The man cheerfully replies “That’s okay, I’m 41. I should be getting my adult knees any day now!”
Okay, here’s my attempt at a “Joke Poo” based on the original kidney joke:
Joke Poo: The Algorithm Angst
A coder goes in for a performance review, and afterwards, their manager calls them into their office with a grave expression. They inform the coder that their algorithms are severely underperforming.
The coder shrugs and replies, “No problem. I’m only on version 0.8. I should be getting my full release bugs fixed any day now!”
Alright, let’s dissect this joke and inject some comedic steroids into it.
Joke Breakdown:
- Setup: Man receives bad news about failing kidneys during a checkup, creating a somber and serious expectation.
- Punchline: The man’s cheerful response hinges on a misunderstanding of body development/aging. He’s anticipating “adult knees” instead of facing the reality of kidney failure.
- Humor Source: The humor arises from the unexpected and absurd juxtaposition of a serious medical diagnosis with a childish, naive expectation about physical maturation. It also relies on the familiarity people have with “growing into” their bodies, as children.
- Key Elements: Kidneys, medical checkup, aging, mistaken belief/misunderstanding, knees
Enrichment & New Humor Creation:
Now, let’s leverage these elements for a new joke, and then add a related “Did You Know?” for extra comedic effect.
New Joke:
A geneticist is lamenting to a bartender, “My research grant keeps getting rejected. Everyone wants to cure cancer or Alzheimer’s, but no one funds my study on adult tonsils!”
The bartender, wiping down the counter, nods sympathetically. “I get it. People only care about the important stuff. Like, where are my adult toenails? I’m tired of these baby toenails that peel after every shower!”
Comedic Justification:
It applies the same model of mistaken understanding of body growth to other parts of the human anatomy.
“Did You Know?” (Amusingly Related to the Original and New Joke):
Did you know? While most of your body parts do not get replaced by “adult” versions, your entire skeleton replaces itself roughly every 7-10 years through a process called bone remodeling. So, technically, you do get a new skeleton every decade. The real joke isn’t about adult knees, it’s about how patiently your bones are waiting to become the “adult” version of your bones, which have now been bones for nearly a decade!
Comedic Justification: This “Did You Know?” highlights a real, but often unknown, biological fact while still playing on the theme of gradual body replacement. The unexpected detail about bone remodeling makes the anticipation of ‘adult knees’ even more ridiculous.

