“humor is just another defense against the universe”. -mel streams
The images and words engraved on the skin do not need to be serious, symbolic or sentimental all the time. As tattoo styles have developed over the past two decades, so has the use of humor to illustrate personality and enjoyment in body art.
The traditional stereotypes of rebellion, anguish and otherness have been joined by irony, satire, sarcasm, black humor and lots of fun as viable means of expressing the skin.
Funny tattoos, once accidental and often cringe-worthy, now cross over into all genres of art form and popular culture as well. all it takes is a fun tattoo idea, a willingness not to take things too seriously, and the pleasure of teasing things while the needles prick the skin.
Tattoos vary between individuals, a fact that extends to humor in tattoos. an image, phrase or quote could have one person in stitches and leave another horrified or confused. The variety of reactions partly explains why fun tattoo ideas are such a fast-growing phenomenon.
Now, more than ever, it’s important to think, feel and experience the emotions you pour into your body art. Read on for 134 hilarious tattoo examples that will make you giggle, giggle, howl, or shake your head.
1. funny alien tattoo ideas
for women
this is a cool little tattoo. using white ink support for the simple image works well for adding highlights.
This is a very well engraved black line tattoo; I love alien humor with elements of stereotypical smartphone culture, funny glasses, and a wry, self-deprecating “blonde” t-shirt.
for men
This is a rough but fun tattoo of a cow rising into an alien spaceship. a lot of technical work is needed to improve the fun idea. the tractor beam linework is messy and appears to have been drawn freehand. the cow also needs a touch up to clean off the black ink filler. the tattoo to the right of the featured piece is a bit scary; it’s old, faded, and could use a complete makeover.
for men & women
This fun pair of religious aliens is a great new wave 3d tattoo. I love the color palette and the solid fill, especially on the inside of the alien and the flower petals. it’s the kind of image that atheists would find hilarious but appeals to those of faith.
This fun little tattoo on the inner bicep is really cool. it is simple, ironic and well recorded. the use of fine black lines creates a simple image but adequate to convey the fun message. the black zebra stripes on the turn-down bedspread are a great touch.
hahahaha. I love the sentiment expressed by the careworn alien smoking a butt; scratching absentmindedly is a testament to the translation. it’s a very human scene found outside corporate buildings around the world.
I love this image. definitely not the kind of thing alf would like. Again, it is a simple and minimalist line tattoo that effectively combines the message with the art of the tattoo. For some reason, the sad look on the cat’s face makes me laugh.
2. funny animal tattoo ideas
for women
All this fun tattoo is missing are some party favors to get the ball rolling. the incongruity between the hat and the great white shark is a good tactical trick. the ink itself is well drawn, sharply outlined with skillful use of shading.
file these burlesque birds under: “things you can’t unsee”. They’re a classic pair of tattoos, well etched with hybrid shading and a good sense of fun. it’s also a good idea to put a pair of human legs on the body of a chicken, or is it a pigeon? never mind, really! also, like the added touch of a beret in the first image, you can’t touch this raised brim in the second.
Okay, let’s be weirder. I bet troy mcclure from the simpsons would have a tattoo or two like this extolling his “love” for sexy fish. In funny tattoos, the little details set the hilarity of the overall image. This effort combines bobby knee socks and an anchor tattoo for a good laugh. the aqua/blue splatter is a realistic application to the piece that seems added simply to make the ink look weirder.
banana fin? Okay. this is brilliant and quirky. it’s a minimalist and fun tattoo that just needs to work with the concept, which is unique and innovative. If you peel a banana and a dolphin comes out, I recommend seeing a licensed professional.
for men
daddy longlegs is an excellent fine black line print. the long pegs that give the beast its name are artfully done in an almost point-to-point manner, and detailing the body/head is not the point of the art. I’m not a big fan of cursive writing; it is a good style of calligraphy but it lacks fluidity. including the quotes is somewhat redundant and unbalances the piece.
