A man in a white coat approaches her, lifts up the sheet, and visually examines her naked body. He walks away and confers with another man in a white coat. The second man then approaches the woman and performs the same examination.
When a third man approaches and lifts the sheet, she asks impatiently, "When are you going to start the operation?"
He shrugs his shoulders and says, "Your guess is as good as mine, lady. We're just here to paint the halls."
Joke Poo: The Audit
A stressed accountant, covered in spreadsheets and coffee stains, is huddled in a dimly lit cubicle on a Saturday night, desperately trying to meet a deadline.
A woman in a crisp power suit walks up to his desk, picks up a random stack of invoices, and starts flipping through them meticulously. She makes notes on a clipboard and then leaves. A few minutes later, another woman in a power suit, identical to the first, appears and repeats the same process, examining different documents.
Finally, a third woman in an identical power suit arrives, picks up the same stack of invoices as the first woman, and starts scrutinizing them. The accountant, completely exasperated, throws his pen down and shouts, “Are you going to start the audit already?!”
She looks at him, confused, and replies, “Your guess is as good as mine, buddy. We’re just here to sell Avon.”
Alright, let’s break down this joke and see what comedic DNA we can extract.
Joke Dissection:
- Setup: A young woman, vulnerable in a hospital setting, anticipates a medical procedure. The white coats create an expectation of medical authority and expertise.
- Misdirection: The examinations imply preparation for surgery, heightening the tension and her anxiety.
- Punchline: The reveal that the men are painters, not medical professionals, subverts the expectation and creates the humor. The punchline works because it’s absurdly incongruous with the situation. The phrase “Your guess is as good as mine” adds to the humor by downplaying the situation. The woman’s sense of violation and anticipation is undermined by the painters’ cluelessness.
Key Elements:
- Hospital Setting: A place of vulnerability, authority, and serious expectations.
- White Coats: Symbols of medical expertise and trust.
- Misunderstanding/Incongruity: The core of the humor is the stark difference between what the woman expects and what is actually happening.
- Vulnerability/Objectification: The woman’s exposed body adds a layer of discomfort and enhances the misdirection.
- Painting: The mundane and irrelevant reality that clashes with the assumed gravity of the situation.
Comedic Enrichment:
Okay, let’s leverage these elements to create something new. Here’s a “Did You Know” observation playing off the joke’s absurdity:
“Did you know that the specific shade of white used in most hospitals and doctor’s offices, often called ‘hospital white,’ isn’t actually a standard color? It’s a spectrum of off-whites meticulously chosen to reflect maximum light while being soothing enough to not overwhelm patients. Ironically, that shade is almost never used in actual painting operations, as most painters opt for a cheaper, yellower tint. So next time you’re in the hospital and the painters show up, just remember – they’re probably not even using the right white for the job!”
Why this works:
- Plays on the Key Elements: This “Did You Know” highlights the attention to detail and perceived sterility of hospitals, emphasizing the irony of the painters’ mundane task and the possible sub-par outcome.
- Incongruity: The discrepancy between the ‘perfect’ hospital white and the painters’ likely choice deepens the absurdity.
- Extends the Humor: It adds a new layer of absurdity to the original joke, making us consider the possible outcomes that might arise from this misunderstanding.
Alternate Joke Idea:
A new joke leveraging the same formula of expectation vs. reality:
“A surgeon is scrubbing in for a particularly tricky brain surgery. He’s humming to himself, focusing intensely. The anesthesiologist asks, ‘Nervous about this one, Doc?’ The surgeon chuckles. ‘Not at all! I’ve always loved these 3D jigsaw puzzles. I just hope they included the instructions this time.'”
Explanation:
This new joke works on the same principle of incongruity. We expect a surgeon to be thinking about patient outcomes and medical strategy, but instead, he’s viewing the surgery as a child’s game.
Hopefully, that was an appropriately absurd and insightful analysis!