The Silly Side Of The Backstreet Boys

Okay, let's get real. No matter how cute or talented a boy is, if he can't make you laugh, he's no Prince Charming. With that in mind, you'll be psyched to know that there's another reason to leave those posters and pinups of the Backstreet Boys up on your wall. When we hung out with the Orlando, Flordia-based QT's - Nick Carter, Howie Dourgh, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson, the heart-melting voices behind "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" from their 1995 self-titled European debut - we found out that on top of being totally talented and charming, they have yet another crush-worthy trait: They definitely know how to laugh. According to the Boys, 22-year-old Brian is the funniest guy in the quintet. Even though they spend every hour of every day working hard together, with Brian around, there's never a dull moment. Nick says that he has such a wacky sense of humor that it's hard not to laugh with him. "Brian is basically a nut," Nick, 17, tells BB. "He's very, very, very, very funny, off the wall - loco!" Although Brian knows he can totally crack people up, he thinks that it definitely takes to two tango. And he loves it when Nick's being funny. "Nick is very goofy. We probably get along the best out of everybody," Brian says. But Brian and Nick are not the only funny duo in the band. Twenty-three-year-old Howie and 19-year-old A.J. say they have their frequent laugh attacks too. They are so close that they love picking on each other. "We crack on each other all the time," Howie says. A.J. agrees: "We're on each other all the time. But we don't take it personally. There'll be times when it goes a little too far and we get personal and then we go, 'All right, that's enough.' But if it's just joking, we just go off." Unlike his bandmates, Kevin describes himself as the serious, not silly, type. "When I am working, I'm really serious about what I'm doing," the 24-year-old says. "I guess because I am the oldest, I tend to accept a lot of the responsibility." But no matter how hard Kevin tries to keep focussed and not fool around, he can't resist laughing when his bandmate-cousin Brian starts cracking jokes. "When Brian get's going, he can have me almost crying," he admits. And Kevin can't totally dent that he's not silly, too. After all, his previous job as a Ninja Turtle at Orlando's Disney World was all about making little kids laugh. So, Kevin, Mr. Serious? Naw, we don't buy that!