Esoteric punchlines and accessibility of humour

[carloswebcomic]

I love esoteric punchlines... Specially when I get them.
So I was doing a page with a goth joke and the punchline referenced a band called "Bauhaus".
Surely everybody knows such a legendary and influential band of the 80's goth scene! Right? Anyone?
I showed it to my test group (Yes, I have one) and the unanimous response was "I like the joke, but who the hell is Bauhaus?"
I did a little poll in my DA account and no one has even heard of them.

So now I'm at a crossroad. Should I do a pretty good joke which would be even better to those who actually know what I'm talking about OR dilute the joke and make it more accessible to the average reader?

What would you do?

[AnnaLandin]

It really depends on what your goal with the joke is. Is it to crack a joke specifically about Bauhaus for people who already know of them? Or is it to make as many readers as possible laugh?

If it's the former, keep it as is. If it's the latter, perhaps consider changing it? If your test-group all liked the joke, even without knowing who Bauhaus are, I think you might get away with keeping it the way it is, and just adding a link to a wiki-article about Bauhaus or something in your author's note. I mean, if the test-group laughed any way, you've got a good joke.

[igneriss]

Go with 'Bauhaus' joke. Those who know the band will get it and be happy that you used band they like, those who don't will discover a new (for them) band they might like CX it's a win-win situation CX

[maximumthemokona]

Keep the joke, everyone who's vaguely interested in gothic rock should know Bauhaus. ; P

[jmhenry]

Keep the joke. Those who get it will get it, those who don't will find something else funny about it.

[colinwmd]

I have a similar quandary with a lot of my comics. I think I have a tendency to be a little too obscure at times. I recently did a Star Wars gag tied in to the rugby world cup, and figured that if I thought up the joke (not being a big star wars fan) then most people would get it. But reddit seemed to collectively scratch their heads.

I guess it depends on your comic really. I really like xkcd even though some of the best jokes on there require a little bit of research on my part sometimes.

One option I have considered is to go the Existential Comics route (http://existentialcomics.com). They have a section after each comic titled "Didn't get the joke" where you get more details of the philosopher references in that comic.

[dorkrawk]

I've always gotten good responses when I delve into programming or music topics in comics, like jokes about Git or amps. Not everybody will get it it, but the people that do tend to enjoy it more.

[eschaefges]

a good 30% of the jokes in my comic are based on references to a video game which came out before most of you were born. I decided to roll with it anyway. write it for YOU - the audience will either find it funny or they won't.

[carloswebcomic]

I'm flattered you think I'm young enough to miss the release Ok, thanks guys! I've decided to keep it as it is.
Cheers!