How to Tell a Joke to Your Most Grumpy Friend

When it comes to telling your grumpy friend a joke, there are a number of ways to go about it. A few of them include: a good ol' fashioned belly laugh and making the other person do the dirty work. The trick is to choose the right time and place for the joke to work. Having a good rapport with your buddy is half the battle.


Taking the time to do something a bit more ambitious than just snarking off your grumpy friend can make all the difference in the world. As a bonus, you will have some fun and get a better sense of what your pal is actually thinking about. This is especially helpful if your grouchy friend has a good head on his or her shoulders.

The aforementioned belly laugh is the most obvious choice, though there are a few other ways to get a little prankster in the door. One of the most effective methods of doing this is to have the other person re-do an activity that you've been doing for the past few days. The aforementioned bumbling will be less likely to chuckle at the thought of having someone else stoop to their level of naivete. This also gives you a chance to have a more in depth conversation with the other person.

Another good method is to simply be yourself. For instance, you can tell your sarcastic pal that your tame of a rascal is about to try a new dish and you're not going to be able to stand the taste of it. If the dish is a disaster, there's a remedy for that too. You can either a) give them a taste of what they're missing or b) have a scavenger hunt of sorts where you find out what they've been cooking up their own selves. In any case, a good time is a great time.

The best way to test out these options is to sit down with your friend and just talk. This gives you a chance to share your wits while avoiding any awkward eye contact. After all, what is it like to be around someone who is constantly on guard? If you're lucky, you might even end up chatting with the other person for a couple hours.