“What’s the quickest way into town?” (joke)
A popular joke involves someone who asks a local person about the quickest route (to New York City, London, Dublin, or some other city), and the local gives him the quickest mode of transportation instead. The joke has been cited in print since at least 2000 and became a bar joke by at least 2005.
Google Groups: alt.fifty-plus.friends
Next to the purple house lives a strange family…
BOB GNOME
3/27/00
(...)
A tourist approached a local in a village he was visiting. “What’s the quickest way to Smithville?”
Dalin scratched her head.
“Are you walking or driving?” she asked the stranger.
“I’m driving.”
“That’s the quickest way!” said Dalin, wandering off.
Google Groups: alt.callahans
“Puns of the Weak” : 6-23-00
Stan Kegel
6/24/00
(...)
A man approached a local in a village he was visiting. “What’s the quickest way to York?” The local scratched his head. “Are you walking or driving?” he asked the stranger. “I’m driving.” “That’s the quickest way!” (Dave Stone)
Google Groups: alt.humor.puns
Puns of the Weak 4/13/01
Stan Kegel
4/14/01
(...)
A man approached a local in a village he was visiting. “What’s the quickest way to New York?” The local scratched his head.“Are you walking or driving?” he asked the stranger. “I’m driving.” “That’s the quickest way!” (Hilarity Jr.)
Google Books
Prairie Home Companion
Pretty Good Joke Book
Introduced by Garrison Keillor
Minneapolis, MN: HighBridge Company
2005
Pg. 127:
BAR JOKES
An Irishman walks into a bar in Cork city and asks the barman: “What’s the quickest way to get to Dublin?”
“Are you walking or driving?” asks the barman.
“Driving,” says the man.
“That’s the quickest way,” says the barman.
Google Books
31 July 2006 Weekly World News, pg. 14, col. 2:
A man approached a local person in a town he was visiting. “What’s the fastest way to London?”
“What’s the fastest way to London?” The local scratched his head. “Are you walking or driving?” he asked the stranger. “I’m driving.” The local said, “That’s the fastest way.”
The Best Article Every Day
September 17, 2007
The Anatomy of Humor : “A guy walks into a bar . . .”
Written by Postscripts
(...)
A guy walks into a bar in Cork, in Ireland, and asks the barman: “What’s the quickest way to get to Dublin?” “Are you walking or driving?” asks the barman. “Driving,” says a man. “That’s the quickest way,” says the barman.
Google Books
The Best ‘A Man Walks Into A Bar’ Jokes
By Billy Brownless
Crows Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin
2009
Pg. 40:
A man walks into a bar in Cork, Ireland, and asks the barman, ‘What’s the quickest way to get to Dublin?’ ‘Are you walking or driving?’ asks the barman. ‘Driving,’ says the man. ‘That’s the quickest way,’ says the barman.