This fun tattoo is a great piece of subversion, featuring a realistic little duck seemingly happy to be hooked up to a brain stimulator. i can dig the absurdly real television is the key to the piece, with its feet as strange hands and the vibe of the old school in its form and detail. this is an exceptional tattoo.
A fine minimalist cartoon alligator tattoo. It’s clean, but well done. There isn’t much to this simple tattoo but the thick lines and eye/teeth effects are sharp but cleverly executed. the key in the long term would be to make sure that it remains isolated from other works of art to preserve its individuality.
I love the fun idea of a little bunny and a bad day, and the guy’s socks are great too. from a technical perspective the work could be drastically improved (the letter doesn’t look sketchy or out of sync) and the white ink fills are a complete waste. the white ink would have been better used as a line accent or combined with a shading embellishment to give this fun tattoo more depth.
Known as bin chicken in Australia, the ibis is alternately loved and despised in equal measure for its voracious appetite for scooping food out of bins and terrorizing tourists in popular seaside communities. it is likely a long-legged winged cohort to the North American raccoon. this guy is casually going through the day, smoking a cigarette and probably thinking of ways to put food on the family table while causing maximum inconvenience to the humans. some would say it’s a noble quest.
This is a bright and fun tattoo of a great white shark in floaties. the level of absurdity is only matched by the fierce stare of the apex predator trying to move in the great ocean. technically, the tattoo artist did a very fine job. the shading is a fantastic low-key realism that allows the brightly colored floats to stand out against the contrasting shark. the large, hungry mammal itself is a clean piece of black ink outline.
lol. This is a classic. I can imagine this cranky toad sitting on his porch, watching the neighborhood goings-on, and then spilling tea to the other old amphibians later at the bar. Line work is key to the success of this tattoo design – its thick outline provides a nice shape for simple and effective shading to work against.
This disappointed pink unicorn is a very fun tattoo. He doesn’t need to say anything more than he says, like a sulky animal from Adventure Time or the outcast part of a Matt Groening think tank. I love the horn made to look like a delicious wafer cone, while the clean pink filling is a great tone against the subject’s skin. cleverly works in concert with the flowing white ink mane. Given the other nearby art, a blackline snowflake and a delicious ice cream, this guy isn’t afraid to go crazy in his choice of tattoo art.
This pug riding his surfboard is amazing. I’d get drunk watching a TV show dedicated to big wave puppy surfers. it’s extremely detailed and well balanced on the short board, which is twisty itself. At first glance, I was not a big fan of the wavy part of this tattoo. despite being a reasonable circle with excellently rendered white caps and shading, I felt it was too stretched out. but, the more you look at it, the less it matters because there’s a pug hero on a surfboard attacking the curl like vintage kelly slater.
Mom stopped crying over my tattoos about 15 years ago, when I had a dozen or more and was already very enlightened. however, if I had gotten a well engraved monkey with the balls out, looking at everyone looking at me inked anywhere, she would have gotten a barrel full of sulfuric acid, a huge wire brush, and I would have burned it to clean it of the skin. This is certainly a fun tattoo, but it will take a lot of willpower to keep the subject thinking like this as time goes on.
flash as a rat takes on a new connotation with this impressive gray rodent. I love the gray ink used in this cartoon tattoo, nicely supported by flashes of white ink and a large front tooth. his casually slicked-back hair looks classic, like a wily car salesman with a lifetime supply of free brylcreem.
quite interesting interpretation of camel toe. the location is excellent, as is the group’s commitment to having fun with a negative, albeit frequent, perplexing phenomenon. the solid black fill is well done considering the awkward placement, and the tattoo artist has created an attractive camel outline.
It can’t kill the hustle, but it can kill the art. It’s not a particularly strong tattoo design despite the prowess of placement and concept. the lines look jagged and the alternate brown line is pretty poor too. the flies are the best part of the ink; however, they need better padding in the body and more depth in the hood.
hahahaha. This is a cool take on the popular “snek” meme, with the deliberate crudeness of the script that works because of the professional delivery. the “snek” looks like a little kid drew it on the back of the subject’s arm, but that’s exactly the point!
