A retirement party is a great opportunity to let the retiree know what they meant to the company, and to their colleagues.

After a long career, a retirement party should look back on accomplishments, remember memorable moments, and celebrate personal connections.
A retirement party should also be fun, so introducing a little humor doesn't hurt. No one has to be a comedian, but it can help everyone to relax if a little humor is used.

When trying to come up with a retirement speech, the humor can seem extraordinarily difficult to do.
Delivering a little humor in a retirement speech is an excellent way to break the ice and get the crowd to relax. Retirement jokes can be found all over the internet, making it easy to find some stock material that can get the crowd chuckling a little. The best kind of humor, however, can be found when it applies to the personal experiences of the retiree.

Look back through the time a retiree spent at the company, and find potentially humorous incidents.
Talk to colleagues about incidents they may have experienced with the retiree. The best way to use humor in a retirement speech is to create a smooth introduction, leading into a more serious subject. A joke or two can act as a great intro for a memorable moment, when the retiree may have shown great character.

Situations that may have been stressful during the career of the retiree may serve as a segway into more serious discussion.
Talking about a tough situation the retiree found him or herself in can be humorous, but it can also be a way to show their character.

Having the audience laughing, and then drawing them in with a memorable commentary, is a great speech technique.

Retirement jokes are a favorite on the internet.
While these are usually pretty canned feeling, they can be a simple way to break the ice. Again, nobody has to be a comedian at a retirement party. Retirement jokes are just an easy way to make a connection with the audience and get them to perhaps chuckle a little. If you go with some one liners from the internet, only use a few here and there. Use more than that and a speech will begin to sound really prepared.

Evan