I was having lunch with a female colleague when I saw my wife come in.

Joke Poo: The Retirement Gig

I was grabbing coffee with a younger consultant I was mentoring when I spotted my boss, Mr. Henderson, heading our way.

“Quick, duck behind that potted plant!” I hissed.

“Relax,” the consultant replied, sipping her latte, “Mr. Henderson’s a reasonable guy. He won’t mind you helping me with this project on your personal time.”

“He might,” I whispered, crouching lower. “Especially since he thinks I’m currently enjoying my mandatory retirement package in Cancun.”

Alright, let’s dissect this joke and then inject some comedic vitamins.

Joke Dissection:

• Setup: Man having lunch with a female colleague and spots his wife. Establishes a potential infidelity scenario.
• Misdirection: The initial assumption is that the man is trying to hide because he’s cheating.
• Twist/Punchline: The real reason he’s hiding is that his wife believes he’s dead. This subverts expectations in a darkly humorous way. The humor relies on the absurdity of the situation and the implied backstory of the man being presumed dead.
• Key Elements: Death, marriage, mistaken identity/presumption, workplace relationships (colleagues), hiding.

Comedic Enrichment:

Let’s focus on the “death” and “presumption” elements, adding some ironic historical tidbits.

New Joke/Witty Observation:

“I told my therapist I was having an existential crisis. She said, ‘Well, at least you’re having it.’ Then I had to explain that technically, my wife thinks I went down with the Titanic in 1912. Turns out, ‘at least you’re having it’ isn’t the most helpful thing to say to a ghost… or someone pretending to be one.”

Amusing “Did You Know?”

Did you know? In 1854, during the Crimean War, Lord Raglan mistakenly ordered the Light Brigade to charge the wrong guns, leading to the famous “Charge of the Light Brigade” and devastating losses. It was so disastrous, you’d almost think the entire brigade had been previously declared legally dead, and someone just forgot to tell them! Makes you wonder how many Victorian husbands used the Crimean War as an excuse for a disappearing act… and how many are still having lunch with “colleagues.”

Explanation of Enrichment:

• The new joke builds on the original concept of presumed death but moves it to the Titanic disaster. It adds another layer of absurdity by including therapy, making the character’s situation even more ridiculously complicated.
• The did you know uses the historical example of the Charge of the Light Brigade to add a layer of irony. By linking the disastrous military order to the idea of husbands disappearing and using the war as an excuse it brings forth the similar concept as the original joke.