Jokes

Just curious, what's everyone's take on using jokes? Like a normal story joke? I've never really thought of this until just now, but has anyone tried using them in pick up? What about using them for opinion openers, like "Hey, what do you think of this joke? I'm trying to use it to pick up women, but wanted to see if you thought it was funny" or something along those lines.

Someone told me a joke the other day, and every woman I've told it to has cracked up, so I'm trying to figure out how to work it and other jokes into the conversation.

"A French guy walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder. The bartender looks at him and says 'That's awesome! Where'd you get him?' And the parrot says 'France! They're everywhere!"