Do narcissists have an exceptional sense of humour?
I am sure that some of them do. In this, they are no different than healthier specimen of the human species. The narcissist, though, rarely engages in self-directed, self-deprecating humour. If he does, he expects to be contradicted, rebuked and rebuffed by his listeners (“Come on, you are actually quite handsome!”), or to be commended or admired for his courage or for his wit and intellectual acerbity (“I envy your ability to laugh at yourself!”). As everything else in a narcissist’s life, his sense of humour is deployed in the interminable pursuit of Narcissistic Supply. The absence of Narcissistic Supply (or the impending threat of such an absence) is, indeed, a serious matter. It is the narcissistic equivalent of mental death. If prolonged and unmitigated, such absence can lead to the real thing: physical death, a result of suicide, or of a psychosomatic deterioration of the narcissist’s health. Yet, to obtain Narcissistic Supply, one must be taken seriously and to be taken serious