Lol I actually learned a long time ago that self deprecating humor was the easiest way to manipulate difficult people into being friendly to get a job done.
I had a guy once tell me that when I answered my boss’ phone that I had wasted 37 sec of the guy’s time by not just letting it go to voicemail. From that point on I never answered the phone if it came from him unless it was directly to me, and when I needed to talk to him I would immediately say something like “well my dumbass screwed up, do you have a moment to help me out?”.
The best part? When that guy was in the process of retiring, it was me who he chose as his replacement (which I accepted and have been there for 4 years now). I still like the guy despite how much of an absolute dick head he was at times, but he never realized how much I had to manipulate him to make him amenable.
That’s a pretty clever way of doing it!