Quirky, eccentric, and unique are all words that can be used to describe Phoebe Buffay. But it’s those traits that helped make her many people’s favorite character on Friends and is why she is so incredibly beloved from the hit sitcom.
While she was certainly a little out-there at times, Phoebe was never dull and always managed to entertain people. She’s just an incredibly funny person and her strange moments where she did things that left even her closest friends puzzled were always some of the funniest.
She was passionate about many different topics, and she wasn’t afraid to showcase that if she wanted to. She is certainly different from everyone else on the show, and to prove that, here are her 10 most out-there moments.
“The Food Here At Javu’s…”
Something that Phoebe is very well known for is her passion, especially in her singing career. When Monica becomes the head chef at Javu and tells Phoebe there is a line out of the door, she takes the opportunity to help her friend and starts performing outside.
However, after Monica kindly explains she doesn’t want Phoebe singing there, she certainly has an out-there moment. Despite her friend being the chef, Phoebe stands outside and sings, “The food here at Javu’s will kill you.”
The Book
Phoebe trashing Monica’s cooking outside of her restaurant isn’t the only time Phoebe has had an out-there moment at her expense. That’s because Phoebe also once decided to start writing her own book about relationship advice.
She wrote about mistakes people make and arguments that happen, which seems fair enough. However, the entire book just so happened to be based on Monica and Chandler’s relationship, with Phoebe noting down every detail about them.
Her Mother Is A Cat
The grieving process is always a difficult one for people when they lose a loved one, especially when that person is your mother. That is something that happened to Phoebe during the show, and it certainly hit her hard, to the point where she was clinging on to the smallest hopes and signs that her mother was still around.
This was clear when she found a cat (that was someone’s pet,) and she stole it. Granted, if she wasn’t grieving Phoebe wouldn’t be stealing cats, but she does take the animal and proceeds to tell everyone that her mother is actually inside of the animal. While the group is confused, they also sympathize, but eventually persuade her to let go of the animal.
She Is Possessed
Speaking of the spiritual world and things being possessed, at one point in the series Phoebe herself believes she’s become possessed. She’s always in touch with that side of life, and firmly believes in it, which is fair enough, but this moment did see her acting quite wild.
After an elderly patient of hers died while she was massaging them, Phoebe believes their spirit transferred into her body. She ends up coming out with crazy phrases throughout the episode, acting like an old person until the spirit eventually moves on.
“Who’s Singing?”
Phoebe has always been incredibly intelligent, in different ways to the rest of the group, and this out-there moment proves that. It’s only a throwaway joke that doesn’t impact the show at all, but it certainly shows Phoebe’s outside-the-box talents.
During one moment in Central Perk, the show plays out Joey’s inner monologue. He happens to be humming a tune, and then the camera pans to Phoebe and her inner monologue questions, “Who’s singing?” It shows that she can somehow hear Joey’s thoughts, which is certainly not a normal thing.
“That’s How We Get Hamburgers”
Phoebe’s singing is certainly something that brings a lot of crazy moments to the show, mainly because the content she sings about is so wild. She gets the chance to sing to some young children at one point in the series, and Phoebe doesn’t tone down her material.
While her song starts off fun and friendly about animals, she quickly falls back to her normal routine and starts singing about how cows are hit over the head and turned into hamburgers. Granted, it’s a good lesson for the children, but they are far too young to be getting it.
Moving A Pencil
Many of Phoebe’s most out-there moments just happen randomly in small scenes that aren’t part of the major plot, which is why they’re so great. One of those comes in Central Perk when Rachel sits down to see Phoebe staring intensely the table.
It turns out she is trying to move a pencil with her mind (because what else would she be doing?) and Rachel ends up picking it up and moving it. Despite the fact that Rachel clearly moves the pencil, Phoebe believes this is all down to her brain and claims it worked because of her!
Meeting Mike’s Parents
Phoebe comes from an interesting background and her life certainly wasn’t easy growing up. That happens to be the total opposite of Mike’s upbringing, which is why she tries to blend in when she first meets his parents in a bid to impress them.
This leads to Phoebe going crazy by acting incredibly posh and absolutely nothing like herself. She goes so far overboard that it becomes insane, although it does create some seriously funny moments as well.
Her Running
One of Phoebe’s most famous out-there moments certainly comes when she goes for a jog with Rachel. At first, Rachel thinks this is just going to be a normal run with her friend, but she quickly realizes that isn’t the case once she witnesses Phoebe’s crazy running style.
It isn’t the way that Phoebe runs because of an injury or something like that, no, she chooses to run wildly and out of control simply because it’s more fun! It’s a crazy moment that does perfectly sum up Phoebe and provides some hilarious physical comedy.
Name Change
Only Phoebe could take a simple moment like changing her second name after getting married and turning it into the most ridiculous out-there moment of the series. Instead of taking Mike’s name, Phoebe learns you can have whatever name you want and takes full advantage.
Phoebe not only changed her surname but her entire name, becoming Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock. Of course, it was never going to be something ordinary, and Mike even highlights how insane this moment is when he changes his own name to Crap Bag.
