A guy walks into a bar and tells the bartender, “If I show you a wild trick, will you give me a free drink?”
The bartender shrugs. “Sure, why not?”
The guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out… a tiny rat. Then, from the other pocket, he pulls out a teeny-tiny piano.
The rat stretches, cracks its knuckles, and starts playing the blues like a rodent Ray Charles.
Stunned, the bartender pours him a free drink.
After finishing it, the guy says, “Now, if I show you an even better trick, do I drink free all night?”
“Buddy, if you can top that, you’re drinking on me till closing,” the bartender replies.
The man pulls out the rat and piano again, then reaches into his coat and pulls out… a small bullfrog.
The frog clears its throat and starts belting out soulful blues lyrics. The rat plays, the frog “sings” — the bar falls silent in awe.
Suddenly, a man rushes up and says, “I’ll give you $10,000 for that frog!”
“Nope, not for sale,” the guy replies.
“$25,000!”
“Nope.”
“$50,000! Cash!”
“Deal.”
The bartender’s jaw drops. “Are you crazy? That frog was a gold mine! Why’d you sell it?”
The man smirks. “Relax. The frog can’t sing — the rat’s a ventriloquist.”
Explanation: The punchline reveals the frog never sang at all — the rat was both playing the piano and throwing its voice like a ventriloquist.
A ventriloquist is a person (or, in this joke, a rat) who makes it appear as if someone or something else is speaking by projecting their voice without moving their lips.