we love to laugh at ourselves, and much of our humour is delivered at the expense of the teller. We also tend towards deep levels of irony, and love jokes that push the boundaries of what is socially acceptable.
the British
regional satire is extremely popular and often fuelled by competitive relationships between districts and countries
the French, Spanish and Austrians
political satire and social taboos are often at the crux of comedy, as is clever wordplay and double entendre
the Germans
people love bitter and sarcastic jokes, the subtleties of which are often lost on other nationalities
the Polish
tightly bound to the subtleties of the language, and so can often be extremely difficult to translate
the Russians
jokes are often deeply embedded into the multi-level meanings of the writing system, which uses characters that change their meaning depending on the grammatical context.
the Chinese
frequently uses puns, though they’re often referred to as ‘old man’ jokes with a groan and a sigh
the Japanese
comedians love to play with the idea of personas and societal roles, often putting on an act to make funny, yet well-meaning, observations about others
the Koreans
fast-paced, with a lot derived from stereotypes and ethnic differences
the Americans
focuses on light satire, irony, and parody
the Canadians
mockery is used as a way to break tension and build affectionate relationships
the Mexicans
‘There are two reasons why you are single: first is nobody is good enough for you; second is you are not good enough for anybody’.
Chinese Joke
‘Without a pond, you won’t pull a fish out of it’
Russian Joke
‘Did you hear about the guy who had his entire left side cut off? He’s all right now’.
British Joke
littered with references to their history and national identity.
the Argentinians