This giraffe is eager for an exciting lick of the subject’s nipple. The artist has cleverly used scale to create this fun tattoo. the giraffe is long, agile and proportionate instead of stocky. not much detail, but the black fill on the patches has been effectively etched.
for men & women
A great version of goldfish riding a bike, though this guy seems to have seen too much in his time, as his wide eyes and cigarette dangling from his mouth attest. the bike is clean and simple, while the combination of the line tattoo and alternative dotwork fill is a good use of technical application. I can imagine the wheels screeching and the brakes screeching as the fish passes you at the bus stop on the way to the liquor store at 8:00am.
This frog is not here to waste time. it’s reminiscent of when you show up to the party a couple of hours late, and one of your friends already has a bottle of sparkling wine and is yelling at you to play shania from the second story roof (supposedly). the blended lines style is a unique effect, as are the scattered fill scratches; they could probably be more effective if done as dots or hybrid hash lines.
This sloth is great, but if in the future you need this message for luck, then you’ve done something wrong along the way. the white highlighted claws are impressively etched, like little wolverine claws, and the faint white patches of fur work sweetly. he’s such a friendly guy.
3. fun black and gray tattoos
for women
This is a brilliantly delivered tattoo piece, combining exceptional black lines and negative space with a fresh and fundamentally strong geometric application. the royal flush line is so impressively fresh; Without this technical excellence, the rest of the tattoo design would not work as it allows for precise angles.
another cool and fun tattoo combines a clever concept with a simple and practical delivery, like the use of red ink to contrast with the minimalist hands; although any bright color opposite the black line would be helpful.
haha. periods are the worst and this tattoo perfectly sums up a woman’s monthly cycle. It’s a simple yet extremely clever piece of body art that wastes no time getting the message out of it.
well, this is quite a metaphor. I love a good example of smart, found fun, and then armed with quality sewing. like the artist’s differentiation of each pair of scissors: the heavy-duty fabric scissors on the left versus the more utilitarian ones on the right. the shading is accurate and perfectly highlights the innovation, while the lines are etched sharply against the negative space to give the left-hand scissors more sparkle.
for men
this is awesome. it’s a neat little tattoo that balances out a fun, if slightly morbid, message that we’ve all felt at times. the black line ink is well delivered, there are no wasted strokes, the tennis racket in particular is boldly made and looks freshly broken.
These twin thigh tattoos are so weird they’re amazing. she had never seen a hand tattoo that depicted brain function in such a cerebral way. it is like a mud map built during a team building exercise and perfectly reflects the point of the tattoo. the imprecise nature of the circle, brain, and connecting lines written in large on the skin is a great teachable moment: not all tattoos have to be precise to be brilliant (although 90% of the time it matters). the contrast between the crayon-style brain diagram, with the classic black and gray knee roses, adds another layer to the irony.
hahahaha. this is cool a tattoo of a plastic chair that came straight out of the cheap department store catalog and retails for $10. the only way to get past the negative space, black line version is to color it in that awful green dark that reflects the color of your trash can. It’s an amazing piece of body art, and I want one of my own.
sometimes, you just have to drop that dove and move on. fly free popcorn, fly free. This fun tattoo has an old school traditional American vibe, but with gradient shading instead of unique fill colors in the usual green, red, and yellow.
this is a fun variation on the famous fresco found on the ceiling of the sistine chapel. the message is clear, but what is also clear is the expertise of the tattoo artist. the shading, while light, is subtly tremendous, adding flexibility and shape to each hand and complementing the cool black outlines. The only problem with this tattoo is the placement: the upper back is Malibu real estate for ink lovers, and this bad boy could look amazing scaled down and placed elsewhere.
for men & women
This is one of the saddest tattoos you’ve ever seen. well done!
