Ever have someone react badly to your amusing anecdotes?

A friend of my wife’s always strikes up a “conversation” with the comedian whenever we frequent a comedy club (and since I am a comedian myself, that’s frequent - although strangely, I’ve never noticed her do it to my act but, as any comic can tell you, the acoustics are WAY different on stage). Things like:

Comic: "So, I was in Thunder Bay the other day … "
Her: “Oh? I was born there! Did you see the [such and such tourist attraction]?”

Not in a real loud heckling voice, but a slighlty louder voice than if she was having a conversation with us at our table, and, looking directly at him. Sometimes the comic hears her (and woiuld treat her like a heckler) - we do often sit up front (easier for me if I’m performing on the same bill) sometimes she isn’t heard or is ignored (which seems to confuse friend). She does have a mental problem (not sure exactly, I think she said once it was bipolar), so that might explain it.

Reminds me a bit (although not quite related to the topic) of my daughter, who is seven years old. there are two Erics in her class so, naturally, they are referred to as Eric R. and Eric S.

There’s also a daycare in the school where younger kids (llike my daughter) go as well, especially after school and the parents aren’t home yet. Eric R. goes to the daycare but Eric S. doesn’t. One time at daycare my daughter greeted her classmate with “Hi, Eric R.!” He shot back with “Eric S. isn’t here! Just call me Eric, not Eric R.!”

I think the friend was pretty dumb to be telling a potentially offensive joke like that to anyone she didn’t know really well, much less a customer of her business.

A high school friend went on to be a navigator on B-52 Bombers and bombed the crap out of Viet Nam. I went on to be an infantry medic and survived two tours in Viet Nam. Years later we met at a mutual friend’s house. I have a funny story about being really scared when hearing a B-52 strike while I was in the infantry. Evidently the navigator was in complete denial about whatever happened on the ground during a B-52 strike. When I found out he had been a B-52 navigator and started to tell the funny story, he covered his ears and went: “la la la la la.”

I tend to tell some edgy stories and, unfortunately, sometimes I get the “That’s not funny!” What does that mean? If I tell 5 people a humorous story about attempting suicide and 4 people laugh, then it IS funny. Person #5 just isn’t getting in to the spirit of the thing.

Since whether or not something is funny is wholly subjective, it can only mean “I don’t think that’s funny.” I just wish more people understood that consciously rather than declaring something objectively unfunny.