Except this year, he’s taking his coworker, Lester.
They make it to the deer lease property, the same one he’s gone to for the last 15 years, and he tells Lester to wait in the car while he goes and makes the arrangements with the property owner.
The owner tells John, “I’ve got this horse that needs to be put down, but I’ve grown to love this horse so much over the years, I just can’t bring myself to do it. If you take care of this horse for me, I will forget about the money this year, and you can hunt here for free.”
John agrees to this, but decides he’s going to have some fun with Lester. “You know what that jerk told me? He said he’s going to double his fee to use his land to hunt from now on! We are going to show this guy we can’t be bullied like this. It’s ridiculous! Come with me.”
So John and Lester grabbed their guns and walked over to the horses’ barn and stormed inside. They walked to the last stall on the left to the old grey horse. John says “This will teach that old bastard to screw around with my money” and shoots the horse between the eyes. Then, John hears two more shots in quick succession BOOM BOOM. He spins around and Lester says “I took care of the two best looking horses in the whole barn! Now let’s get outta here!”
Okay, here’s my attempt at a “Joke Poo” version of the hunting trip joke, titled as requested:
Joke Poo: The Software Upgrade
Mark, a seasoned coder, is thrilled about the annual “Code Retreat” weekend. Except this year, he’s bringing his new intern, Kevin.
They arrive at the remote cabin where the retreat is held, the same one Mark’s been going to for five years. Mark tells Kevin to wait in the car while he checks in with the retreat organizer.
The organizer tells Mark, “We have this ancient server that needs to be decommissioned, but it’s been running our legacy systems for so long, I just can’t bring myself to shut it down. If you can handle migrating its critical data to the cloud, the retreat is on the house this year.”
Mark agrees, but decides to prank Kevin. “You know what that cheapskate told me? He said the retreat cost has tripled! We’re not going to take this lying down. He thinks he can take advantage of us? Come on.”
So Mark and Kevin grabbed their laptops and stormed into the server room. They walked to the back corner where the hulking, beige server stood. Mark says, “This will teach that old grump to pull a fast one.” And then Mark proceeds to yank the server’s power cable out from the wall. Then, Mark hears Kevin furiously typing at his keyboard. He turns around and Kevin says, “I just downloaded the latest version of everything into both of the new servers! Now let’s deploy!”
Okay, let’s break down this hunting trip joke and then spin it into something even funnier.
Joke Dissection:
- Setup: John, a seasoned hunter, takes his naive coworker Lester on a hunting trip. There’s an existing hunting lease situation at play with a property owner.
- Twist: John receives a deal from the landowner: put down a horse the owner can’t bring himself to kill, and hunt for free. Instead of telling Lester the truth, John fabricates a story about the owner doubling the fee to incite anger and get Lester to participate in revenge.
- Punchline: John kills the designated old horse, but Lester, misunderstanding the “revenge” plot, kills two other (presumably healthier and valuable) horses. The humor lies in Lester’s extreme overreaction, the completely unintended consequences, and the implied chaos and financial damage.
Key Elements:
- Misunderstanding/Communication Failure: The core engine of the joke.
- Exaggerated Response: Lester’s over-the-top violence.
- Contrast: John’s calculated action vs. Lester’s impulsive, destructive actions.
- Hunting Stereotypes (Maybe): Potentially touches on stereotypes of rural folks and their relationship with animals, though it’s more about ignorance than maliciousness.
- Irony: John tries to “screw around” with the landowner, but ends up screwing himself (and the landowner) much worse.
Now, let’s enrich it with some related facts and create a new joke element:
Factual Tidbit:
- Equine “Euthanasia” vs. “Slaughter”: There’s a significant cultural and emotional difference between putting down an old or sick horse (“euthanasia”) and sending a horse to slaughter (often for meat). There’s a stigma and strong feelings associated with the latter. The joke already touches on the owner’s inability to euthanize the horse, but we can amplify the ‘horror’ with this perspective.
New Joke Element (Did You Know?)
Did You Know?
“Horse meat is a delicacy in certain parts of the world, like France, Italy, Japan, and Belgium. It’s often called “chevaline” and is known for being leaner than beef. So, when Lester blasted those two “best-looking” horses, he might have inadvertently created a high-end charcuterie opportunity for the landowner. Though, with the holes, I’m not sure they’ll fetch top dollar”
New Joke Scenario (Expanded punchline):
Instead of just fleeing after Lester reveals he shot the horses, John, in a desperate attempt to mitigate the situation, blurts out, “Wait, Lester! You didn’t understand! He wasn’t just charging more… he’s opening a equine meat processing! We were saving those horses from an even worse fate… by, you know, giving them the quickest death possible!”
Lester, confused but impressed by John’s quick thinking: “Oh, really? Well, I made sure to pick the two leanest ones. They’ll be perfect for sashimi!”
John glances over at the landowner, who now has steam coming from his ears.
John stammers and says “…Sashimi, eh? Japanese cuisine, huh. I heard in Japan they have whole restaurants dedicated to the culinary wonder that is horse meat.” To the landowner “You’re gonna make a KILLING! (pun intended).”
John then grabs Lester and whispers “LET’S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!”
Why this works:
- Doubles Down on the Misunderstanding: The escalation of the misunderstanding becomes even more absurd.
- Cultural Twist: Introduces the cultural element of horse meat consumption, adding another layer of unexpectedness.
- Irony Amplified: John’s desperate attempt to spin the situation makes things even worse.
- Implied Consequence: The landowner’s reaction becomes even more threatening.
- Wordplay/Pun: “Killing” is strategically used to enhance the dark humor.
This approach maintains the core humor of the original joke while amplifying the absurdity and adding new, unexpected layers of complexity (and dark humor).