World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Since it's Sunday, I thought a lighter theme would be more appropriate..
I don't know how often you meet foreigners (or extraterrestrials maybe?), but I bet many of you had such encounters be it in real or virtual life. While some things may be universal, in humor there are subtleties that something funny in one culture may be considered rude, idiotic, silly or dull in another. Hollywood, Bollywood or French comedies, I think have lesser international success than action or drama, but I might be wrong.
What's your impression: would you be able, for example, to cause Shaolin Monk to p..s his pants from laughter?

Right, it's not exactly pants that they wear -:)

When I moved the the American South, I expected a huge African American population compared to the nearly white New England I grew up in, but I was actually surprised by the diversity in the Raleigh area. There is a large Hispanic population as well, but there are so many communities, it's fascinating. Morrisville is basically Little India. There is a huge Asian population in the region. You encounter a lot of Africans. I hear European languages spoken. I almost liken it to the kind of diversity you see in New York City.

And the sad part is, all these immigrants with their accents and sometimes broken English are easier to understand than some of the white rednecks you encounter. Maybe when our own citizens learn how to speak English we can discuss making it the official language, until then, who cares what language someone wants to speak in their home...

Couple of years ago, I was one of the drivers for the UK HMB team; speaking to one of the Ukrainian organisers (in English - I know about three words of Russian and none of Ukrainian), I managed to make her laugh. And all I'd done was remarked that it was lovely of them to have organised constant rain in the south of France, just to make us Brits feel at home.

Apparently, Brits have the reputation of being humourless (at least, in the Ukraine). Can't imagine why.

T. K. Elliott wrote: "Apparently, Brits have the reputation of being humourless (at least, in the Ukraine). Can't imagine why..."
I don't think it's true. To the contrary, there is an idiom in Russian and Ukrainian 'English humo(u)r', referring to a more subtle type of humor. The stereotypes are more around English cuisine, but having visited UK a couple of times, I don't remember any traumatic experiences, nor losing much weight -:)
BTW, speaking of 'full contact combat' and 'France', the scenes of hooligans' battles, especially between Russians and Brits, broadcast from Euro-2016 are pretty bad. I remember last Euro hosted in 2012 by Ukraine was one of the most peaceful events ever....

The Germans also have a reputation for having no sense of humour, but none of my many German friends have been deficient in that area!

I work in an international environment and have learned the hard way not to make a joke unless I am sure it will be understood; sarcasm and irony, in particular, don't travel well. But some humour does travel, though I haven't worked through this with a Shaolin Monk lately.

Mike wrote: "But some humour does travel, though I haven't worked through this with a Shaolin Monk lately..."

-:)
We have at least a few people from Germany here in the group, hope someone from Shaolin will join too...

I had a German girlfriend once, nothing wrong with her sense of humour, I mean, she went out with me for starters!

Matthew wrote: "I had a German girlfriend once, nothing wrong with her sense of humour, I mean, she went out with me for starters!"

I'm a little less excited with Germans this morning, but that's because they won 2-0 yesterday, although I have to give them a credit for a solid performance -:)

Haha I don't support any national team, just club so I get to watch these tournaments as a neutral. Though my grandad is Polish so I have a soft spot for them.

Matthew wrote: "Haha I don't support any national team, just club so I get to watch these tournaments as a neutral. Though my grandad is Polish so I have a soft spot for them."

In this case, you can set up a pillow fight with the German girl, because next round is precisely German-Poland -:)

With a lot of new members from various locations, expats, relocated folks, how do you find your humor 'works' on aborigines? -:)

Humor, anyone? Some global events are more likely to spur tears, but we won't succumb and laugh instead -:)

We Australians like to think we're pretty funny. However I suspect our sense of humour may not be appreciated quite as completely as we'd like by those we're taking the Mickey out of.

Having said that, I really enjoy British humour.

And this is something we've been enjoying recently...http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017...

Leonie wrote: "And this is something we've been enjoying recently...http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017... ..."

