Not really a male/female dynamic question here but would like your input.

This guy at work that's older than me by about 10 years. He's got a supervisor position but nobody takes him seriously. Goofy to a fault and very insecure. He reuses the same jokes to death and makes things very awkward.

Anyway he tries to make this frame that he's my mentor. Like I'll make a joke and he'll say something like 'ahh so Some of my personality is rubbing off on you' or 'we need to make you more blokey!' 'Ive trained you well'. Other times he'll give compliments but the vibe is that of, he's a superior giving his underlings some confidence. Also will give orders that don't really need to be given, to re enforce his supervisor status.

How do I play this? I messed up by laughing or smiling at his reused jokes for a few months just to avoid the awkward moments. If I don't laugh then he says I'm acting cold and distant. It's weird. Now the jokes thing I think I just start to react naturally which is indifference seeing as he's not funny. But the weird AMOGing compliments thing, would you bluntly address it or just roll your eyes or something. It seems wrong to attack someone over compliments but what he's doing is embarrassingly transparent.

Any other advice you think may be related would be great too

Cheers