Some people would hate a solemn funeral. If the person you’re writing about was known for making others laugh then a eulogy that doesn’t have any laughter in it can feel wrong. Like you’re describing a stranger.
A funny eulogy may seem a little odd and almost wrong. But you shouldn’t think of it as doing stand up at a funeral. You’re trying to tell the truth about someone and sometimes the truth is that they were funny.
And if there is laughter at the eulogy it usually comes with tears anyway. People laugh because they recognize the person in what’s being said.
So if you want to write a funny eulogy but aren’t sure how to do it then below you’ll find funny opening lines, lines built around some quirks the deceased may have had, full funny eulogy examples for different relationships and some closing lines that bring it back to love. If you’re starting from scratch our guide on how to write a eulogy will go through the structure of it and our main page of eulogy examples has more samples you can use as inspiration.
Is It OK to Be Funny in a Eulogy?
Usually I’d go straight in to the examples but with humor it’s understandable to be a bit more hesitant. So I’ll try and get rid of any worries about some of the etiquette first.
In most cases it’s fine to be funny in a eulogy. Humor is very common in eulogies now, especially at celebrations of life.
A well placed funny story lets people relax a little.
That said it helps to check a couple of things first. You should absolutely read the room before you write for it.
- Would they have wanted it? If the person loved a laugh then humor is right for them. If they were very private or formal then maybe not.
- How did they die? After a sudden, tragic or very young death the family may not be ready for laughter.
- What kind of service is it? A religious funeral may mean you should go for a lighter touch than a celebration of life at a golf club.
- What does the family think? If you’re not immediate family it’s best to run your stories past someone close. It could save you an embarrassment.
Tips for Writing a Funny Eulogy
The funniest eulogies are rarely made of jokes. What works much better are specific stories that everyone who knew them will recognize.
- Laugh with them, never at them. Poke fun at a quirk they were proud of or laughed about themselves. Leave out anything that could embarrass them or the family.
- Be specific. “He was a terrible driver” is alright but “he once drove around the same block four times looking for a restaurant he swore he knew and blamed the city for moving it” is what people will repeat at the reception.
- Balance it. Aim for something like two or three funny moments in a eulogy that is mostly warm. Every laugh should lead back to who they were and why they’re missed.
- Skip inside jokes nobody else gets. If it needs a long explanation don’t include it. Save it for the reception.
- Keep it clean. There will be grandparents, children and a minister in the room. Keep anything risky for the wake.
- Don’t settle old scores. A eulogy isn’t the place for digs at an ex, a sibling or anyone else who’s sitting in the pews.
- End sincerely. Don’t close on a punchline. Our page on how to end a eulogy has lots of ideas.
- Practice out loud. Funny lines need timing. Read it to someone first and pause after the laughs so people can catch up.
Funny Opening Lines for a Eulogy
A light opening can ease the tension in the room straight away. Choose one that fits the person then follow it with something sincere so people know where you’re going. There are more traditional ideas in our guide on how to start a eulogy.
- For those who don’t know me, I’m ______’s son. For those who do know me, I’m sorry. He warned you about me.
- Mom always said she wanted a short, simple funeral. Mom also always said “I’ll just be five minutes” in the grocery store. So we’ll see how this goes.
- If Dad were here, he’d tell me to hurry up because the buffet’s getting cold.
- I’ve been asked to keep this to five minutes. ______ never kept anything to five minutes in her life, so I feel like I have her blessing to go over.
- Grandpa told me years ago that if I cried at his funeral, he’d come back and haunt me. So if I break down, keep an eye on the lights.
- I want to start by thanking everyone for coming. ______ would have been thrilled with the turnout. And then counted you all to see who didn’t come.
- ______ asked me to speak today. Actually, she told me to. She never asked anyone anything.
- I spent hours trying to write something perfect. Then I remembered ______ never did anything perfectly in his life and enjoyed every minute of it.
- Looking around this room, I can see a lot of people who’ve been beaten by ______ at cards. Feel free to grieve the money too.
