being "funny"

[Johnny Yesno]

I really enjoy your HS Art posts, I don't think they are crap in the slightest.

I think you've got it the wrong way round, Replies. I can't be bothered with your HS Art stuff but I enjoyed meeting you in person.

I reckon you interpreted the tone of the meets wrong too. But perhaps I missed the ones where people were trying to be the funniest person in the room.

[Kankurette]

Tbh I wasn't trying to be funny, just making conversation. It's not like everything that came out of my mouth was 'look at me I am so witty'.

[Kankurette]

The meet was almost totally hirsuite, with only me letting the side down, while one of the attendees was the hairiest person I've ever seen (and seemingly a very nice man).

This new batch are some hairy cunts I can tell you. Makes a man weep! (and hard).

Yes, Flouncer and I were letting the side down with our flowing locks.

[bgmnts]

That's why I dont go to meets, in case I'm too funny and set a standard.

[Ray Travez]

I used to try to be funny, but I can't be bothered now. We are all gazing into the void. You will never know another, and your existence, once gone, will be as a raindrop falling into a millpond a thousand years ago. There is no self or other, just an emptiness that pervades all flesh, all action, all matter. A stillness beyond death.

[Ferris]

One of my very few strengths is the ability to be halfway amusing in any given situation.

Sadly, my anxiety/self-esteem means that I always try to be slightly amusing, so I want to crack gags during inappropriate situations.

So it's a strength, but also means I'll tell a knob gag at nan's funeral. Swings and roundabouts.

[Ray Travez]

I have exactly this as well, after removing your opening bits about being funny.  There are little debates sometimes when people with intellect ask on the radio "is it possible to not think" and they always follow that up with "no it isn't".  Well it is possible to not think and I am someone who has no thoughts.

I'm quite envious. I have no thoughts for some of the time, just staring at the wall perfectly contented, but then they come back. It's a drag.

A lot of people have mental chatter around the sense of 'I', but for some, the sense of 'I' just drops away, and the thoughts surrounding that self grind to a halt as well.

There are probably other reasons thinking stops, I expect Buddhism has something to say about it. I'd imagine an intellectual would be horrified by the idea that their thinking might stop, they probably think that intellectual thought circulates their blood.

[Smeraldina Rima]

.

[famethrowa]

We are all gazing into the void. You will never know another, and your existence, once gone, will be as a raindrop falling into a millpond a thousand years ago. There is no self or other, just an emptiness that pervades all flesh, all action, all matter. A stillness beyond death.

LOL good one :D

[Kankurette]

One time when I did consciously try to make people laugh was at my parents' wedding a few years ago when I did my speech. Mum was in on it, but nobody else was because I wanted it to be a surprise. I said a few words and then read the lyrics to Tom Lehrer's I Hold Your Hand in Mine and played it dead straight, like it was just a normal poem. It could have gone down like a lead balloon but luckily, everyone found it funny.

[Fr.Bigley]

No point trying to be funny if people have been laughing at you from birth.

[poo]

"You have to meet so-and-so, he's absolutely hilarious."


Nailed-on he's a cunt.


Yep, he's a cunt.

[Fr.Bigley]

"You have to meet so-and-so, he's absolutely hilarious."


Nailed-on he's a cunt.


Yep, he's a cunt.

Definitely this, I had a colleague that would introduce the biggest tossers in the department as "so witty and funny" when in actual fact it was more often than not some facecious arsehole with zero charm just some arbitrary sarcastic quips disguised as a personality.

Now if someone says someone's funny I ask which open mic night they're playing so I can first assess this.

[Pavlov`s Dog`s Dad`s Dead]

One of my very few strengths is the ability to be halfway amusing in any given situation.

Sadly, my anxiety/self-esteem means that I always try to be slightly amusing, so I want to crack gags during inappropriate situations.

So it's a strength, but also means I'll tell a knob gag at nan's funeral. Swings and roundabouts.

This is pretty much my experience. That combination of anxiety/low self-esteem, and in my case a large side-order of probable neurodivergence, means that puns and quips are my coping mechanism in most social situations involving more than one other person.

It might not seem particularly sophisticated or, indeed, appropriate, but it's a step up from my previous strategy: in my late teens/early 20s, I didn't have anything resembling a grasp on the causes of the social difficulties I experienced, let alone the knowledge that I could always turn down an invitation. So I used to take an accordion to any party-type event that I went to. In one way, it's extremely effective: everyone notices the instrument, but not the person behind it. In other ways, however...

Spoiler alert

Actually, no: there are no downsides whatsoever.

[close]

It is a source of enduring surprise to me that I continued to receive invitations.

[JaDanketies]

If I had a friend who took an accordion everywhere I'd invite them out all the time

[Ferris]

As would I.

[Dex Sawash]

When dad told the family he had Parkinsons i retold a Dave Attell joke I recalled.

"I got this friend, he's kinda... <does shaky hand thing that meant gay> got Parkinsons"

It did not kill but I still laugh about it despite  being a lot more sensitive about things that other any people.

[pigamus]

What really freaks me out is Sue Perkins Disease, when you make a perfectly ordinary statement and then laugh like you've said something funny

[Fr.Bigley]

What really freaks me out is Sue Perkins Disease, when you make a perfectly ordinary statement and then laugh like you've said something funny

That's very common, Amy Schumer syndrome is rife too whereby you're convinced the thing you stole is actually yours.

