The "Accidental" Pun

In class we have mentioned puns and manipulation of language, but so far our emphasis has been on intentional manipulation and performances. One section of Sherzer's book that I particularly enjoyed focuses on unintentional puns as a form of speech play. Sherzer states that "At times an unconscious, unnoticed pun becomes noticed, either by the speaker or by a listener. Thus, by convention, it changes the nature of the discourse, which now focuses on the pun as if it were intended" (33). Sherzer's example comes from a lecturer whose statement was intended to be serious, but the audience was able to turn the statement into a pun:

Some things only happen to women. Period.

This section caught my attention because unintended puns happen so frequently in everyday conversation (they keep things interesting). But of course, as I sit here trying to think of recent examples I just cannot remember many. If you have come across any unintentional puns lately, feel free to post them!

The only one that readily comes to mind happened when my sister and I were much younger. We were playing in the backyard near the plastic kiddie pool and my sister dropped her towel into the pool. She grabbed it back out, held it up to look at it, and said "Oh no!! Oh...oh well...accidents happen," while at the same time the soaking towel dripped down her leg, making look like an "accident" really did happen. As soon as she realized the double meaning of what she said, we both laughed for days about it (as little kids we thought this was hilarious).

Here is my question about accidental puns: since the speaker did not intend to use a pun, does the pun count as a verbal performance? It seems that an intended pun could be considered a performance because of the intent behind it, but I am not sure whether intention can help determine whether a speech act can be labeled as a "performance" or not. Maybe the accidental pun is not itself a performance, but becomes one as soon as the addressee(s) realize the double meaning of the words? Let me know your thoughts!