They say that humor comes from pain, and sysadmins know suffering. Between busy schedules, remote work, frustrating security breaches, and aggravatingly few caffeinated beverages in the office, the sysadmin life is no laughing matter. Sometimes, you need a funny joke to break up the day. Maybe that’s why sysadmins are some of the funniest people we know. (Okay, they’re also among the only people we know.) The next time you need a good laugh, check out one of these resources or try out one of these hilarious jokes from the PDQ community!
8 sources for sysadmin humor that put the IT in hilarITy
The face of IT is constantly changing. While such a dynamic environment can be as challenging as it is exciting, it also creates a wealth of opportunities for comedy. We’ll share a few entertaining options for the next time you need a laugh.
Why yes, there is a subreddit specifically for sysadmin humor! It’s full of jokes, memes, funny photos, and more. With over 27,000 members, the community is pretty active and very amusing.
If you prefer more general tech humor, this subreddit is for you. You’ll find funny computer jokes, memes, pics, and satire about devices, tech support, cybersecurity, and other topics. However, with under 7,000 members, don’t expect a constant stream of laughter.
Like computer programmers, sysadmins write scripts and take names. Sure, the jobs are quite different. But with 2.8 million members, this subreddit is the perfect solution for anyone who can’t get enough tech humor in their lives.
While this subreddit's focus is similar to the Programmer Humor subreddit, it includes more code-related humor. However, with around 38,000 members, you’ll have to wait a lot longer for new content.
Too busy to check multiple sources for the latest memes, gifs, photos, and videos from around the web? Devhumor is a community of developers who share their latest finds.
Spiceworks, the beloved professional network for IT professionals, maintains an admirable array of humor posts. You’ll find funny IT poems, dad jokes, lists, puns, quizzes, and more.
We’ll be the first to admit that this webcomic doesn’t focus exclusively on IT. It also covers math, science, language, and other delightfully nerdy topics. If you like a balanced diet of quirky, technical humor, this webcomic is a must-read.
Looking for wholesome sysadmin humor the entire family can enjoy? Then look no further! Sysadminotaur is a comic strip series that captures some of the challenges of system administration — yet somehow steers clear of swearing and drinking. So basically, it’s a Pixar-esque version of IT. But it’s an amusing and adorable take nonetheless.
Sysadmin pranks
Now, we don't endorse pranking your coworkers. In some more formal settings, it might be a surefire route to being fired (or at least excluded from all the morale-boosting pizza parties). But if you're going to pull an office prank, at least make it funny. Here are a few ideas.
The talking computer
Does your coworker have their speakers on? Good. Send this PowerShell cmdlet for a surprise verbal message. If you’ve got a particularly gullible work buddy, maybe you’ll even convince them someone is trapped inside their computer.
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.speech
$speak = New-Object System.Speech.Synthesis.SpeechSynthesizer
$speak.Speak('Hello...')
Surprise musical number
If you’ve got a WAV file handy, it’s pretty simple to play some tunes on an unsuspecting coworker’s machine. I hope they have their speakers turned up for this one!
(New-Object Media.SoundPlayer "C:\temp\Jack Johnson - Unfortunate Fool.wav").PlaySync()Malfunctioning mouse
You're used to helping users fix their hardware problems. But you can also cause them all too easily.
"I mean the good ole sticker/tape on the bottom of a mouse is a classic that will never die."
— Jason Amick, PDQ
If you really want to go above and beyond, you could also affix a small photo of yourself to the bottom of the mouse so that everyone knows who is responsible for this tomfoolery.
Random reboots
A random reboot during work might annoy users. But multiple random reboots? Now, that's comic gold.
"Set up a PowerShell Scanner to flip a coin and return the random value to PDQ Inventory. Dynamic collection to show only computers that landed on heads. New package in Deploy. First step is a scan step for that PowerShell Scanner, second step is a reboot step with an Inventory Collection condition for the dynamic collection from above. Schedule that package for a coworker's computer every 30 minutes or so, and watch them try to figure out why their computer keeps rebooting at random intervals throughout the day."
— Sid DeVins, PDQ
Jokes from the PDQmmunity
"After all these years, my Grandma finally got a cell phone. I helped her set it up and thought it would be good to add her as a speed-dial contact on my own phone. I call it Insta-Gram."
— Chad Cooper, PDQ
"What computer sings the best? A Dell."
— Chad Cooper, PDQ
"I would tell you a UDP joke, but you might not get it."
— Tristan, James E. Rogers College of Law
"I just repeat 'I know a TCP joke, did you get it?' until they say they did get it.
Then I just say 'ok, good.'"
— Kirk Hammond
"Knock knock
Who’s there?
SYN flood
SYN flood who?
Knock knock - Knock knock
Knock knock - Knock knock
Knock knock - Knock knock
Knock knock - Knock knock"
— Austin Malmborg, PDQ
"There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't."
— David, Wastech
"What do computers eat for a snack? Microchips"
— Tommy, Northwestern State University
"Have you heard the one about ICMP? It doesn't ping a bell."
— Julian Lancaster, PDQ
"Why did the IT security expert break up with the internet? Because there were too many red flags and insecure connections."
— Rachel Coleman, PDQ
Don’t have time for joking around? PDQ Deploy and Inventory streamline routine tasks to help free up your schedule. Then, you can focus more of your energy on reading the PDQ blog, watching our YouTube channel, and becoming the most hilarious person in the office.
