Nobody Likes A Guy Who Tries Too Hard To Be Funny

Lessons on reading the room

I believe this whole dustup with Trump is going to end poorly for Elon.

The reason I believe this has nothing to do with money, or power, or anyone’s alleged ketamine-inspired crashout. It has nothing to do with EV mandates or government contracts or top secret FBI files. My belief revolves around one simple, indisputable fact.

Donald Trump is one of the funniest people on the planet, and Elon Musk is so incredibly unfunny it causes me physical pain.

It’s not just that Elon is unfunny. That’s ultimately unimportant. There are plenty of unfunny people in the world, and it has no bearing on whether or not others like them or take them seriously. The real problem with Elon is that he tries so hard to be funny, all the time. It’s the constant effort, the desperation and the sweatiness, that people find off putting.

Here’s a guy who is one of the richest and most intelligent men in modern history. He’s a billionaire many times over, and he figured out how to catch a rocket falling from the sky. You’d think he’d be content with that, to go about his life making boatloads of money while contributing to massive technological advancements. But no, that’s not enough for him. On top of everything else, he wants people to laugh at his jokes.

He’s always trying, to the point where it feels like pleading, to get a laugh from some unseen audience. He does it on Twitter, he does it on podcasts, he does it during speeches and interviews. It never ends. The jokes are terrible, but it’s his desperation that’s the true anathema to comedy. Desperation alienates you from an audience. They can smell it on you, and it makes them uncomfortable. And if they’re not comfortable, they’re not going to laugh.

But man, let’s not gloss over how awful the jokes are. Elon’s sense of humor operates like an LLM. He’s incapable of generating an original comedic thought. He just recycles what he’s seen elsewhere online and spits it out like it’s a novel or unique insight. Whether it’s calling himself “Kekius Maximus” on Twitter (A mashup of the “kek” meme and the Right’s valorization of the Roman empire), first-thought jokes about pronouns, or believing someone calling themselves “Big Balls” is the height of subversive humor, it all reads as stale retreads of already well-worn bits. It’s what made his recent “legalize comedy” rant fall so flat. Your side won pal. If people aren’t laughing at your jokes, it isn’t because they’re too woke. It’s because the jokes are bad and you’re trying too hard.

I want to point out that I’m criticizing Musk from a place of understanding. I absolutely know what it’s like to try, and fail, to win people over through humor. And it’s not just because I spent fifteen years pursuing a career in stand-up comedy. Do you think my desire to make people laugh started at my first open mic? Of course not. It started in school, wanting my peers to think I was funny. And often my attempts at humor ended up having the opposite effect.

Humor is a great barometer as to whether or not people like you. If you’re able to make them laugh, that means they view you in a positive light. But it all hinges on what animates the jokes you’re telling. If they emerge naturally from your personality into the social situations you find yourself in, they’ll go over well. If you’re starting from the place of looking for a joke, of putting the end goal of laughter first and searching for some way, any way, to get there, there are two negative outcomes. First, nobody laughs. That’s difficult in and of itself. But more importantly, people can tell that you’re trying to make them laugh, that you’re in need of their approval. This pushes them further away. It’s honestly one of the great tragedies of human interpersonal relations. Reaching out in need often backfires and leaves you feeling lonelier than before.

Elon tries to make humor the central aspect of his personality when it’s clearly not his strong suit, and the jokes land accordingly. Contrast that with Trump, who is so effortlessly funny that we all take it for granted at this point. He offhandedly drops words and idioms that quickly make their way into the cultural lexicon, and he does it all seemingly without trying. He always appears to utilize the right word, delivered with the perfect timing, to generate a laugh. It’s just a natural part of who he is, and it’s served him well in both his business and political careers.

Meanwhile, Elon’s is constantly trying to force 2014 Reddit style humor on us. Remember “Let that sink in?” I was as thrilled as anyone to see Twitter liberated from the censorious hands of the old regime, but corny-ass puns being brought to life started to make the bargain feel more Faustian in nature. We abandoned Millennial leftist cringe and were soon delivered into the hands of Boomer-tier memes. Free speech came with a cost, and that cost is Elon’s unfunny tweets showing up in our feed even when we’re not following him.

But that’s been the deal the New Right has made with Elon. Elon delivers meaningful outcomes for the cause (Freeing up Twitter, providing financial and cultural support for Trump’s re-election bid, debloating the government, etc), and they indulge Elon as he engages in his annoying little stunts and jokes. The influential figures of the New Right could have eviscerated him for jumping in the air like an addled toddler at Trump’s rally, or his “I am become meme” nonsense at CPAC, or any other number of missteps along the way. But he was helping them achieve important ends, so they let it slide.

That’s all out the window now. He counter-signaled the boss, and the fake laughter is the first thing to go. The Right’s support was based on his ability and willingness to advance policy goals. Without that, he’ll find that his personality and sense of humor aren’t enough to keep them on his side.

Bottom line: Elon can’t get a laugh from the crowd. Trump can. It’s how he’s won many of his battles in the past, and it’s how he’ll win this one too.