[Johnny Yesno]

What really freaks me out is Sue Perkins Disease, when you make a perfectly ordinary statement and then laugh like you've said something funny

That's very common, Amy Schumer syndrome is rife too whereby you're convinced the thing you stole is actually yours. Hahahahahahahaha!

[AllisonSays]

It's very context-dependent for me; some people find me funny and I try to be funny with them, it's a thing we do together, whereas with other people - even certain friends - I'm generally more lowkey. It's a joyous thing when you get that click with someone where you know you can make each other laugh.

When I lecture and teach I try to be slightly clownish from time to time to kind of disrupt the atmosphere, make the students comfortable, not present myself as an inaccessible authority figure - that usually goes down well although it didn't work as well when I taught Americans, for some reason, who I think found me to be odd and alarming rather than funny.

Finally, one of my closest and oldest friends has got that thing where he's almost always 'on', always trying to find a joke in whatever you're talking about, and while I love him dearly and often find him really funny, it's also fucking maddening, especially now we're a wee bit older.

[Ray Travez]

It is a source of enduring surprise to me that I continued to receive invitations.

I used to play balalaika in a band for one song, it was sort of a gimmick. I could play a few Russian folk tunes on it as well. After a gig, me and a friend went to a party. I didn't know anyone. I had the balalaika, we'd come straight from the gig. My friend says, "why don't you show me a Russian tune?" "Ok" I said, started playing.

Never seen a room empty so fast. Within minutes there was literally four of us, including two who couldn't leave because it was their flat.

[kittens]

When dad told the family he had Parkinsons i retold a Dave Attell joke I recalled.

"I got this friend, he's kinda... <does shaky hand thing that meant gay> got Parkinsons"

It did not kill but I still laugh about it despite  being a lot more sensitive about things that other any people.

i made a gag when i was first informed of the method of my best friend's suicide. great days

[kittens]

also @Replies From View i have met in person several times and can confirm is funny

[bgmnts]

First thing I said to my mum when she went to the hospital to see her dying/dead mum was "When you're out can you get some crisps?"

Funny bone, me.

[Jerzy Bondov]

I'm not an 'always on' person and I'm usually quite reserved but once I really feel comfortable around someone that's it, they are going to hear all sorts of stupid shit and there's nothing that can stop me.

[Pavlov`s Dog`s Dad`s Dead]

I used to play balalaika in a band for one song, it was sort of a gimmick. I could play a few Russian folk tunes on it as well. After a gig, me and a friend went to a party. I didn't know anyone. I had the balalaika, we'd come straight from the gig. My friend says, "why don't you show me a Russian tune?" "Ok" I said, started playing.

Never seen a room empty so fast. Within minutes there was literally four of us, including two who couldn't leave because it was their flat.

Oof.

It's funny you should mention Russian tunes: my repertoire at the time consisted of selected tracks from the Pogues, under-appreciated North-East folk-punks the Whisky Priests, and - relevantly - the Ukrainians' John Peel session, that I'd taped off the radio. My signature tune was Katyusha. Mind you, even if I could remember how to play it these days, in a very narrow interpretation of the hoary old definition of a gentleman, I wouldn't.

[The Mollusk]

also @Replies From View i have met in person several times and can confirm is funny

Seconded.

one of my closest and oldest friends has got that thing where he's almost always 'on'

I have to make an effort to stop myself doing this sometimes, since as Pavlov's mentioned above I use humour as a coping strategy. For me it's more a case of being very insecure about my lack of intellect or knowledge of the world (which I make up for with a wealth of emotional intelligence) and a fear of being forgotten about. I figure if I can diffuse a situation, break tension or round off a cLeVeR pErSoN conversation with a daft quip and make people laugh I'll still be valued. Fortunately I'm not just always making jokes and know when to wind it in, and also fortunately I am a pretty funny person and my sense of humour often goes down well.

[Kelvin]

There's definitely a "time and place" element to it. I almost always tone it down one on one, because you can't build meaningful relationships if you're constantly undercutting every topic with jokes, it always puts you at a distance. I rely more on in-jokes in those situations, maybe play up certain types of joke that I know will really make that specific person laugh.

And I'm also very quiet when I first meet new people, at least if there's no "in" with someone I know. I like to get a sense of the personalities, a sense of what types of humour will and won't go down well, before I start to lean into it more. And that can take weeks in a new job. Eventually you just calibrate to the room, though, and the reactions get bigger and bigger. Making people laugh is honestly like a drug to me, that wave of euphoria when you have a group of people in the palm of your hand, its like a hit you're constantly chasing.

PS. I'm well aware of how skin-crawling it is to have someone saying, "yeah, I'm funny", but... that's what the thread was asking, so hopefully it doesn't come across as too obnoxious in the context.

[Noodle Lizard]

I know certain people find me funny, and in some settings I feel like I can naturally find the funniest thing to say, but there are plenty of everyday environments where I'm completely incapable of "joining in" on the bantz. Workplaces, especially, although I'll usually find one or two other maladroits who have similar frames of reference. They're often in the IT department, let's be honest.

I think everyone remembers one kid from school who was just effortlessly incredibly funny. I don't think I was that kid to anyone, but I always appreciated those people. Plenty of them on here, in fact!