I’ve seen the poster before –- in the window of a salon in a younger, hipper neighborhood. I wouldn’t have imagined coming across the poster in the glass doorway of The Supreme Beauty Parlor, only feet away from Mary Barrett’s law office and the Manor Dry Cleaners.

The shop was closed when I walked by. The image was unmistakable.

If I peered into the shop, I could see a few shelves featuring hair products the operators of the Supreme must like and empty chairs in front of two sinks. On the entrance was an image of actor Christopher Walken.

The oddball, indie actor is probably most famous for his long-running lothario character featured on Saturday Night Live and for his speech delivered to a young boy about how he carried his killed in combat father’s gold watch up his ass for years during the Viet Nam War so he could gift it to him (from Pulp Fiction).

The allusion of his name on the poster, WALKENS WELCOME, to the common beauty biz slogan, WALK–INS WELCOME, struck me as stupendously funny.

I like the pun itself because I like words and wordplay. I have great associations with the actor. I found it especially funny considering the incongruity of seeing his face at a neighborhood beauty parlor. I certainly don’t associate him with primping and preening.

And I also found myself extra tickled because I don’t know that everyone would have recognized his face.

It’s not like he is Tom Cruise or John Travolta.

You have to be a fan of film, especially a fan of offbeat films, to know him and appreciate the Walken Way.

Oh, I get it…When I first saw the poster, a moment of recognition passed over me.

There’s a perverse pleasure in being able to say that; a singular joy in feeling IN on the joke.

I’d often watch the long-running game show Jeopardy.

I remember once, as the answer was displayed on very low-tech cards; Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, I formulated the question in my head…

What are the moons of Jupiter?

I don’t know why I know this, but this factoid is programmed into me. Knowing this answer is probably worth $800 (in Jeopardy bucks), and I beamed with pride when Alex Trebek confirmed my knowing.

It’s sort of like this, being IN on the joke, or being confident in some knowledge not everyone would have.

Of course, there are things that some people think are way funny that I don’t get. It’s not that I don’t get the joke. I understand what is supposed to be funny. It just doesn’t strike me as funny (like the TV show The Big Bang Theory or movie, Dumb and Dumber).

Sometimes, I’ll say or think something that I think is tremendously funny and not get the reaction I’d anticipate. (I’d remember telling people about the challenging childhood I survived, where even my imaginary friends wouldn’t play with me…This comment was often greeted with blank expressions.)

There’s such a simple pleasure in a funny poster. You might pass it all the time and not really tune into how the image and caption go together. Then — one day, you see it as if for the first time. Everything comes together. It needs no elaboration or build-up.

You either get it, or you don’t…and sometimes, you find yourself smiling and you want your amusement to spread.

When your see a funny poster, your first reaction is to smile. Then, you think of friends to tell, people who you think would share your reaction.

Feeling in on the joke is no small thing.