- Our family agreed I should do the eulogy because I’m the one who talks the most. I got that from Mom, so really, this is her fault.
- ______ would want me to start by saying he’s not dead, he’s just at the bar and he’ll be right back.
- Before I begin, ______ wanted me to remind everyone that she was right about the thing. You know which thing.
Funny Lines About Their Quirks and Habits
Most funny eulogies are made up around one or two habits that everyone knew. Use these as a starting point and then add in the real details for whoever it is you’re writing about. The more true to life they are the better.
The Terrible Cook
- Mom fed this family for forty years. We loved her for it, and we survived it.
- Dad believed every meal was improved by more pepper. Including dessert.
- She set off the smoke alarm so often that we called it the dinner bell.
- Grandma’s fruitcake could have been used to build a house. She made it every year, and every year we ate it, because that’s love.
Always Late (or Always Early)
- ______ was late to everything, so I’ll be honest, we’re all a bit surprised he left before us.
- Dad thought arriving ten minutes early was running late. He’d be standing outside right now wondering what took us so long.
- She was the only person I know who could be late to her own surprise party. She was. Twice.
The Penny Pincher
- Dad never paid full price for anything in his life. I’m fairly sure he tried to negotiate with the funeral director from beyond.
- Grandpa reused wrapping paper so many times that some of our Christmas presents had been under the tree since 1987.
- She kept every plastic bag she was ever given. We found a drawer. Then we found the other drawer.
- ______ cut coupons like it was a competitive sport. And he won.
The Stubborn One
- Mom never lost an argument. Even when she was wrong, she just outlasted you.
- Dad refused to ask for directions for fifty years. I like to think he’s finally found his way, and he’d tell you he knew the route all along.
- Grandma had one setting, and it was “I’ll do it myself.”
- ______ didn’t believe in instructions. Every piece of furniture in his house had a few spare screws left over and he was proud of that.
The Storyteller
- Dad told the same five stories for thirty years and somehow they got longer every time.
- Grandpa’s fishing stories were legendary. The fish got bigger and the details got fuzzier, but we never stopped asking to hear them.
- She could turn a trip to the post office into a forty-minute story. And it was always worth hearing.
The Sports Fan
- Dad loved his team through every losing season. If that’s not loyalty, I don’t know what is.
- Grandma never missed a game on TV and never once agreed with the referee.
- ______ is probably up there now explaining to someone why last season was actually a rebuilding year.
The Technology Struggler
- Mom signed every text message “Love, Mom”, just in case we couldn’t tell who it was from.
- Grandpa called me every week to ask how to turn the TV back on. I’d give anything for one more of those calls.
- Dad thought “LOL” meant “lots of love” and used it in some very unfortunate places.
- She took most of her photos with her thumb over the lens. We have hundreds of them, and we’re keeping every one.
SEE MORE: Funny Condolence Messages and Quotes
Funny Eulogy Examples
These full examples are written to take around two to four minutes to read aloud. Change the details to fit your situation and remove any line that doesn’t work
Funny Eulogy for a Dad
Good morning, everyone. For those who don’t know me, I’m ______, Dad’s oldest. He’d want me to point out I’m also the one who backed his car into the garage door in 1998. He never let me forget it, and I figured I’d save someone else the trouble of bringing it up today.
Dad was a man of simple pleasures. A cup of coffee, the sports section and a thermostat that nobody touched. If you grew up in our house you knew the rules. The thermostat stayed at 68. If you were cold, you put on a sweater. If you were still cold, you put on another sweater. If you complained, you got a speech about the price of heating oil that I can still recite word for word.
He wasn’t a man who said “I love you” every day. He said it in other ways. He checked the oil in your car every time you came home. He drove two hours to fix a leaky faucet that probably needed a plumber. He sat through every school play, every recital and every terrible soccer game I ever played in, and he cheered like we were winning the World Cup.
He also told the worst jokes I’ve ever heard. He’d laugh before he got to the punchline, so you never actually heard the punchline. I’ve realized over the last few days that I don’t need to. I remember the laugh.
