30 Weird Family Quirks, As Shared By Jimmy Fallon’s Fans

Some of the very best stories that people shared with Fallon and his team even ended up being honored by getting featured on The Tonight Show (here and here). 

The two challenges were incredibly relatable because it feels like pretty much everyone has a story that could work brilliantly here. Whether it’s all the quirky little traditions that your parents and grandparents have that you no longer bat an eye at (but others might find bizarre) or the hilarious things your siblings and other relatives have done over the holidays. Family life can be incredibly fun(ny).

Fallon’s career on The Tonight Show started in early 2014 on NBC. However, this isn’t the first iteration of the show. The Tonight Show also aired between 1957 and 1972, starring Jack Paar and Johnny Carson.

The show has a very long tradition of amusing the United States, as well as the rest of the globe with relatable and amusing topics.

Not too long ago, Bored Panda found out why Fallon is so popular, what it’s really like to work as a show host, and how to stand out on Twitter if you want his team to notice you and your story.

Entertainment, pop culture, and lifestyle expert Mike Sington explained to us during a previous interview that Fallon has a magnetic presence.

"Jimmy Fallon’s warmth and engagement with people is what’s behind his ongoing success with hosting The Tonight Show. He just seems like a guy you’d want to spend time with," the entertainment expert told Bored Panda recently why Fallon is such a big hit with many people.

"To stand out on Twitter, and catch the attention of Fallon and his team, you need to be funny and unique. Simply having an interesting story to tell usually won’t be enough," Mike, from LA, pointed out that just having a great story to tell isn’t enough. You need to think about how best to present it to Fallon and his team on social media.

The thing about quirks is that every single family has them, whether they’re incredibly apparent or a bit more subtle. Quirks are bite-sized versions of traditions. Small things that we all do that help bind us together, strengthen our relationships, and help make us make sense of who we are in the context of the world.

Someone yelling ‘hike!’ after saying grace might confuse and amuse many of us, and that’s kind of the point. It’s something to make the person’s nearest and dearest giggle. It’s an inside joke meant only for the people at the table—if someone shows how quirky they are in front of you, that must mean they trust you.

The thing is, it really doesn’t matter what your family traditions look like. It’s far more essential that you have them, and that you pass them on, from one generation to the next. They might change. They might evolve. But the goal here is that you always have some way to bring everyone together. 

One of the most popular traditions that families have is by cooking and eating together. Now, the details and specifics of what you prepare and how you do it might vary, but the actual act of doing this together in a shared space is what matters.

“As long as there have been humans, there have been shared meal times. Everyone has to eat. Whether your job was hunting the animals, foraging or tending crops, or preparing the food for consumption, everyone contributed to the family/social group’s sustenance. And logistically, given early limitations of food storage, it made sense for everyone in the group to eat together at the same time,” pie artist Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin recently told Bored Panda about the link between food and traditions.

“This made mealtimes the natural candidate for sharing stories, information, teaching, planning, etc. As a result, the food we share during these times of cultural exchange becomes inextricably entwined with that culture,” she said.

“We associate our feelings and memories of those exchanges with the flavors, aromas, colors, textures, and even sounds of the particular foods and recipes of our cultural group. This was true in ‘caveman times,’ and it’s true today. That sense of belonging we feel with our ‘tribe’ is anchored by the visceral sensory input of our shared recipes. Nowhere else is this more in evidence than in the instant wave of nostalgia that hits us when we are reunited with a special dish popular at our cherished family celebrations.”