There is a history here of a linkage to Britain. I think central Canadians would have a harder time picking it up. While at Memorial, Dr. Davies found that humor can even cross political lines. One of the interesting things about Canada is that the jokes are bilingual. He spent about three weeks in the province and made several observations.
People here are much more gifted in terms of everyday conversation than in Ontario.
Here, they have more figurative ways of telling a story. According to Dr. Davies, the first of these jokes originated in the '60s. About that time, there was a similar upsurge of jokes in the United States. I think Newfoundland jokes are in a decline. After all, they've had a quarter-century of popularity.