You know, the guy who’s been having that same angry conversation about the same fucking thing he’s been obsessed with for the last 5 years and demands that you take his view while going on long monologues and then immediately interrupting anyone who tries to get a word in edgewise? And then goes into a weeks-long suicidal despair if you try to leave the conversation? Any way to deal with that?
You could try bring an overactive listener. Ask a lot of questions “What does that mean?” “Can you give examples?” if you time them right, it’ll completely mess up his for when he’s monologuing.
Or, at the very least, you can have fun trying to see who can ask the stupidest question about Uncle Dave’s obsession.
Or, make it all about you, but only with that person.
“When that happened to ME…”
“That reminds me of the time <totally unrelated thing in your life>….”
“I have a friend who’s an expert in that and HE said….”
[edit] actually, what I do with those people is ask probing questions, things they couldn’t possibly know the answer to. As a last resort, I insert something that I know someone else in the group is interested in, and invite them into the conversation, exiting at the same time or shortly after.
Also, holding a plate or glass and then realizing you have to go refill it and making yourself scarce works.
Even more fun… Ask random unrelated questions until they break…
What was the horsepower of a 1971 horsepower?
Where did the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” come from?
What is the square root of 144?
How many moons does the earth have? (this is fun because it’s anywhere from 0 to 1 to 2 to many depending on the definition of moon of which there is no formal definition)
Bonus tip: works in haunted houses too. A zombie jumps out “I’m going to eat your brains!” just respond with a unrelated question “what is your favorite TV show?” it shifts their thoughts so much most of actors in a haunted house will break character.
Answer to all of those questions: 12.