So this dude is basically a 46 year old man child and I don’t wanna armchair diagnose people, but he’s probably on the spectrum.
He’ll say a pun or a “funny” phrase, stare at you till you acknowledge it, then when you do, he’ll just keep saying it over and over. Even if you don’t acknowledge it he’ll say it a bunch then switch to a new one.
He’s obsessed with making fart noises then pretending it’s someone else he’ll even do it while we’re eating lunch. I’ve tried the politely asking him to stop he just says “oh you know I’m just joking” then when I tell him its genuinely annoying he goes full kicked puppy and acts super sad for a few hours and gets all woe is me saying stuff like “oh well I guess everyone hates me I’ll just shut up forever”. Sometimes he even goes full non verbal and literally just tries to communicate by pointing and or writing notes.
It’s not like he’s an asshole he a genuinely good guy he’s good at his job and he’s got your back when you need it.
I guess I just have a hard time finding the balance between not being an ass to a guy with zero social skills and losing my sanity because he can’t be quiet for 5 minutes.
If you’re the team lead, something like this is your job. You could ask your supervisor for guidance, but ultimately you should be able to solve this on your own.
As others have mentioned: Speak to him. Don’t be nice nor mean - be professional. Tell him how his behaviour affects you and the rest of the team. Talk to him about appropriate workplace behaviour and what you want him to change.
Maybe this will work, maybe it doesn’t. How he handles your feedback is up to him, he is an adult, even if he doesn’t act like one.
If he doesn’t change or keeps ignoring you (his boss!), document his behaviour and go the HR route.