This survey intends to investigate how the identity of a secondhand bookshop at Porto Alegre downtown is established through the sense of humour and laughing that characterize the relationship between owners, customers, and suppliers. The ethnographic method with participative observation was used, 28 visits having been made to the shop and registered in field diaries. Results indicate that the relations inside the bookshop go beyond the business sphere. The sociabilities in this place, either inclusive or exclusive, existing in comical and laughable manifestations made it possible to unveil a predominantly masculine identity. Such masculinity is evidenced and reinforced by jokes and talks shared by men that circulate through this urban space. The laughing ends up being an important feature in the shop, not merely by its daily presence, by also because it reveals who these people are, their relationship, their thoughts, their values and how Nova Roma Bookshop’s identity is dynamically shaped by them.