Dad, thank you for everything. I’ll keep the thermostat at 68. Probably.
Funny Eulogy for a Mom
Mom had a saying for everything. “Because I said so.” “Do you think I’m made of money?” “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” I’ve been hearing them in my head all week, and I’m not going to lie, they’ve been oddly comforting.
She was the most organized person I ever met. She had a list for everything, including a list of her lists. When we went through her things this week we found a notebook labeled “Things To Do Before Christmas.” It was dated three years from now. She was always planning ahead.
She also could not keep a secret to save her life. If you told Mom about a surprise party, the guest of honor knew within the hour. Not because she was a gossip. She was just so excited for people that it spilled out of her.
But the thing I’ll remember most is how she made everyone feel welcome. Our kitchen table was never empty. Friends, neighbors, the kid down the street who’d forgotten his key. Mom fed them all. Whether they wanted to be fed or not.
Mom, I’m going to miss your lists and your sayings and even your terrible singing in the car. Thank you for loving us so loudly. We’ll try to keep up.
Funny Eulogy for a Grandfather
Grandpa was a man of strong opinions. He had opinions about the weather, about the government, about how to load a dishwasher and about why nobody makes things like they used to. He shared most of them at Thanksgiving dinner, usually before the turkey was carved.
He loved fishing, but I’m not sure fishing loved him back. In all the years I went out on the boat with him, I think we caught maybe a dozen fish. But you’d never know it from his stories. To hear Grandpa tell it, he once caught a bass so big it had to be towed home.
What I really learned on that boat wasn’t how to fish. It was how to sit quietly with someone and be perfectly happy. Grandpa never needed to fill a silence. He’d just pour another coffee from his thermos and wait.
He was proud of his family in a way that was almost embarrassing. He showed our photos to the mailman, the pharmacist and anyone who stood still long enough. If you’ve met him even once, you’ve probably seen my third-grade school picture. I apologize for that.
Grandpa, I hope the fish are biting wherever you are. And I hope they’re as big as you always said they were.
Funny Eulogy for a Grandmother
If you ever visited Grandma, you know you didn’t leave her house hungry. You didn’t leave her house without leftovers either. Or a sweater she’d knitted. Or a bag of hard candy from the bowl on the coffee table that I’m fairly sure had been there since the 1970s.
Grandma believed in a few simple truths. Everyone is too thin. Everyone needs a coat. And no problem in the world can’t be made a little better with a cup of tea and a slice of pound cake.
She was also the most competitive card player I’ve ever known. She played sweet and smiling, then she’d take every penny on the table and ask if anyone wanted more cake. Half the people in this room learned to play cards at her kitchen table, and most of us are still a bit scared of her.
She never forgot a birthday. Every year, without fail, a card arrived with a five-dollar bill inside. I’m a grown adult with a mortgage and I still got that five dollars. I kept every one of those cards.
Grandma, thank you for feeding us, worrying about us and beating us at cards. We love you. And yes, we’ll all wear a coat.
Funny Eulogy for a Friend
I met ______ twenty years ago when we were both working terrible summer jobs. Within an hour he’d talked me into skipping lunch to go and look at a used car he had no money to buy. That was ______ in a nutshell. Big plans, no budget and somehow you always ended up going along with it.
He had the worst sense of direction of anyone I’ve ever known. We once spent three hours trying to find a campsite that turned out to be twenty minutes from his house. He insisted the whole way that he knew exactly where we were going. We still laugh about that trip. Or we did. I’ll keep laughing about it for both of us.
He was the friend who turned up. When I moved apartments, he was there with a truck that barely ran. When my dad was sick, he sat with me at the hospital and talked about nothing for hours until I felt better. He never made a fuss about it. He just showed up.
______, you were a terrible navigator, a worse cook and the best friend anyone could have. I’m going to miss you every day. Save me a seat, and please, for once, check the map.
Funny Eulogy for a Husband
When I married ______, I knew I was getting a kind and loving man. What I didn’t know was that I was also getting a man who would never, ever close a kitchen cabinet. Thirty-two years, and not one cabinet. I’d give anything to walk into the kitchen tomorrow and bump my head on one he left open.
