The sense of humour

[storeynicholas]

Do members think that there are perceptibly different characteristics in the sense of humour enjoyed in different countries? Say, between the British sense of humour and the German? - or even the English and the Scottish? I exclude international ribbing.
NJS

[RWS]

To be certain! What's less clear to me is whether that sense (in the aggregate, clearly) varies in connexion with ethnicity (as would seem more plausible) or with language (humor in my American circles, for example, is very similar to humor in my English ones, even though much of what can be seen and, apparently, enjoyed on American television differs from much of what passes for humor on English television).

I'll be cautious and avoid for the moment publishing descriptions of how specific national characteristics in appreciation of humor may vary.

[storeynicholas]

RWS -I, for one, would be fascinated to hear of the examples which you have. On American television humour - Frasier went down very well - although there was, one suspects, some English influence there, which is explicit in the Crane brothers' Anglophilia - and, of course, at least the actors who played 'Daphne' and 'Marti' were British by birth - in fact 'Marti' was born in Manchester UK which is where 'Daphne' is supposed to come from. Going back further, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour (there's a mixed bag) always hit the spot in Britain with the Road films and the Grant- Hepburn screwball comedies did too. 'I Love Lucy' with Lucille Ball was another and the original series 'Bewitched'. I can't really speak as to very modern American comedies as they are aimed at a younger crowd (Friends etc) but I think that there certainly has been some transatlantic overlap in television comedy humour. French? Jacques Tati takes the biscuit - Monsieur Hulot's Holiday and Mon Oncle - well I could never tire of them - moreover, the glory of Tati is that the humour is largely in the feet - and, of course the lack of dialogue means that British 'linguists' are not at a disadvantage. However, you could probably give us something from the Spanish?
NJS

[Guille]

There certainly are different humours for each country or different cultures. Spanish humour, for example, I know a lot of it would not be very humoristic to many non-Spaniards. Humour is a social characteristic and it is not related to ethnicity or race, however it is related to different cultures independently of the language, really. I've heard many Latin American jokes and humour in general (and from varying places), and some jokes are not funny from the Spanish point of view, and humour in general has different connotations that you can notice. Argentinean humour differs from Spanish humour, but also from Mexican humour, this one from Colombian humour, and this one from Cuban humour. Cultural and Social aspects (history, politics, customs, religion...) are the background of the humour in a society. Of course this doesn't mean that we cannot find other humours appealing to us, but there is also the individual (subjective) aspect of humour. You might find Muslim or Chinese humour particularly appealing even if you are not Muslim nor Chinese (I've experienced this myself on occasions).

However, the reason for which English (or better said, Anglo-Saxon, to include others who use it too, like north Americans, Canadians, Australians, Irish...) humour is by far the most popular is because it is pretty much the only exportable humour, as it is based on logic, on wrong logic, and logic is something common to all cultures (or at least logic as we know it in the west, is common to all western cultures). But other humours, say the Russian humour, are not very exportable (and I have been told a few jokes by Russians, so I know what I'm talking about).

[storeynicholas]

Guille, By some serendipity, your post came in one minute after my last one and you have started the ball rolling on Spanish humour. One most amusing Spanish quip that I do know comes from Hemingway's Death in The Afternoon. Here is a combined parphrase of two quotes : "Once someone asked Rafael Gomez, El Gallo, nearing fifty years old, a gipsy, brother of Jose Gomez, Gallito, and the then last living member of the great family of gipsy bulllfighters of that name, what physical exrecise he, Gallo, took to keep his strength up for bullfighting.
"Strength," Gallo said. "What do I want with strength man? The bull weighs half a ton. Should I take exercises for strength to match him? Let the bull have the strength. Me? - I smoke Havana cigars." "
That exports to me!
NJS.

[rjman]

When I was living in France I noticed that what the French find funny tends to be physical humor, jokes and sketches that involve movement, gestures, or expressions more than wordplay.

[storeynicholas]

rjman - this observation ties in very well with the great French tradition of mime and, of Jacques Tati's footwork.
NJS

[Costi]

Fernandel, Bourvil, Louis de Funes - all great comic actors; you can almost watch an entire movie without sound and still have a good laugh.
Not to mention the great Chaplin. Comedy was born silent, wasn't it? In movies, that is. It is about the kind of laughter analyzed in Henri Bergson's theory - a "Bible" for comedy actors and directors.

[Guille]

Storeynicholas,

Spanish humour is centred on absurdity a ridiculousness, as the joke you mention. English humour is more about puns and irony. French humour, as others have said, is related to movements and expressions. These are the backgrounds for the humours of different countries. I notice often that the humour of eastern europeans is very much about the fatalist side of life - perhaps related to their orthodox christian faith, or perhaps to the decades of communist rule.

[storeynicholas]

Guille, Yes, I don't disagree with you - although I think that there is, in El Gallo's 'joke', a combination of irony, fatalism and cognitive dissonance. Irony and cognitive dissonance because what he says is so unexpected - indeed the opposite of what one might expect and fatalism because he accepts that a couple of centimetres of misjudgement over the bull's horns - and it's 'Goodnight Vienna!!' Maybe it is thois vombination which amuses me so much.
NJS

[Swark]

Well between the Scottish and English interpersonal humour is very different but i think that while our stand up comedians are also very different i find English comedians as good as the Scottish ones.

In Scotland though sense of Humour varies from place to place, Glaswegians in particular.

[storeynicholas]

I think that it was in a Glasgow Music Hall that Jack Buchanan (himself a Scot) gave his first youthful turn and, however well his gentle humour later went down on both sides of the Atlantic, on this first attempt, the audience were left so unmoved by anything approaching mirth, that they threw sharpened rivets at him - not likely to be many of those made in Glasgow now, though, eh?
NJS

[Frog in Suit]

French humour (or should it be wit, in that case?) can indeed be verbal rather than physical. Of course, it then becomes nearly impossible to translate.

I like to quote François Mitterrand being asked by an acquaintance: "On pourrait se tutoyer..." (We might say "tu" --familiar form-- to each other...) and Mitterrand answering : "Si vous voulez..." ("As you wish", with the formal "vous")

The story may be apocryphal but it has the nail on the head-hitting conciseness of what one thinks of as English humour. Think Oscar Wilde, Saki and the Churchillian (I hope I am right, as to attribution and wording) "An empty taxi stops at 10, Downing Street and Mr. Clement Attlee gets out of it".

Or de Gaulle (almost certainly apocryphal), in London during WWII: an exasperated aide, to himself": "Mort aux Cons!" ("Death to Assh*les!"). De Gaulle: "Vaste programme!" ("A large endeavour, indeed!" --my very imperfect translation--).

Frog in Suit

[storeynicholas]

FrogiS - I am sure that your translation is perfect; except ,from my dim recollection of the words of another language that one learned and (curiously) remembers, above all others, just a little too polite!
NJS

[Bishop of Briggs]

Well between the Scottish and English interpersonal humour is very different but i think that while our stand up comedians are also very different i find English comedians as good as the Scottish ones.

In Scotland though sense of Humour varies from place to place, Glaswegians in particular.

The best of Glaswegian television comedy from the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/chewinthefat/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/stillgame/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/rabcnesbitt/

Translation services are available for a suitable fee.