one to drink until the room spins.
Reddit—Jokes
Posted by u/RandomDrunk88 May 19, 2017
How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Two. One to hold it in place and another to drink until the room spins.
Reddit—Jokes
Posted by u/No-Low-8597 February 25, 2022
How many Irishmen does it take to change a lightbulb?
Two.
One to hold the bulb, and one to drink until the room starts spinning.