Culture Spot Humour around the world

For some nationalities, there may be a time and a place for using humour and making jokes.

Not in the UK. One of the difficult things to get your head round is that the British grab every opportunity to slip a joke into a conversation or make a comic allusion. Banter, where lighthearted teasing remarks are exchanged (often with strangers), is part of daily life. Humour never gets turned off. What makes this even more difficult is that so much British humour is dry and ironic jokes are made with a straight face, without gestures, and delivered in a serious tone of voice.

So sometimes it even takes the British a while to twig that the other person has just said something funny. For those not used to it, it can be a nightmare knowing whether to laugh or not.

The British are fond of understatement and self-deprecation. You might hear ‘It’s rather warm,’ when in fact the temperatures are over

40 degrees, and a best-selling writer might say ‘I’ve had some success,’ also reflecting the traditional embarrassment with success. This apparent humility is approved of by fellow British people, and many comedians and films use understatement, self-deprecation and extreme politeness as a source of word play comedy.

Humour is a universal language but how humour is expressed varies greatly between countries and cultures. Cultures influence what we find funny and what we don’t. In some cultures, some topics may be completely off limits, whereas they are socially acceptable in another. In some cultures, slapstick comedy dominates humour, whereas in others word play and puns may be valued more.

Generally, humour in western cultures tends to revolve around sarcasm, irony and selfdeprecation. Broadly speaking, eastern cultures value situational comedy, stories and word play. Specific gestures convey comedy.

African cultures often emphasise shared laughter and community and humour can be found in many stories, music and dancing. Humour often

45 focuses on the topic of everyday events. Humour in Latin American cultures tends to have overexaggerated gestures and uses physical comedy to express humour.

Norway, Iceland, Finland and Sweden have, according to some, some of the darkest humour in the world and it can be quite surreal at times.

Jokes about death and serious subjects are common and the local populations really enjoy these. Some of the most popular comedians deliver their jokes in a deadpan style, with an expressionless face.

On the other end of the scale, Korean humour is particularly direct and funny voices are a base for many jokes. They love slapstick comedy as do

Thais and Filipinos.

Stand-up comedy is very different in different countries. In the UK, sarcasm, poking fun at someone by saying the opposite of what they mean, and wit focusing on social issues or on famous people provide humorous commentary.

In America, using funny personal anecdotes and observational humour is very popular.

Observational comedy is mixed with unusual cultural and societal ways of behaving, which local Indian and Japanese audiences find hysterically funny.

These differences are apparent in comedy in films and television. Family sitcoms are popular in the US with the focus being workplace and family dynamics. Comedy series in Britain are full of wit, irony and rather eccentric characters. Much Asian humour uses exaggerated slapstick comedy with visual gags such as falling over.

These differences in humour mean that translating a joke from one language to another can be challenging. Humour is embedded in specific cultural references and customs, which don’t always translate well. Knowledge about local contexts and culture is essential for a lot of comedy from other cultures to make sense.

Have you ever been baffled by a comedy from a different country? Have you ever watched a

Japanese or UK comedy series which shows audiences in fits of laughter, but leaves you

5 waiting for a punchline? You’re not alone.

GLOSSARY punchline – the part of the joke that explains the meaning sitcom – a comedy TV program with a story based around a funny situation

CULTURE SPOT Humour around the world

1 In pairs, answer the questions. Then read the article and compare your answers.

1 Do you think different cultures find different things funny? Say why.

2 Do you know any comedies or comedians from other countries? Do you like them?

Say why.

3 Do you find it easy to understand humour from other countries? Say why / why not.

2 In pairs, match the types of humour from the box with examples 1–5. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.

deadpan irony sarcasm understatement word play

1 I see you’ve finished then. (piles of work still on desk)

2 I think it might be a bit busy today. (queues of people waiting outside shop doors)

3 I hear the police station got robbed last night.

4 A Where can you find a prehistoric moose?

B I don’t know.

A At the back of Mummy’s fridge.

5 A You must have caught that passing shower they were talking about. (friend is soaking wet)

B Ah – yes – very dry!

3 Read the article again and answer the questions.

1 Why might the British themselves not understand some humour?

2 What examples does the writer give of understatement and self-deprecation?

3 Why are British people good at using understatement in jokes?

4 What influences what we find funny?

5 Why are some topics funny to us, whereas others are not?

6 What is the purpose of the article? How well do you think the writer succeeds? Say why.

4 Complete the collocations with one word in each gap.

grab howls punchline straight world

1 You need to ___ an opportunity to enjoy life whenever you can.

2 There’s a ___ of opportunities for young comedians who want to go professional.

3 Sometimes I don’t get the ___ of a joke and have to ask for an explanation.

4 The comedian manages to be funny while keeping a completely ___ face.

5 The story had me in ___ of laughter by the end.

5 Complete the expressions with the correct forms of the words from the box.

bring lighten mood put

1 I’m not in the ___ for going out this evening, I’m afraid. I’m a bit too tired.

2 I’ve got some news that will ___ a smile on your face. You’ve won a prize.

3 There’s one moment in the comedy show that ___ tears to my eyes – I really got the giggles and couldn’t stop laughing.

4 With all this terrible weather, we just need to ___ up a bit. Let’s watch some comedy!

6 REFLECT | Culture In pairs, discuss the questions.

1 Compare the British sense of humour with the type of humour people like in your country.

2 How does your country’s sense of humour reflect the typical characteristics of the people?

deadpan – sounding completely serious when you are saying something funny irony – saying the opposite of what you mean in order to be humorous sarcasm – saying the opposite of what you mean in order to make fun of someone slapstick – humorous acting in which the performers fall over, throw things, etc.

GLOSSARY banter – friendly conversation in which people make a lot of jokes about each other