German sense of humour (or lack thereof)

Someone at The Guardian knows the answer apparently:

German humour - Lost in translation

Regarding the "language problem" mentioned in that article, it reminds me of a German comedian who performed at the English comedy club a few months back.

While the audience were busy not laughing he said, "my jokes might not be funny, but at least they are well structured".

Interesting article, but there's one WTF quote in there:


It's cabaret indeed, but I know of only two instances of sophisticated satire, one being the politicians all taking the piss during Karnival (Renate Schmidt is devastating), and some Bavarian guy I saw 10 years ago. Everything else is low-brow, predictable and tedious, even for a lot of Germans.

If you've lived in Germany for a while and you read the jokes a few Germans submitted at the end, you'd realise right away that if you were telling this joke to a German, as soon as you said the fox was going to ban alcohol, a German would stop you mid-sentence and ask you where the animals were getting the booze and why is the fox in charge?

There's humour, there's comedy, but there's mostly tired, grandiose, cabaret-style shtick. Watch Gleich Daneben on Sat 1 and see for yourself that while they can be funny, they manage to be incredibly annoying and one-dimensional at the same time, killing much of the humour.

woof.

@BadDoggie

Gerhard Polt, Dieter Hildebrandt, Bruno Jonas, Georg Schramm.

Granted Polt is moving on and Hildebrandt is retired but Jonas and Schramm are stlll sharp, very political and very funny.

Dieter Nuhr, Josef Hader, Alfred Dorfer, Willy Astor, Gerd Dudenhöffer, Max Goldt are great as well.

Fredl Fesl

Or maybe it doesn't count if he's Bavarian.

I thought the article was back handed in just really pandering to the British sense of smugness – We are the funniest in the world and the German have no humour!

I really can’t understand how someone can really be an expert on the humour of a country without being able to speak the language hence can’t really sample the humour. Furthermore, to really get a countries humour you have to have the cultural sensibilities and reference points. Who here can get East German humour…….unless you had the pleasure of living under a Communist Regime that is.

Wot a load of bollocks to say there are no double meanings in German.

At the end of the day humour is more a case of what you are use to – if it was the case that there was some superior form of humour – wouldn’t all countries copy it by now – since the last time I remember there is no copy right nor Patent.

In Germany regional differences allude me whilst back home I get straight away the worlds Scouse/Brummy/Manc. My girlfriend the other day was laughing at her colleague who is Schwabish, which is apparently the worst accent in German – to me their was no humour there since I don’t get the accent nor the stereotypes.

Anyhow - what is British humour at the moment. 3 dumb blondes and Little Britain – really high brow that is.

Can anyhow – tell me the last decent British SitCom at the moment…………Or can we accept that we import most of them from the US – so much for being the funniest in the world then!!!

British comedy has moved on from the SitCom, they're just so 90s.

League of Gentlemen, Spaced, Father Ted (Irish), The Office, Extras, Black Books, Alan Partridge, Teachers being some of the more recent ones.

Slightly older there are series like Blackadder, Red Dwarf, Men Behaving Badly, Game On, Only Fools and Horses to name but a few.

@Stanford

Sorry mate, but...


...is about as far from comedic genius as you're going to get.

laughing cos someone swabian is about as funny as laughing a someones scotts. not really funny. IMHO. do list me the double meanings they are rare and far between here. otherwise i think you took the article a little too seriously really. i always believe germans have humor, but fail to understand that humor can be used in serious situations without reduceíng the importance of the situation.

U vill all laff now, together, for zwelv seconds, or I vill shoot!

Which one of these is running on British TV at the moment - since we have such a idea of our greatness when it comes to Comedy - why does Channel 4 and 5 run American Sitcoms.

Still waiting...even Extras has finished...

PS. Not seen Spaced...and I did discover Teachers the repeats about 2 months ago and really enjoyed it...

Again still waiting...(please don't pick shows from 10 to 20 years ago...)

If Sitcoms were so 90s why did so many people tune into Friends then...

"Extras" just pulled in a fair few international awards. also look at whats on the radio once in a while. some very good stuff coming through. otherwise i'm satless at the mo so cant update on the last 5 months... but you'll find more quality, and what is more importantly more risk taking in the uk.

I live in Germany so how the hell should I know what is on in Britain at the moment. So you want an example of a British series that is on now. Do you mean at 12:10 GMT in England? I can honestly say I have no idea but I could check the BBC I suppose.

I can watch Friends but don't find it all that funny but apart from that can you list some American examples please that are on TV in America at the moment as I can't think of many. Sex and the City was not really my thing and nor is Desperate Housewives.

Pleas note I'm not American bashing but I just can't see why American comedy is so much better than British comedy at the moment.

American humour isn't better, it just has a broader appeal due to it's simplicity.

She was laughing at her Accent...not because she was Swabish. And she can't speak Hoch Deutsch... Sorry mate people laught at Accents here in the UK as well...Brummies for instance...

No I'm not taking the article too serious - I just thought the artile was being open minded but then just pander to the Brits with we are so funny smuggness...that's all. So was making the point - if that make's my point serious then so be it.

