We've all had those moments in inappropriate situations where something just hits you as funny and you can't stop laughing. Of all the places where it can happen, a funeral is probably the worst, but thanks to a Twitter thread started by comedian Andy Richter, we can see that it apparently happens there a lot.
https://twitter.com/AndyRichter/status/1165503714783707137
"Was just reminded of something," he wrote on Sunday. "You ever been part of a poorly-stifled group giggle for at a funeral? That happened when we noticed the family plot next to where we were burying my grandma, which was a combo of two families. The big headstone said Goode-Eaton."
Funeral comedy seems to come in several different categories. We have the unintentionally funny, where something about the setting or the other mourners set people off.
https://twitter.com/NoSarahOnlyZuul/status/1165508812092010496
https://twitter.com/dovergirl95/status/1165642972395974656
https://twitter.com/AmFmJen/status/1165654104435318785
And the mourner who thinks they're hilarious (and to be fair, some of them clearly are).
https://twitter.com/clhubes/status/1165648020802871298
https://twitter.com/peacebang/status/1165716146961690627
At his mother burial, as he and his brothers were lowering her casket into the ground, husband said "Let's let mom down one more time." All wound up giggling so hard they almost dropped her..
— Dr. Ginevra (@DbGinevra) August 25, 2019
Even when it's not on purpose and actually quite sweet.
https://twitter.com/M_Lynnchester/status/1165684496173133824
Sometimes it's the deceased who is the comedian, in which case laughter is probably appropriate.
My mother had an "I'd Rather Be Breathing" bumper sticker custom made for her coffin before she died. As they were wheeling her up to the alter I had to explain to everyone at the funeral that it was NOT my idea.
— Tom (@TomRussell8) August 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/madstatler/status/1165713344977920001
Or the sad yet adorable confusion of little kids who don't quite grasp the concept of death yet.
Priest was doing the old ‘Mary isn’t really dead,she’s with us all’, 3 year old niece screams out,”she’s not dead?!!”
— James O'Malley (@overdogg2000) August 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/TKhatesyou/status/1165685028149432320
https://twitter.com/readingjag/status/1165642406412410880
Then there are the funerals where no one really misses the departed. Convention requires the priest to say nice things about the deceased, and sometimes those things are so far from the truth people start wondering if they're even at the right funeral.
https://twitter.com/Nicole_Cliffe/status/1165635128753709056
https://twitter.com/jumahl3/status/1165709780821954560
My uncle had finally had enough of his mother’s made-up eulogy & stage-whispered to my cousin, “I don’t know who this preacher’s talkin’ ‘bout, my mama was meaner than a snake!” Giggling & snickering ensued
— Sophie Brookover (@sophiebiblio) August 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/farwent/status/1165661389404409857
Sometimes even the priest can't find anything nice to say, which is hilarious in its own right.
My grandmother was not a nice woman and at her funeral, the priest said how fair it was for her to be in purgatory. There was an audible gasp and then my mom started silently cry-laughing. It seemed this legitimized my mom renting a convertible for the occasion and wearing red.
— Snuffy (@saintsnuffy) August 25, 2019
My dad’s cousin (whom I’d never heard of prior to his death) died on 9/11. At the funeral, the family members who were supposed to give the eulogies all backed out. My grandfather—not at all quietly—says, “welp, he always was an asshole,” and the whole funeral home cracks up.
— Slanted & Disenchanted (@FirstClassHack) August 25, 2019
I'm also grateful for my family's parish priest, who knows us well enough to have two homilies prepared. One, for the beloved deceased, focuses heavily on their lives and how much they meant to us. The other, for the less-beloved, focuses on God's boundless mercy and forgiveness.
— ConsiderTheBees (@Wildfyrewarning) August 25, 2019
Honestly, funerals are tough, and anything that breaks the tension is likely to seem much funnier than it normally would. So, while it seems disrespectful, try to cut laughing mourners some slack.
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