While we're on the subject of Russian jokes... Here's one I have heard about the gulag. A little background: many jokesters ended up doing time in Siberia, and obviously couldn't be heard telling jokes while they were there. So, they invented a system where each joke was identified by a designated number. Let's call [this joke](http://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/wpeyj/a_joke_my_russian_friend_told/) #39. Here's how this one goes: A couple of prisoners are sitting around the gulag, telling each other jokes. One guy says, ""Number 39,"" and they both start laughing. The second guy counters with, ""Number one hundred forty three,"" and even more laughs are had. At this point a third guy hears their merriment, and comes over to offer his own. ""Number eighty four."" Silence. Confused, he tries again. ""Seventy two."" Still nothing. The other two look at him warily. ""Sixty one? Two hundred? Six hundred and two?"" Finally, he asks the first two guys, ""Is something wrong? Am I not funny?"" The first guy solemnly replies, ""It is not so much the jokes you tell, but the way you tell them.""