There are two kinds of funny gift. The first gets a laugh when the paper comes off and is in a drawer by February. The second gets a laugh and then gets used every day, which means the joke reloads every time someone picks it up. The mug with the insult on the bottom is the second kind. Most novelty gifts are not.
Everything on this list is under twenty dollars and has thousands of reviews behind it, because a gag gift with no track record is a gamble you are taking with someone else’s birthday. Sorted cheapest first.
The best funny gifts are funny twice: once when they are opened, and again every time they get used.
The short list
- Why Are My Nuts in the Toilet Water? And Other Questions Older Men Need · ~$6.95 (format-dependent)
- Accoutrements Emergency Underpants · $7.45
- The Screaming Goat (Book & Figure, RP Minis) · $7.96 (current offer; list $13.95)
- Decodyne ‘Have a Nice Day’ Coffee Mug (middle finger on the bottom), 14 · $8.95
- Bullshit Button – BS Button with Sound Effects & Flashing Light · $9.29
- How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety (book) · $9.31
- Bofa Deez Nutz scented candle (banana nut bread & hazelnut vanilla, 6 oz · $12.99
- Emotional Support Chicken Nuggets plush (Relatable / What Do You Meme?) · $16.97
- SeaRoomy Burrito Tortilla Blanket (60 in) · $18.98
- Funny Dad Jokes – 75+ Jokes at the Push of a Button · $19.95
The best under $10
Where this list is strongest. Nothing here costs more than a sandwich and several of them are the funniest things on the page.
One
Why Are My Nuts in the Toilet Water? And Other Questions Older Men Need Answered (book)
He’s got all the time in the world now, so give him answers to the questions nobody else dares to ask. The perfect retirement read, best enjoyed exactly where you’d expect.
Buy on Amazon UKTwo
Accoutrements Emergency Underpants
Every survival kit needs a backup plan, and this one fits in a stocking. A tiny tin of emergency underpants for the sibling who’s always one sneeze away from disaster.
Buy on AmazonThree
The Screaming Goat (Book & Figure, RP Minis)
Press the goat. The goat screams. Everyone in the room screams. A pocket-sized meme that turns any teenager into the household’s loudest comedian.
Buy on Amazon UKFour
Decodyne ‘Have a Nice Day’ Coffee Mug (middle finger on the bottom), 14 oz
Looks like a perfectly polite mug. Then they finish their coffee and the bottom says what they really think about Monday’s meeting. The most passive-aggressive gift you’ll ever wrap.
Buy on Amazon UKFive
Bullshit Button – BS Button with Sound Effects & Flashing Light
Every meeting needs a fact-checker. Slap the button and a flashing light plus a voice call it as they hear it. The white-elephant gift everyone will try to steal.
Buy on Amazon UKSix
How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety (book)
A deadpan parenting guide for the ‘cat parent’ in your life, covering abstinence, Satanism, and other topics your cat is definitely already plotting. Coffee-table gold.
Buy on Amazon UK$10 to $15
The sweet spot: cheap enough to be a casual gift, solid enough not to look like one.
Seven
Bofa Deez Nutz scented candle (banana nut bread & hazelnut vanilla, 6 oz)
Smells genuinely delicious. The name will make him laugh every single time someone asks ‘What’s that candle?‘ 40 hours of burn time, infinite hours of the same joke.
Buy on Amazon UK$15 to $20
The top of the budget, where the objects start being things people keep.
Eight
Emotional Support Chicken Nuggets plush (Relatable / What Do You Meme?)
For the friend who’s one bad day away from a drive-through. Each fluffy nugget is a zero-calorie hug with a tiny face that never judges. Dip not required.
Buy on Amazon UKNine
SeaRoomy Burrito Tortilla Blanket (60 in)
She already steals all the blankets, so lean into it. This giant tortilla wraps her into the cosiest burrito in the house. Guacamole not included; snuggling strongly implied.
Buy on Amazon UKTen
Funny Dad Jokes – 75+ Jokes at the Push of a Button
Finally, a button that does what Dad already does all day, minus the pause for applause. 75+ groan-worthy jokes on demand, so he can recharge his own material. Warning: he will press it at dinner.
Buy on AmazonHow to choose
Buy the joke they already make. The dad-joke button works because he already tells the jokes. The emotional support nuggets work because she already says she needs a hug. A funny gift that reflects something true about the person lands harder than a funny gift that is merely funny.
Daily objects beat display objects. A mug, a blanket, a candle and a pair of socks all get picked up again tomorrow. A novelty ornament gets looked at once. Put the joke on something with a use and it stops being clutter.
Check who else will be in the room. Several of these are funnier in a kitchen than at a family lunch. If grandparents or children will be present at the unwrapping, pick from the cheaper, cleaner end of the list.
Questions people ask
What is the best funny gift under $20?
For a general-purpose gift, the ‘Have a Nice Day’ mug — it looks polite until the cup is empty, it costs under ten dollars, and it has more than ten thousand reviews. For someone who needs cheering up rather than teasing, the emotional support nuggets do the same job without any edge to them.
Are funny gifts a bad idea for someone you do not know well?
Only if the joke is about them. Pick something aimed at a universal irritation — Mondays, tiredness, meetings — and it reads as friendly. Pick something aimed at a personal trait and you are guessing in public.
Do cheap funny gifts look cheap?
A seven-dollar object that is genuinely well made looks better than a twenty-dollar object that is obviously a novelty. Weight, finish and a solid review count matter far more than the price printed on the page.