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TikTok is a popular social media platform that uses a highly intelligent algorithm to recommend videos based on users’ interests. Though videos are limited to 59 seconds, TikTok users have gotten creative with the ways they share stories, jokes, and perspectives.
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You can find all types of topics on TikTok, from the serious to the hilarious, and this is an open, safe space for sharing and learning. It’s especially thriving with memes about death and grief.
Potentially one of the most death positive platforms online, TikTok (or #DeathTok) is the perfect place to break a bit of the tension around mortality. We’ve compiled our favorite TikToks about death, grief, and funerals to make you absolutely laugh out loud—and maybe even think about your mortality in the process.
Funny TikToks About Funerals and Grief
There’s a trend on TikTok where users share what they want their funeral to be like. Mostly sarcastic and almost always hilarious, these TikTok videos prove that there’s no such thing as too early to start thinking about your funeral.
1. Elephant fun machine
User @Jerdon.k on TikTok has big plans for his final sendoff. Throwing it back to the early 2000s, he wants his ashes to be thrown around in an elephant fun machine. Whoever can catch the most of his ashes will get the content of his will.
2. Grandma’s funeral
To the tune of “Knockin on Heaven’s Door,” @that_lumperjack films the awkward process of a vault being relocated in a cemetery. With a capture like “Hang on grandma,” it’s easy to see why this is a viral hit.
3. Dropped phone
Funerals don’t always go according to plan. When one mom drops her phone into the grave vault, the cemetery crew has to fish it out. Though this should be a sad moment, @browneyes83fl shows that it’s OK to laugh a bit at the absurdity of it all.
4. Virginia Mae
Who said funerals are only for the living? Virginia Mae is a beloved minivan, and user @jasetheface shares just how “emotional” the occasion was for his friends.
5. Funeral music
Everyone has strong feelings about their funeral playlist, and this became a laugh-out-loud trend on TikTok recently with users sharing the ridiculous songs they want to have played. User @arisukira vows to play Cardi B at her best friend’s funeral in her honor.
6. Cat grief box
@Chloeigh clearly loved her cat, and she shares an intimate (and hilarious) glimpse into her grief box she made at age 11. Though she put some unconventional things in the box, it’s undeniably cute to see just what she held on to at her young age.
7. Coping after the funeral
Everyone copes in their own unique way, and this Gen Z brother definitely has a non-traditional approach. User @hagridsbuttcrack shares a video of her brother 10 minutes after their father’s funeral playing a Nicki Minaj song in the car.
Heartwarming TikToks About Grief
TikTok is always a place to find inspiration and joy. Many users share their heartwarming, touching videos in a bold act of vulnerability. It’s hard to watch the videos below without feeling inspired in some way.
8. Spreading Mom’s ashes
This TikTok from @gammsarah is sure to convince you of the kindness in the world. Split into several parts, this user is seen spreading her mom’s ashes at Tail of the Dragon. Though she’s struggling in the moment, a man she’s never met is there to comfort her and ask about her mom’s memory.
9. Celebration of Dad’s life
A funeral doesn’t have to be a sad occasion. If @jessiewhitti’s video proves anything, it’s that a funeral can also be a real celebration full of joy and happiness.
10. Planning a funeral
Very few people understand just what goes into planning a funeral. User @zudadragon shares the process from start to finish as she plans her dad’s funeral in honor of his life.
11. Final conversations
We don’t often think that our conversations with loved ones could be the last ones. User @thethoughthouse shares a touching story of discovering an old phone with text messages she shared with her friend right before she died. Though it was a difficult process, finding these conversations helped heal the grief.
12. Love lives on
A daughter receives a letter and a memento from her dad a year after his death. It’s a reminder that though he might be gone, the feelings and memories will never go away. In the comments of @vcboudoir’s video, many other users share their own stories of loss.
Funny TikToks About Death
Last but not least, some TikToks aren’t afraid to boldly go where few others have gone before. By overcoming these barriers in the funeral and end-of-life planning industry, they inform and educate others in a lighthearted way.
13. I can’t wait to die
This TikTok from @landongeorge6 was so powerful it became a well-known meme. Featuring a woman who used to worry about her mortality who found hope through a book, her speech is full of quotable moments. She hilariously says, “Honestly, I can’t wait to die. I wake up in the morning, and I’m disappointed.”
14. Mortuary school
TikTok user and aspiring mortician @beforethecoffin has a viral TikTok highlighting her experience going to mortuary school at age 25. Though you might expect this to be morbid, she has an upbeat, funny attitude.
15. Death rattles
A lot of things happen to our bodies after we die, and some can seem off-putting if you’re not in the death-care industry. Funeral home worker @ohio.joe’s hilarious TikTok pokes fun at the sounds heard when alone in the funeral home.
16. Funeral home family
Though it might sound weird for a funeral home to be active on TikTok, this might just be the best form of marketing. As @mollylee31’s family member said, “We don’t want you to die, but when you’re dead we want you.”
17. Resurrected fish
Anyone who has owned a fish understands the struggle that comes along with making that final decision whether to flush or not. Unfortunately for @cmed8, this goes terribly wrong as the toilet funeral turns into an unexpected resurrection.
Explore Death Positivity on TikTok
TikTok isn’t just a place for sharing funny videos. While it’s very much a safe place to do that, it doesn’t stop there. In many ways, it’s challenging the ways society thinks about death, dying, and grief. From funny funeral roleplays to laugh-out-loud stories, nothing is too “taboo” or off-limits.
The reality is that everyone’s life is touched by death and loss. The more we talk about these things, the easier they are to process and overcome. Learning to live with one’s mortality is the key to living life to the fullest. These TikToks may be the perfect first step.