I'll never forget one day I was walking with a German colleague who had lived in the UK when he said that British Television was crap - (as oppose to the Brit complaining that German TV was/is crap) - To me I realised, it's just a question of what ship or crap you've been brought up with...

But to Brits we still like to think our TV is the best in the world...yeah right Corronation Streat and East Enders 5/4 times a week...Emerdale, the Bill, Home and Way, Neighbours are invading the prime time slots...

Cant really get into a american vs british humour debate as I dont think there are such strong differences between the two in general to really justify grouping it like that.

But I do think the UK had a cultural golden age of sorts particularly regarding music and comedy, that is pretty much coming to an end. From about the 60s, through to somewhere in the 80s or 90s they were clearly one of the worlds leading nations regarding production of quality entertainment products. Now I think the output of the UK, regarding music and comedy especially, is still pretty good, but certainly nothing outstanding on a global scale.

Well first, I'm not a Brit (should be entiteld though, was born in a British militarized and mandated district, just beside the barracks and first sound I got adopted to was the clanking of everything in the flat when the M60s were rolling up and down the road and the sound of marching boots - would be like some kind of compensation for childhood trauma )...

Anyhow, I find those two quite amusing as well:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/brokennews/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/extras/

I wouldn't say British TV is the best in the world but I still think we come up with some excellent documentaries and comedies. Of course there is a lot of crap on as well. Name me anywhere in the world that doesn't fill up the day with chat shows and other junk.

Also I would be interested to see the annual budgets of British, German and American channels as the ones with more money will certainly be able to make more big budget productions and will not have to fill out the days schedule with as many repeats, cheaply produced rubbish and crap bought cheaply from elsewhere.

German TV is some of the shittiest I have ever seen though I must say. Totally subjective opinion but I find it a real turn off. Unwatchable drivel. Give me Kiwi, Aussie, British, American anything over German shite..

BBC3 on Freeview seems to be the "new BBC2" for comedy. But again if you look at sit coms your not really going to see the best of British comedy talent as they are doing different sort of shows.

BBC Radio comedy can be got over the internet and the Now Show is available as a podcast.

That's the trouble with the British they take their humour far too seriously.

Add: Axel Hacke (droll, observant, I was there last night, Lustspielhaus), Willy Astor (ugly but sharp), Michael Mittermeier (fast and cutting), Rüdiger Hoffmann (good but RTL et al have destroyed him with money), Georg Ringswandl (music and parody) and, of course, Phillip Sonntag (sharp, self-depracating).

Yeah this sitcom is crap. There are other German comedy series, quite a few actually, but I find none of them really funny.

The funniest British comedy show is by far "Coupling", methinks. Love it. Noone shares my sense of humour?

..oh, you mean the "Bulle von Tölz"

What is with that guy, anyway (Gottfried Fischer)? He seems like he has taken some sort of strong medication. Someone says he has Alzheimers, or something...

There is a good dissection of the guardian article and why it is complete nonsense to be found here: Thriving on confusion in the Guardian

An interesting paper on the subject of German humour and the state of comedy in Germany can be found here: acgusa.org/JoshSchonwald(pdf link). The paper states that Germany actually has one of the largest comedy industries in Europe and one that is growing at a rapid rate.

For the German speakers:

Aus welchem stahl macht man Autos in Polen?

Diebstahl

Was that supposed to be German humour?

I am quite sure this topic has been discussed in other posts. But here goes again! Now that I have been here for nearly a year, I am still trying to figure out what exactly makes the Germans giggle. Most of them...be it North or South...tend to seem very stone faced most of the time. You do seem them laughing from time to time. But since they are usually rattling off in German, I never quite catch the joke. I often feel that Germans have little understanding (or a distorted understanding) of humorous situations. But then what is a humorous situation you might ask? It is different from person to person! But let me know what you think...

Topics merged by admin

That would be other peoples' misery

Unlike many other cultures, they appear to laugh at the expected rather than the unexpected.

There's a fire alarm test that happens at exactly the same time every week, momentarily interrupting an all-hands-on-deck meeting; and people laugh uproariously ... every time. All I can think is "how on earth can you laugh at the same thing over and over again?

I think this partly explains the odd popularity of "Dinner For One".

Explains a lot. I have heard Anglophones moan on and on about the Germans' inability to make puns. Quatsch. You can make puns in German, you just need command of the language.

And if Brits can laugh at "Only Fools and Horses" Germans shouldn't be derided for enjoying Loriot's drawn-out sketches. Me, I prefer a good book.

That explains those Karneval TV specials then

Apparently, dressing up like Mr Spock and speaking in a gay voice is hilarious


Ahhh, so Traumschiff is a play on the word raumschiff. Wow. I get it now. I can see why that is considered so funny. Genius. Silly me for missing that one eh.

@ d_r - More Astor, less Bully for you.

exactly - I used to love the munich clubnight "Friendly Feier"

and Ive made up my own german pun for oktoberfest:

"Ich bin bierhindert"

More along the line of:

Gott sprach zu Jesus, "Versammle Jünger um dich!"