Not bad at all -:)
I'd say some parodies on Trump from the members here on the group were even better

Melinda, my Black neighbor, and I share a sense of humor based on our common Southern heritage and our understanding of each other's culture. Mainly, though, we laugh about our wacky families and the things that happen to us in our daily lives. We have running jokes about my irrational fear of Cirque du Soleil and her fear of all bugs, lizards, and snakes.

Scout wrote: "my irrational fear of Cirque du Soleil..."

That sounds like an unusual phobia -:)

I'm sure there are some more unusual ones. If something gives you the shivers and makes you shrink away, I guess it's a phobia.

Trump's humor is well understood everywhere, except maybe it's not always humor..
So, tied to the pole, about to be eaten by a bunch of cannibals, would you be able to make them laugh and cause them look for an alternative lunch?

It is very difficult to be funny in cannibalese :-(

In spite of being American, I think most American comedies are stupid and not very funny. I only appreciate American comedies when they are over-the-top offensive, like the HBO comedy, Eastbound & Down.

I definitely prefer British humor, and Tracey Ullman can always make me laugh, I love her show. Benny Hill, Monty Python.....more of the same. Canadian comedies are wonderful too, I really enjoyed both the Red Green Show and the Trailer Park Boys.

It's always the unexpected that makes me laugh. I remember a Saturday Night Live episode in which Steve Martin leaves a party drunk, and people are worried about him. Then he climbs onto a steamroller.

Is humor local or universal - what do you think?

I think it could be both. For something to be funny, I think it has to have some stupid chance of being real, which means the culture has tu=o understand what could be going on. Otherwise it looks just stupid, so there are cultural restrictions on spread of something being seen as funny. So some humour will be more local because you have to understand the local culture.

Robert Bloch, who wrote several science fiction, horror, and crime novels, often displayed a somewhat unique sense of humor both in his books and during interviews. Some found it to be crude and offensive; however, many, myself included, found it to be clever and quite funny.

I offer the following example as evidence to support my statement:

"Despite my goulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk."
Robert Bloch (1917 - 1994)

I don't know. Would the Germans think it was funny if I titled a fictional autobiography of my satirical battles on the stand-up comedy circuit "My Struggle"?

Jim wrote: "Despite my goulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk."
Robert Bloch (1917 - 1994)"

"Dark comedy is like food; not everybody gets it."
Josef Stalin (Apocryphal)

After president Michelle Obama put into motion nuclear arsenal, it's only you and Kim Jong Un on a tiny island that was once called "Eurasia". I know, I know it should've been an exotic beauty/athletic hero if it were a literary situ, but it is what it is as we solely look at the gritty reality. So, how do you break the ice, before Kim becomes too hungry?

How's he going to get hungry when he's the menu?

I bet he'd think the same about his islemate, but maybe a confrontation is yet avertable, although Kim kebab does sound tempting?

He can think whatever he likes. I'm the one who has been doing cardio.

😀

Living in the NYC area and with neighbors from all over the world, every day can be an adventure of culture shock. One of my favorites was working with two Cypriots, One Greek and one Turk. It was comedy show of insults that only they understood, but you could tell whomever it was aimed at, landed. They were both great guys, but really hated each other and blamed each other for the troubles Cypress has had over the years.

My other favorite was I worked with a bunch of Hispanics. they were culturally from all over the Caribbean and Latin America. You could tell it was getting tense when they started calling each other Mexicans. Evidently that was a true insult and fighting words among them.

Yeah, a cosmopolitan hub like NY must have a lot to offer

Many years ago, I was on a panel and the subject was humor in mystery fiction. I said that while there is such a thing as universal tragedy - that even in societies that might be more inured to it, there are situations that are nonetheless viewed as tragic - but there is no such thing as universal comedy. Our view, and response to "funny" has a lot to do with background - age, region or ethnicity, religion, gender, education, personal experience - so it's easier to make an entire audience cry than to make them laugh, and it's a real triumph when a stand-up comic can land the majority of his set. The old saying, attributed to William Macready, Edmund Kean and about 2 dozen other actors - "Dying is easy, comedy is hard" may be true.

The things that make me laugh are spur of the moment things when people are being silly and take it a step too far and crack up at their idiocy. That happens on Joe Rogan's podcast occasionally. No filter, no censorship. Political correctness is anathema to comedy.