so we had Garry Kasparov over for dinner last night, problem was we had a checkered table cloth and it took him an hour to pass the salt.

LOL for the joke. What does the picture have to do with anything?

It's the sound one often hears after a joke has been told -especially the kind of joke that makes one go "Heh!" rather than "Bwahahaha" or wetting oneself. 

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ba%20dum%20tish 

great one 

... and then when he finally did so, he slammed the salt shaker down with such aggressive dynamism that the top came off and salt went all over everyone, into the salad etc.

No, that's probably taking the joke too far...

The drum sound is called a "Rim Shot." Really old school.

Nowadays a rim shot is something else.

 True.

haha yes and resigned

lucky you did nt need the pepper to lol

Did passing the salt require any talent?

... and then when he finally did so, he slammed the salt shaker down with such aggressive dynamism that the top came off and salt went all over everyone, into the salad etc.

No, that's probably taking the joke too far...

haha yes and resigned very funny

Then we had to wait all night while he wrote a bunch of books about all his earlier dinners.

Wait... assuming that you guys ate at the average maximum size for a table for two, and the whole thing was draped with a checkered tablecloth, even if the salt shaker was a pawn, it would only take him a few minutes to pass the salt.

Because all you have to do is make random moves and he'll keep pushing his pawn up.