The opening of the Sudekum Planetarium and Space Chase will lead to a massive surge in jokes based around the name of the planet Uranus, says a study by the Astronomical Humor Society of Washington, D.C., the nation’s oldest and most respected tracker of space jokes.
“Over the years, our studies and white papers have demonstrated that up to 79 percent of astronomy humor is Uranus-based,” says Paul C. Blackwell, the society’s executive director. “And we have documented that the interest generated by a new planetarium causes the absolute joke rate to soar. The Nashville area and Davidson County in particular are about to see record levels of Uranus jokes.”
While many of those jokes will come from adolescent boys, Blackwell says that adults account for a surprising number of Uranus witticisms.
“It really spans the spectrum,” he says. “Middle school and high school boys lead the way, but adults aren’t immune to putting forth a good Uranus one-liner as well—and girls contribute their share, too.”
Several years ago when the Chicago’s Adler Planetarium reopened after a remodeling, officials documented a 300 percent increase in Uranus jokes in the Windy City region, largely attributable to increased traffic from school groups.
“It really wore down the staff after a while, but we got through it and, thankfully, the numbers stabilized,” Adler president Paul H. Knappenberger Jr. says.
Since Nashville’s new planetarium will host scores of school groups from the region in the next few years, officials at the Adventure Science Center, where the Sudekum Planetarium is located, are bracing for a similar Uranus onslaught.
“We’ll hear it every day,” says one weary administrator at the facility. “Our consultants say we’ll probably get a fair number of ‘moon’ jokes, too. But what can you do? If you get too upset about a Uranus crack, you just end up looking like an ass.”
