“Where do fortune tellers dance?”/“At the crystal ball.”

A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
•“Welcome to growing older. Where all the foods and drinks you’ve loved for years suddenly seem determined to destroy you” (4/17)
•“Date someone who drinks with you instead of complaining that you drink” (4/17)
•“Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing evidence of the truth, but still believing the lie” (4/17)
•“Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing the evidence of the truth, but still believing the lie” (4/17)
•“Government creates the crises so it can ‘rescue’ you with the loss of freedom” (4/17)
More new entries...

Follow @barrypopik

Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.

Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.

Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.

This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry from January 27, 2018

“Where do fortune tellers dance?”/“At the crystal ball.”

People dance at a ball, but a “crystal ball” pun is:

Q: Where do fortune tellers dance?
A: At the crystal ball.

The riddle has been cited in print since at least 1984.

Google Books
The Zaniest Riddle Book in the World
By Joseph Rosenbloom
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
1984
Pg. 26:
Where do fortune tellers dance?
At the crystal ball.

Google Books
Swine Lake:
Music & Dance Riddles
By Charles Keller
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
1985
Pg. ?:
What do you call a fortune tellers dance?
A crystal ball.

Google Books
Nate the Great Goes Down in the Dumps
By Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
New York, NY: Yearling
1989
Pg. 67:
Q: Where do fortune-tellers dance?
A. At the crystal ball.

Google Groups: Humor Club
Mini Ha - Ha’ s ! ! - R.K.
R.K.
6/29/06
(...)
Where do fortune tellers dance ?
Answer :- At the crystal ball.

Google Groups: HasanShabbir
ONE LINE QUESTION &ANSWER [not serious]
Hasan Shabbir
9/3/06
(...)
Where do fortune tellers dance?
At the crystal ball.

5 September 2006, The Daily Mirror (London, UK), “Greg’s giggle” edited by Fiona Parker, pg. 37:
Q: WHERE do fortune tellers dance?’
A: AT the crystal ball.

Twitter
NotSoBright.com‏
@NotSoBright
Where do fortune tellers dance? At the crystal ball.
8:00 AM - 7 Mar 2009

Google Books
Funny Fun Jokes 2015
By Peter Crumpton
PeteyRF Creative
2015
Pg. 15:
Where do fortune tellers dance?
At the crystal ball.

Twitter
Midlands Arts Centre (MAC)‏Verified account
@mac_birmingham
Where do fortune tellers dance? At the crystal ball.
#BadJokeFriday
8:55 AM - 19 Jan 2018

Posted by Barry Popik
New York City • Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus • Saturday, January 27, 2018 • Permalink

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.