Staircase Riddle

This joke plays on the juxtaposition of Stephen Hawking, a brilliant physicist who used a wheelchair and the image of someone black from soot, sitting at the top of a stairs after a house fire. It's a dark and absurd image that creates a jarring sense of humor.

• Stephen Hawking
• Top
• Black
• Africa
• Fire
• Stairs

• Where was Stephen Hawking during the house fire? The top of the stairs.
• What's black and sits on the bottom of the stairs to the cellar? Steven Hawking where the experiments went wrong.
• What's black and sitting in a chair? Steven Hawking after a house fire.
• What's black and sits at the top of the stairs? A paraplegic after a house fire.