4. funny cat tattoos
for women
This fun tattoo is a silly hello kitty dream. The layers of different shades of pink are stunning, from the bright sushi cat sugar bomb to the fluffy pale pink filled with little white polka dot stretches. pink is a springy color, and this piece proves it with innovative style. also like the seaweed roll in the middle mixing clever dot work for a magic eye effect.
ok, put down the tattoo gun. you’ve had enough for today.
This is a nifty little tattoo perfectly placed in an awkward position. the key to this agitated cat will come later. tattoos on this part of the body are notorious for losing ink; it may need to be touched up later. the image itself is entertaining; the feline’s googly eyes are nice.
what’s going on with all these cats making art? There is no animal less apt to get paint stains or be criticized by people on the internet than cats. this guy, however, seems to be enjoying himself. the artist nicely captured the rarity of this piece by including the classic cock and balls etched in red to complement the image of the stereotypical old school painter. the original short lines capture the idea of skin well, while the thick black border fill is a good contrast technique.
Another sistine chapel scream, but with a kitten involved instead of a raised middle finger. the concept is fun and interesting, although the position of the tattoo creates the feeling that the circle is tight and not perfectly circular. Given the location on the inner forearm, perhaps a different shape with clean lines and angles, such as a triangle or hexagon, would work better to frame the inner star image.
This shot of nyan cat is weird and nice, but it’s nicely colored with the sky blue contrasting with the matte gray ink. I like how much fun the artist and subject had putting purrmaid together, and how supportive they are.
for men
I would say this green hairless cat is scarier and more dangerous than a fun tattoo design. Either way, it’s an amazing piece of technical ink. forget about the evil green feline for a second and look at the tremendously encrusted collar. the gold shading is nuanced, there’s a slightly different hue at each stage, with excellent sheen, further enhanced by the fine details around the central sun outline and the studs on the neck. then you have the incredible hairless monstrosity of a sickly green shaded with black highlights and fine lines that create fantastically subtle wrinkles. I can’t look at him, but I can’t look away either. you don’t want to lie to this pet.
This is an amazing variation on the “I’m fine/This is fine” meme that is now an extremely important part of everyday digital culture. has taken the monty python gentleman of the golden eighties and brought it up to today’s sensibility. technically, it’s clearly inscribed with a simple black line, nicely supported by a kind of script designed to just be there, rather than overpower the bewildered cartoon cat and surprisingly elegant broadsword.
Once upon a time, I liked to party too, but never ever with a razor. this cat image is popular and strange. the only problem with this minimalist fun is the superfluous period at the end.
for men & women
You can imagine the subject’s elderly grandfather looking at this tattoo for the first time and saying “ooh, isn’t that a nice… what the hell is going on here? those are the testicles? did you get a cat with testicles tattooed on your face?” skin? this is the kind of reaction that throwing a couple of testicles at a funny tattoo has to elicit. at no point does anyone get a tattoo featuring a set of nuts prominently and think it won’t generate comment, either with hilarity or horror.
5. fun colored tattoos
for women
This is a great combination of watercolor tattoo and black lines, like a messy little lady on the skin. the blue/purple color mess looks really cool, with the little addition of black lines adding ballast. Her legs are plain, but the red and white striped socks make them so much fun.
I’ve never seen a vibrator foot tattoo before, but I’m sure I’ll do it again. I love the use of traditional American style script plus the ubiquitous buzzy boyfriend well etched with a black line and a cheery red/pink color. this is epic!
for men
for men & women
6. funny tattoos related to death
for women
for men
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7. fun delicate tattoos
for women
for men
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8. funny food tattoos
for women
for men
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9. funny ghost tattoos
for men
for men & women
10. funny pop culture tattoos
for women
for men
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11. tiny fun tattoos
for men
for men & women
12. funny t-rex tattoos
for men
for men & women
13. fun traditional tattoos
for women
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14. funny word/quote tattoos
for women
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for men & women
