Question: I am wondering if there is any name, or well-known example, for a humoristic construct that I particularly enjoy. It is exemplified in this monolog from [Pierre Desproges](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Desproges), directed at a woman he was interviewing for a radio off:

> 
> Lady, you're a beautiful flower — can I call you a flower? [...]  
> 
> *(later in the interview)* You're a cute white cloud in blue summer sky — can I call you a white cloud?  
> 
> *(some more such lines throughout his monolog, you get the idea)*  
> 
> *(and it ends with:)* You're gorgeous as a cab — can I call you a cab?
> 
> 
> 

I'm not even sure there is a specific term for this build-up and final twist. It's sort of related to a syllepsis (which would be *can I call you beautiful and a cab?*), but delayed in time. Is there a name for this construct? Do you know of famous examples in English?

(I do apologise because translation of humor is necessarily weak, and is not my forte. I do it because I don't know any good example in English.)

Answer: 
is it a [callback](http://comedians.about.com/od/glossary/g/callback.htm)?

> 
> A callback is a reference a comedian
>  makes to an earlier joke in a set.
>  Callbacks are usually made in a
>  different context and remind the
>  audience of an earlier joke, creating
>  multiple layers and building more than
>  one laugh from a single joke. When
>  used at the end of a set, callbacks
>  can bring a comic's routine full
>  circle and give closure to the set.
> 
> 
>
In comedy writing, the construction is known under the larger grouping of the “the rule of three” in that such jokes require three items, the third of which twists the meaning of the list in a humorous way (in this example, the double meaning of the word *call* is twisted). Other examples include sitcoms lines like:

*Character*: Can I get you something from the store? Advil, water, a new boyfriend?