Jesus geht und kommt zurück mit zwölf vierzehnjährigen Mädchen.

"Nein, Jesus!" ruft Gott. "Jünger!"

Fragt Jesus, "Was, noch jünger?"

Not the best example, just a spur of the moment f'r-instance.

Heute gestohlen, morgen in Polen.

Kaum im Polen, schon gestohlen.

"Wer hat den Kreisverkehr erfunden?"
"Die Polen weil sie mit eingerastetem Lenkradschloss fahren."

Polnischer Triathlon:
"Zu Fuss zum Schwimmbad, mit dem Fahrrad zurück!!!"

Fahren Sie nach Polen, Ihr Auto ist schon dort.

Ein Teufelchen mit einem Köfferchen geht auf die Reise:
Kommt das Teufelchen nach Holland:
"Ich bin das Teufelchen mit dem Köfferchen, ich möchte euch was verkaufen!!!" die Leute kaufen und kaufen..
Kommt das Teufelchen nach Deutschland:
"Ich bin das Teufelchen mit dem Köfferchen, ich möchte euch was verkaufen!!!" die Leute kaufen und kaufen..
Kommt das Teufelchen nach Polen:
"Ich bin das Teufelchen, verdammt wo ist mein Köfferchen!!"

I actually like German humor, it can be really sarcastic at times and that's really funny.

Kommen zwei Polen in eine deutsche Apotheke und wollen Kondome kaufen, können aber kein Deutsch. Der Apotheker schaut etwas ratlos. Zieht der 1.Pole die Hose runter und legt seinen Penis auf den Tisch und 10 € dazu. Der Apotheker schaut immer noch ratlos. Der zweite Pole zieht seine Hose runter legt seinen Penis auf den Tresen und ebenfalls 10 € dazu. Der Apotheker überlegt, zieht seine Hose aus, legt seinen Penis auf den Tresen, steckt die 20 € ein und ruft: "GEWONNEN!!!"

Ein Türke fährt auf der Straße, als er plötzlich einen platten Reifen kriegt. Er steigt aus, flucht, und fängt an, das Rad auszuwechseln. Als er es gerade abmontiert hat, kommt ein Pole vorbei und fängt an, das Autoradio auszubauen.
"Eh, spinnst du?" ruft der Türke wütend.
Darauf der Pole: "Psssst! Ich Radio und du Reifen!"

My husband almost never laughs, you know, that HO HO HO deep down in your gut, eyes watering kind of laughter. Until he saw Borat. OMG... I could barely hear any of it because he couldn't stop laughing. And The Big Lebowski. He has watched that, I honestly believe, 100 times.

He claims the German sense of humor is just much more "elevated" than the American sense... yeah, whatever. At least I can easily smile all the time!

Jokes were a bit average but I am totally stoked that I actually followed them all. I might work this crappy language out yet.

I've had a think about this, and have decided that it's very difficult to generalize.

Stuff like "Goodbye Lenin" has world-class comedic timing, and is laugh-out-loud funny. Germany also "got" Monty Python way before a lot of others did.

A lot of American and British humor is essentially jewish humor, which tends to be "the triumph of the glib underdog" humor, which also has a tendency toward snarkiness. Think Bugs Bunny vs. Mickey Mouse.

There's a classic golfing joke I've tried to tell in Germany: A minister, priest and rabbi are golfing and are held up by a player and caddy in front of them playing very slowly. They're all grumbling about it until they finally work their way up close enough to see the player is wearing a sign on his back that says 'blind golfer'. The minister says "oh God, forgive me for being so judgemental, the priest says "I will say many 'hail marys' to atone for forgetting that we are all God's children", and the rabbi says "well, why can't he play at night?"

Invariably, the german person I tell this to will respond "but the course is probably closed at night" ... completely missing the multi-layered humor of the joke.

It's often literal-ness (if there's such a word) that kills it:


Time for a killer joke.

He probably thinks Benny Hill is funny as well.
I posted this on another thread, but it's a joke that has amused me ever since and a few Germans as well.:

When I first came to Germany, back when it was all fields around here, I was sat in a bar chatting to another Brit, when a middle aged German guy started talking to us, in English as niether of us spoke German then. He said, "I know a knock knock joke", so we went along with him. "Knock, knock" says he. "Whose there?" say we. And he replies, "Gestapo, ve ask ze questions!"

My husband thought Benny Hill was hilarious. Also one of the few times I have heard him "laughing til he cried".

This is the first time I am reading a post in here where people actually seem to agree. GERMANS are by far the most boring population exsisting on this planet!

I rest my case :-)

This is the first time I am reading a post in here where people actually seem to agree. GERMANS are by far the most boring population exsisting on this planet!

I rest my case :-)

My gosh, you really must be bored to death while living here then... except not quite, as you're still able to post.

They make good beer though.

Eh, I don't care for the beer.

It makes you feel good.

It tastes horrible. And besides, there are other things I can think of to make me feel good.

Cocktails for example.