Expectations and Realities When You’re The Funny Friend

Every friend group has a ‘funny friend,’ their jokes may be super hilarious, low blows or even repetitive. As a self-proclaimed funny friend I want to reveal some of the expectations and realities that come with being the ‘funny friend’. It’s not as easy as it looks or seems.

1. Expected to be FUNNY around everyone.

Clearly the funny friend has to be funny. No, I’m not talking about someone who makes you chuckle from time to time or LOL through text message. I’m talking about the person in your group who can without a doubt makes you geek every time you’re with them, the kind of laughing that makes you feel like you’re getting abs in the process.

2. Expected to LIGHTEN the mood.

The funny friend cannot ever be the Debbie Downer. In any situation they have to be ready to make the mood more enjoyable. They have the ability to make a bad breakup or bad grade on a test less depressing, whether it’s by telling you how single they are and always will be, or drawing another line on that F your teacher gave you on an assignment to turn it into a pretty A.

3. Expected to never take anything SERIOUSLY.

The funny friend can take things seriously, but they do it with humor. For instance, after a friend’s regrettable one night stand instead of saying, “bro you’re super dumb,” the funny friend may take a line from one of their favorite episodes on America’s Next Top Model and say something like, “ I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you” not to be dumb this one time!

4. Expected to be able to LAUGH at yourself.

The funny friend knows that they can’t possibly expect others to laugh at the jokes made about others, if they can’t laugh at the jokes made at their own expense. For the funny friends it is unspoken code that they must be able to take every joke made about them with a grain of salt, no matter how insulting it is.

5. Expected to make a LOW BLOW comment from time to time.

It’s true some of the funniest jokes that a funny friend can make may come at the expense of their own friends. This happens because great comedians draw from their own life experiences and every joke has truth. My advice to those of you who are not the funny friend in the group is to be ready to be thrown under the bus a few times.

6. Expected to always have a NEW JOKE.

I’ve seen this happen time and time again, and I’ve come so close to taking away some of the ‘funny friend’ badges I’ve given out in the past. You cannot repeat the same jokes because those jokes are tired and used up material. Repeating jokes is like reusing the same toilet tissue, the s**t sucks. If you do this you “are not the father, funny friend.”

7.  Expected to always have a GREAT COMEBACK.

As the funny friend, one tends to thrive in group settings where everyone is making jokes about one another. It’s imperative to never buckle under pressure because they will always need a comeback that ups the ante. Lame comebacks will instantly ruin your street credibility so be wise, fearless, and ruthless young grasshopper and spread laughter.

• expectations
• friends
• funny
• humor
• requirements