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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 ….”
“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)
Answer to all of those questions: 12.
Slap your knees , say “whelp…” then stand up and walk away.
How to admit you are from the Midwest without directly admitting it...😉
Sounded pretty German to me in terms of behaviour LOL
Do not get together with family.
I am hosting a Friendsgiving at my business this year for friends. Other than my wife and kid's, no family was invited. If I wanted to deal with them I would go to their thing.
It sounds like OP does want to get together with some of their family, they just don't know how to deal with that one individual
Just politely say "I don't want to talk about that, let's talk about tv shows, what's your favorite comedy right now?" (Or whatever other mutually fun topic you want to talk about.) If he tries to keep talking about the topic just repeat that you're not gonna talk about that and offer a second new topic. If he still wants to keep talking about it say "alright I'm gonna go talk to someone else about a different topic, I'll catch you later", then walk away from him. If he gets sad because of that then it's not your fault or responsibility
Be honest before inviting them, that if they behave that way they should stay away. Any suicidal ideation should be discussed with their psychiatrist. There is no shame in cutting ties with toxic people.
Someone who becomes suicidal because you won't listen to them rant is addicted to power and control. You'd ultimately be doing them a favor helping them wean themselves off it. You can't be responsible for someone's actions in this state. It's a diametric opposite to, say, someone who is depressed/suicidal because they cannot afford food. They do not need you to listen to them. Tell them to fuck off.
Bring an airhorn and blast it every time they say something undesirable.
Or visably put in noise canceling headphones when they start talking.
Turn it into a drinking game with your cooler family members...like, "Every time uncle dan says something racist, take a drink"
greyrock that shit. they want to troll the libs, if you react to their fascist shit it's giving them what they want.
alternative: "huh? drumpf? OH! That guy who sucked Bill Clinton's dick! Yeah, what about him again? Sorry, the visual is distracting, don't you agree?"
Set alarms on your phone and pretend it's phone calls from work, a friend in need, etc. Go hide in there bathroom and take a ten minute break.
Do you have allies in the family? Make a pact to take turns. Get them to lure you away on a pretense. Go help clean the kitchen.
If you can't wiggle free, give yourself permission to switch off. You don't have to fight every battle, you don't need to set everything right. It's amazing how long you can keep a conversation going if all you do is repeat the last thing they said to you back at them but you raise your tone at the end to turn it into a question. Make plans on how to compensate yourself for enduring this shit. Pat yourself on the back for maintaining peace in the face of adversity.
Nothing bores people more than showing them "a funny video" on YouTube. Or some really boring vacation pictures. Or have a non-controversial topic of your own and stubbornly steer conversation that way. Tell a story with no point. If you're sitting in something comfy, like an armchair, pretend to fall asleep because you worked so hard. Praise the food and how good it was every time you're biting your tongue and you really want to say fuck you.
It's family, it's the holidays. I'm not saying you should swallow all bullshit. But raise the bar in the interest of family peace. And remember that folks will blame the loudmouths, the ones who raised their voice more than necessary, and not the quiet one for any fracas.
None of these strategies will work by themselves. It's the mix that does it. It's better to go into the situation looking at it like a game you play. Not like: fuck! Uncle Bob is going to annoy me again. You have your armor on and uncle Bob can't do shit.
Eh, his invitation got lost in the mail?
I mean, it sounds like a joke, but I'm serious. Why are you inviting this person? Just because you happen to share some DNA does not mean you're obligated to spend any time with them whatsoever. If you wouldn't accept certain behavior from your chosen family/friends, then you don't have to accept it from "real" family either.
And then goes into a weeks-long suicidal despair if you try to leave the conversation? Any way to deal with that?
It's always easier said than done, but I don't engage with people who use suicide as a threat or bring it up as a regular thing. It's too exhausting. Life is just too short to deal with that. Not everybody deserves your nuance. Not everybody deserves your time. Especially if they just want to belittle you by saying they're suicidal as a defense mechanism.
Earplugs, and alcohol from the start.
Fake musculo-skeletal injury - sprained ankle would do - where for rehab you have to get up and walk a few thousand steps in a row 2-3 times a day - gives you an excuse to beep your watch at any time and go out for a walk for medical reasons.
Honestly I've never had that issue.
One of my favourite things to do at a holiday get-together is hijack the TV with my MacBook. Most people think Apple stuff only talks to other Apple stuff in the Ecosystem/Walled Garden and that Android is some rebel front against Apple. Most people are also fucking stupid. If I'm on your WiFi and you have a smart TV, best believe I can take that shit over with like two clicks. My family has one of those TVs, I think it's a Roku? where if you don't watch anything, it goes to this city skyline screensaver with billboards advertising the streaming services it has? Like there's a Netflix billboard, there's a Disney+ one, you might even see one for Apple TV at some point. But it's just a looping video. When I see that — nobody's picking something — I pull out the MacBook, find a movie, and cast to it. Nobody questions why the TV did that without anyone touching the remote.
Last time, it was KPop Demon Hunters. Maybe a couple people assumed I had something to do with it, but within minutes, all the kids were occupied with it. By the second or third song, even the adults were singing along (I was playing the Sing-Along version). It was great. Might do it again. I can't just put on anything. It has to hook a few people, which in turn draws others.
So, distraction.
Also, I sit at the kids' table. They have far more interesting conversations. And there's always some kid, almost always a girl, usually one around 7-12, who will tell me I don't belong there. Like some little Philosopher's Stone-year Hermione, some little know-it-all. I'll wait until none of the other adults are looking, and she'll catch a pea or a carrot slice to the face, look at me, and see my look of "I'll do it again" on my face. That usually settles it. Once in a while it turns into a food fight, which I never get blamed for because I know when to stop.
We only do these whole-family get-togethers a few times a year. It's usually a good time. But honestly, by the end of the day I just wanna take my pants off and wind down watching TV (at home I mean, and we don't have kids so I don't mean anything weird). Get tired of people after a while. Even the fun ones. But the time I gotta be there? I make it work for me.
Show Sound of Music next time. The oldsters will love it, and the youngsters will see it for the first time, and realize how truly great it is. Peak Julie Andrews, womderful music, Nazis, what's not to love?
Purchase a fanged grill and keep them in biting range. Only takes 2 chomps, at most, to start seeing big changes in their behavior.
I don't talk with that part of ny family. As in, zero contact.
Move to the other side of the continent.
Nov 4th elections.