Man Posts Daily ‘Bad Dad Jokes’ in His Yard – 1,615 Days Later, His Neighborhood Is Still Laughing (Exclusive)
“As long as you keep your standards low, there’s an unlimited number of jokes," Tom Schruben tells PEOPLE
Courtesy of Thomas Schruben
Thomas Schruben and his 1,614th and 1,615th bad dad jokesFor the past four years, one Maryland man has turned his "dad jokes" into a daily ritual to make his community smile — and he doesn't intend to stop any time soon.
Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 66-year-old Tom Schruben has been keeping his community in Kensington on its toes by leaving a whiteboard outside of his home and writing a new "dad joke" on it each day.
With what he now refers to on Instagram as Tom's Daily Bad Dad Joke, the environmental consultant and father has managed to keep the tradition going strong for a whopping 1,615 days, as of Friday, Sept. 19.
"A lot of people start their day with yoga or meditation," he tells PEOPLE. "I start my day with thinking of a joke and putting it on a sign. Before I look at the news or any of that stuff, I center myself with, ‘Let’s see if we can make people laugh.’ ”
Tom's Daily Bad Dad Joke/Instagram
Tom Schruben's "dad joke" whiteboard, day 1,614Over the last four years, the "dad jokes" haven't just become a daily highlight for Schruben — they've become the same for locals too. A local running club runs along a route to get a glimpse of the sign, relatives send photos of the whiteboard each day to their loved ones, and some of Schruben's neighbors even stop him on the street to thank him for his efforts.
“All these years on, I get stopped almost every single day at least once, on the street or somewhere around town, where someone thanks me for doing the joke," he says.
"I get stories about how its helped them communicate with their grandkids because they send it off or that its helped them get through the day. And that's really gratifying," he adds. "To have an immediate impact on people’s lives in a positive way, I like to know that.”
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When he first got out the whiteboard in April 2020, Schruben tells PEOPLE he didn't have high hopes for the longevity of the project. In fact, he says he expected it to last just "one time"
But after hearing his first laugh down the street, the environmental consultant has kept the jokes coming.
Some of his earliest material came from a book he got for Christmas from his now-teen daughter Darcy, titled Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes. Other material come from Schruben himself, family members, or gets sent in by fans of the daily ritual via his Instagram.
While the dad jokes that his 15-year-old daughter is “sick of it" by now, he still runs through a personal list of jokes each morning to pick the right one. His family offers him some "constructive criticism," too.
Occasionally he'll have what he calls "jokers block," but the funny dad isn't aiming for perfection. He has a saying for his approach: “As long as you keep your standards low, there’s an unlimited number of jokes.”
One look at Schruben's Instagram page shows the effort that goes into making his neighbors chuckle. Outside of erasing and re-writing a new joke on his whiteboard each day, Schruben also updates the Instagram page with his latest zingers. "What type of phone does Mr. Potato Head have," one recent joke reads. "An eye phone."
"Keep the dream alive," another reads. "Hit the snooze button."
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Now four years in, some locals have asked if Schruben plans to stop after hitting a certain number of days, while others have requested he never stop since it's become something of a "fixture of the community."
Thankfully, for those getting a laugh from his daily "dad jokes," the proud dad isn't slowing down.
“I’ll keep doing it as long as I keep having fun with it and people like me doing it," he says. "People keep saying its a good thing and they’re happy to have it. So I’ll keep doing it.”
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