He was a man who loved a project. Never finished one, but he loved starting them. Our garage is full of half-built bookshelves, half-fixed lawnmowers and one boat that he swore would be in the water by next summer. Every summer.
But he was also the man who brought me coffee in bed every single morning. Who held my hand in the car like we were still teenagers. Who made me laugh on days when I didn’t think I could. Even when he was sick, he was cracking jokes with the nurses and asking the doctor about his golf swing.
______, thank you for every open cabinet and every cup of coffee. I loved you then, I love you now and I’ll go on loving you. I’ll leave a cabinet open in your honor.
Funny Eulogy for a Brother
Growing up with ______ meant two things. One, you never got the last cookie. Two, you always had someone to blame. He was three years older than me and spent most of those three years reminding me of it.
He taught me a lot. He taught me how to ride a bike, mostly by pushing me down a hill and shouting “pedal!” He taught me how to sneak back into the house after curfew, though looking back, I think Mom knew all along. And he taught me that if you’re going to break something, break it in a way that looks like the dog did it.
As we got older, the teasing never really stopped. But neither did the phone calls, the advice I didn’t ask for or the way he’d show up at the exact moment I needed him. He was the first person I called with good news, and the first with bad news too.
I’m still a little annoyed that you got the last word, big brother. But I’ll forgive you. Eventually.
Funny Eulogy for a Coworker
I worked next to ______ for eleven years, which means I’ve spent more time with her than with some members of my own family. I knew how she took her coffee, which meetings she secretly hated and exactly which sigh meant the printer was jammed again.
She was the unofficial heart of our office. She remembered every birthday, organized every potluck and had a drawer full of snacks that kept the whole department alive through every deadline. If you ever needed a stapler, a phone charger or a pep talk, you went to ______’s desk.
She also had a running war with the office thermostat that lasted over a decade. I don’t think she ever won, but she never stopped trying.
The office is very quiet without her. Someone else will sit at her desk eventually, but nobody will ever really replace her. ______, thank you for the snacks and the laughs. We’ll keep the potlucks going for you.
If you need something much briefer, our short eulogy examples are easy to adapt, and you can add one funny line to any of them. For a less formal service, take a look at these eulogy examples for a celebration of life too.
Closing Lines to Bring It Back to Love
After the laughs the end of the eulogy is your chance to say what everyone is feeling. These lines are still light but finish on something more sincere.
- You made us laugh every day you were here. We’ll try to keep doing that for you.
- Thank you for every bad joke and every good day. We were lucky to have you.
- Rest easy. We’ll take it from here, although probably not as well as you did.
- Heaven just got louder. And a lot more fun.
- We’re going to miss you more than you’d ever let us say out loud.
- I’ll finish the way you always finished a phone call, before anyone else was ready. Goodbye, Dad. Love you.
- Somewhere, someone just got their first terrible pun from ______. Lucky them.
- You always said you wanted people to laugh at your funeral. Mission accomplished. Now we’re going to cry a bit too, and you’ll just have to put up with that.
- Thank you for teaching us that life is too short to take seriously. We’ll do our best.
- Save us a seat, and save us some of the good snacks.
What to Leave Out
A few things can make something that should be funny become uncomfortable. It’s worth reading your draft once just for these.
- Jokes about how they died
- Stories involving heavy drinking, affairs or anything illegal
- Anything that makes a family member the butt of the joke
- Crude or sexual humor, even if they would have laughed
- Jokes about their weight, looks or health
- Long setups for a punchline. If it takes more than a few sentences, cut it
If you’re worried about getting emotional halfway through a funny story that’s completely normal. Our tips on how to deliver a eulogy without crying might help, but nobody minds if you need a moment.
Laughing at a funeral can feel strange at first. But for someone who filled your life with laughter it’s really the right way to say goodbye.
You don’t need to be a comedian to write a funny eulogy. Just tell the truth about the person you loved. The people in that room loved them too and they’ll laugh with you.