How do you deal with "gamer humor?"

[amerigoV]

I consider it universal, and some of that is good. Gaming is social interaction, after all.

My advice - laugh, then get back to the action. Sometimes players throw that stuff out when the session is slow, they cannot make a decision, etc. If that stuff is filling time until the players make a decision, then advance the action. Ie, if they cannot pick which door to go through, kick in one of the doors yourself. "Just as Ragnor finishes yet another pun, the door comes crashing open and orcs come pooring in! Roll for initiative!"

The other is if the system you are playing has action points/bennies/plot points, be sure to toss them out when the players are reinforcing your game's mood/story. I am just about to start EtoC Ravenloft, and I will freely give bennies to players that help keep the mood instead of disrupting it. Those that disrupt it? Well, they just might catch Strahd's attention...

 

[JediSoth]

As long as no one is truly offended by it, I don't care if my players joke around the table. We're all there to have fun.

Granted, it does make it a little more difficult to have serious, dark sessions, if I'm trying for that mood, but I generally don't anyway.

And if you're playing Paranoia, you can just execute their characters for displaying treasonous knowledge of the Old Reckoning.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

One, the use of pop-culture references can be hilarious.

Two, it serves a valuable social tool is reaffirming tribalesque links. By not accepting those links, you are casting yourself as a tribal enemy.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I expect some level of levity at the game table; we play on weeknights, and everyone's a little fatigued from work and ready to blow off some steam. What I try to do is nudge it into things related to the game. I don't like characters designated for strictly comic relief, but I enjoy NPCs -- particularly those who are not even close to being the PCs' peers, like common drudges or reclusive scholars -- whose dialogue is amusing to the players but not necessarily to the characters. The orcish chef who swears like a sailor (or a chef; he's lightly inspired by Kitchen Confidential) and complains about the cardinal sins of gluttony, sloth, and poor knife skills. The ex-Kitchens drudge who remembers the disgusting (to the players) architectural sculptures made out of animal fat and licks his hips in fond remembrance. The cheery 10-year-old kid who has no idea he got his new position as errand boy because the elderly previous hire was killed on the job. If players focus on in-jokes, we get the at-the-table bonding without having to be drawn too far out of the game repeatedly.

That said, even some of these in-jokes get tiresome with too much repetition, such as the constant jokes about the warforged's "gentleman area" and his fascination with locks and vaults. Thankfully the one group is finally letting that one lie as they discover new running gags like "the Shoes of Secrecy."

This sounds like fun stuff.
It is also very relevant to what's going on in your game. In character humor isn't the problem in the OP's case though.

 

[Barastrondo]

This sounds like fun stuff.
It is also very relevant to what's going on in your game. In character humor isn't the problem in the OP's case though.

Well, like I say, that's how I fight out-of-character humor. Or rather, at least the distractions of repetitive pop culture references. Some of this is player-created, mind (such as the many jokes about the warforged's "Key to the City"), and not all of it is in-character. But I feel that encouraging people laugh about things that are going on in the game, or about jokes that make fun of what could be going on in the game, helps get things across. Sort of comedic jiu-jitsu -- direct the punch rather than trying to block it or keep it from being thrown.

I figure if they're going to be cracking jokes anyway, giving them something game-related as a subject keeps them from having to quote Monty Python. It doesn't always work (last night, a bit on lycanthropy led to "were-elves" as a concept which led to were-Oscar Wilde which led to Monty Python's Oscar Wilde sketch), but it does work enough that I haven't had a Holy Grail quote at the table in ages.

 

[Mark Chance]

Each time a player makes an off-topic, out-of-character attempt at humor, respond with, "That's what she said!"

Then, click for a rimshot.

If this doesn't work, ram a poignard into the offending player's codpiece. That'll get some attention.

 

[Woas]

Don't tase me, bro! Don't tase me!

 

[Mark Chance]

Don't tase me, bro! Don't tase me!

"That's what she said!"

*buh-dum-ching!*

Slowly draws poignard just in case.

 

[Oryan77]

In general, I haven't met too many gamers that I thought were funny. Silly....yes, I've met a lot of silly gamers. But most of their humor is either in-game silliness (childish humor), or they quote pop culture jokes, which neither makes a person funny.

But hey, if it makes them laugh and have a good time, then it doesn't really matter. I agree though, it can really kill the mood of the game when people do that, but what can you do? I just let them laugh and hope that I can get everyone's attention back into the game by roleplaying my NPC really well. Doesn't always work, but that's my goal

I have one friend who would giggle like a little schoolgirl at every single comment made in the game that could reference sex or "fart" humor. He would giggle and say, "Heh...penetrated you're resistance", or "We have to go down the shaft...hehe". I only laughed because I thought it was funny that this grown man would never miss the opportunity to do this...EVER. Even when I didn't even see it coming, he caught it and had to point it out. I did start countering this by playing a clip of Beavis & Butthead laughing. So when he'd say something like that, I'd play the mp3...it at least helped me deal with it

 

[Edgewood]

Some things never change. I brought this up as a topic of concern myself a few years ago. I had the same issues. Your post is nearly a carbon copy of my own, and the responses you're receiving now are somewhat the same that I got back then.

I had a a couple of players who were hell bent on making every reference from MP, the Simpsons, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings ("Meat's back on the menu boys!") and although I could certainly put up with most of it, I drew the line when it became the only responses I would receive. The fun for me ended so I unfortunately had to end the game in it's entirety and start from scratch with a new group.

And although they too quoted MP and all of the others, it was less so. It was nice to role play again.

My situation was extreme while I think yours is probably more tolerable. Don't suck the fun from the group with negative reinforcement. I would simply not respond to them and wait for them to settle down.

Another way to deal is to have a chat session before you start play. Talk about work, what you all did during the week, tell jokes, talk about movies, books, other RPG systems, miniatures, model building or whatever it takes to get it out of their system. Once they get a chance to make their jokes and relax, then they may be more apt to settle down and role play.

I don't know, it might or might nor work.