faux fights between couples in front of guests

Tricky. Classic if done right, dud in most cases, 'cause done wrong. Requires a sense of humor. So like any joke, then.

In summary: funny jokes = funny, not-funny jokes = not funny.

We see eye to eye, you and I.

Funny if it's the "Who's on first?" routine. Dud in every other instance.

Argh, I hate those fights! I loathe it. But I also dislike *real* fights done in front of me. I also hate people who put their partner down in front of me (in the shop). I wanna smack'em in the face.

Dud. Partly because it just isn't funny. I don't find put downs amusing. And even if it might be funny, it's just one more coupley assertation of OMIGOD LOOK HOW COUPLY WE ARE!!!

ugh i have this tricky problem becuz my best friend's boyfriend is like fucking rude to her and i don't know if it's really my place to say something to her about it. she's definitely complained to me before but at that point i was just like oh, yeah, yeah, u know listening! now i feel i have to intervene but do you do that?

Oh man I love it when couples put each other down in front of me!

hahaha no these are hilarious and awesome, esp if they get really mean and make everyone else uncomfortable

well i've actually done this just with a friend. u know like staged a fight to make everyone really uncomfortable. it was hilarious.

It depends on what the context, but, to be honest, I've seen so many couples who are actually unpleasant to each other and in whose company it's actually unpleasant to be that I'm not sure trying to recreate that for comic effect is the best use of my time.

Sometimes if I'm giving out to him about something, Mister M will pretend to cringe and say "she beats me, you know", which I know is only meant to be a joke, but it's SO not funny. And I tell him that and he knows that, but for some reason a lot of his verbal humour is violence-based (if you know what I mean), so he keeps forgetting.

as my last long-term relationship ground to a miserable halt doing this became the only time we actually enjoyed each other's company.

we were playwriting majors with a hard-on for albee and howard hawks, and probably in the running for most obnoxious people ever.

i mean i'm not proud, but it was hilarious

You are proud.

albee is exactly what i think of when i see/participate in this behaviour

also mark s's long-ago contention (i think cribbed from someone else) that "there are no such thing as 'jokes'"

am cool with this if it's clear they love or at least like each other really.