the book by milan kundera, its title is joke. The main guy's life goes in a total different direction because of a joke he makes in a letter to a lover, and this takes place more in a communist era, , when people don't have privacy in writing letters and, in one of his letters, he says something to his lover, and she takes it seriously, turns him in, and his whole life changes, because of that joke, also
there is a movie by kieslowski, called "blue", the family is in a car, and driving , the husband is driving, and he makes an accident, (himself, and the daughter dies , but this happens again because he is telling a joke while driving, and it creates distraction and laughter.... maybe these are good things to look at... there is alot about the joke and how it penetrates in a second, and changes the direction of things, or becomes a reveal of truth..