There was this magician of some repute who was hired
to do his act aboard a cruise ship. He had been there for
several years, and since the crowd was in continual change,
he did the same act over and over.
He enjoyed the good life, spending most his
time out on the Promenade Deck working on his tan, not new tricks.
One day the Captain bought a parrot, and over the months brought
the parrot with him to see the nightly magic show.
Being a smart parrot, the bird learned all the tricks as to where
the cards, flower, etc. were hidden by the magician in his act.
The bird would say, "the card is up his left sleeve, the flower
is under the pot, he hid the money under his shoe..."
Because the parrot would only take about a week to catch on to
his magic tricks, the magician was forced to continually
learn new ones, which was getting harder and harder by the day,
and really cramping his "sun time."
To put it mildly he HATED THE DARN PARROT, but since it was the
Captain's he couldn't just weigh the bird down and deep six it.
Late one night the engine room exploded and the ship sank within
minutes. Miraculously, the magician found himself clinging to a
timber, floating in the water in the dark at 2AM. Alas,
it appeared that he was the only one left alive!
As the sun came up the next morning and he turned around, what
should be sitting 20 feet away on the opposite end of the log
- his arch nemesis, the Parrot!
They glared at each other and said nothing. This went on
for three days and neither said a word, just glared.
On the fourth Day the Parrot finally broke the silence and said,
"OK! I give up! - what did you do with the ship??!"