Scottish humour is ruthlessly sardonic, and exploits the fact that what other nations would consider Refuge in Audacity or Refuge in Vulgarity, Scots simply consider normal attitudes. The fact that the word "cunt" is often used as a term of affection for example.
Frequently we make fun of the English for being clueless posh idiots, the Irish for being clueless genial idiots, and the French for being generally disgusting but a shared interest in hating on the English that makes up for it entirely. The "Three Guys In A Place" situation is the same kind of humour throughout Scotland and England at least.
Typically, the Irishman will be stupid to the point of the The Ditz, or else live in his own world where things do make total sense - as long as you detach yourself entirely from earthly logic. The Englishman will do the common sense, standard thing that most of us would do. The Scot will demonstrate the Violent Glaswegian trope combined with a horrifying intelligence and pragmatism that often causes him to prevail because his approach, while effective, is batshit insane. He'll also be shown as stupidly tight with money to the level of Jewish stereotypes, which often wins financial conundrums as he goes to ludicrous extremes to not lose money. Alternatively, the Irishman might win by being the extreme one. In such cases, the Scot is just a more extreme version of the Englishman. Since sanity is less funny than insanity, the Englishman usually doesn't come out on top.
Scottish humour is also very very aware of the stereotypes and plays them straight/extreme for all their worth. Violent alcoholic philosophers like Rab C Nesbitt for example show the best and worst of Scottish people in the same characters - this is truth in television.
Expect to see pragmatism, and insults against the English. This classic joke demonstrates both at once:
The Australian goes first and asks for the finest Kangaroo hide there is to cover his back. This is granted and he receives the kangaroo hide before he receives 50 lashes. His back is all torn and bleeding but he survives.
The Englishman says "I will take it as it comes I will have nothing on my back and will be proud to bear the scars" he shouts defiantly"
Stiff upper lip you know eh what" His wish is granted and he receives his 50 lashes, his back torn and bleeding, his ribs fractured and protruding, a terrible mess to behold.
"Now Jock It's your turn you have the same choice as the other two what would you like on your back" says Saddam.
Jock replies quickly and without hesitation "I'll have the Englishman"
edited 20th May '11 11:32:36 AM by CaissasDeathAngel
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.I've gotten the impression that British humor isn't necessarily better in general than American humor, but does tend to have much, much more sophisticated puns than are typically found in America. Terry Pratchett's a good example of this—he once punningly made the argument that rebellious freedom fighters always become tyrants and get overthrown in turn, using the alternate definition of "revolution" to imply an endless cycle.
edited 20th May '11 5:34:52 PM by feotakahari
That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something AwfulThough probably everybody's heard it, Jewish humor tends to be either self-depreciating or else kind of smug.
Random joke I just found on the internet is a pretty good example of both:
Shloyme says: "Wait here for me." His driver responds: "But don't you see the sign, they will kick you out immediately!" Shloyme : "But I don't have to tell them I am Jewish." And he leaves for the gate. So the driver waits... One hour... two hours... three hours... Indeed, finally after three and a half hours Shloyme is kicked out by two body-builder type guardsmen. The driver asks: "What happened?" Shloyme answers: "Everything was fine until we played hole number eight! Accidentally I shot my ball into one of these ponds.
I shouted: 'Oh, my G-d, what shall I do now?' And then the waters separated and everybody knew..."
Ahh the Russian troper I know that is Russian. Got any good jokes that translate well into English? The one I remember most is about animals, a party committe, and getting a bridge built...the wrong way. I have found some Russian humor to be very dark and ironic but still easily amusing.
I grew up on a mix of American humor and British humor. I have watched Black Adder, Red Dwarf, Allo Allo, and are you being served for a very long time.
Who watches the watchmen?I read in Wikipedia that Russians apparently like to poke fun at the new generation of nouveau riche, people who became wealthy when they (or their parents) were able to capitalise (usually through mafia connections) on the fall of the USSR.
One joke, IIRC, went like this:
There are two rich guys, both of them riding a new Ferrari.
They both have the same model, colour and year, and since they happen to stop next to each other in traffic lights, rich guy number one asks "Where did you buy yours?"
"I got mine in Milan; it cost €300 000."
"Oh, you imbecile! You could've gotten one for €400 000 in Paris!"
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.There is one like that on the Russian Humor page, about a tie.
The one I like the most is the one about the father and his son, chief of the poultry farm.
If any question why we died/ Tell them, because our fathers lied -Rudyard KiplingSlavic humor: taking a piss out of everything significantly possible, but mostly out of our neighborhood countries because of the simple fact that we absolutely must share a border with them.
A Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian find themselves on a island after the ship sinks. They are captured by native people who put them under the guillotine. First up is Slovenian, but the blade stops 20 cm before his neck. The natives believe this is a sign from god, so they let him go and give him three wishes; a boat, 12 paddlers and a box of gold. Next up is a Croatian, but the same thing happens to him. For his wishes, he says: Give me a boat, 12 paddlers and a wrench to fix the guillotine before you put the Serbian on...
Why do policemen carry spoons? So they can mix in with the crowd.
What do you get if you cross a monkey with a turtle? A policeman with a helmet.
"Liar liar on the wall, give the world to me..."A classic example of the Englishman Scotsman Irishman variety:
An Scotsman, an Englishman and an Irishman go into a bar and each orders a pint of beer. And into each of the three drops a fly. The Englishman returns his to the bar, requesting a fresh one. The Irishman downs his instantly, fly and all. The Scotsman grabs the fly by its wings and angrily stares at it, shouting "Spit it oot, ye wee bugger!"
Note that the same joke told in Ireland will swap the roles of the Irish and Scotsmen. Since English snobbery tends to be the focus of such jokes, his role stays the same.
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.If that joke had been told in England, we'd probably tell it the Scottish way, because of the stereotypes that you usually hear in those jokes (Englishman being bland and a bit prissy, Irishman is always The Loonie and also drinks a lot, Scotsman playing up the "mean Scot" stereotype).
That's mean in the stingy sense, not the Violent Glaswegian sense.
Oh, and over here that joke would probably be regarded as mildly un-PC, though not sufficient for a normal person to get offended.
edited 21st May '11 3:00:51 PM by BobbyG
Welcome To TV Tropes | How To Write An Example | Text Formatting Rules | List Of Shows That Need Summary | TV Tropes Forum | Know The StaffYeah, you do sometimes have to watch who you say those kind of jokes around. While British humour is often self-deprecating, the attitude is frequently that only those of a particular nationality or group may make fun of those within it. If you're not in that group, eg if you're Scots and making fun of the English, you may be perceived as xenophobic if you do so around the English.
This is often a legitimate perception, as the line between friendly banter/rivaly and genuine bigotry can be quite fine with some people, who are well aware of this and use the former as a diguise for the latter.
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.I like Jewish humor. It's a lot of Self-Deprecation and Dead Baby Comedy.
A Frenchman, a German and a Jew walk into a bar. "I'm tired and thirsty," says the Frenchman. "I must have wine."
"I'm tired and thirsty," says the German. "I must have beer."
"I'm tired and thirsty," says the Jew. "I must have diabetes."
Also:
"During the days of oppression and poverty of the Russian shtetls, one village had a rumour going around: a Christian girl was found murdered near their village. Fearing a pogrom, they gathered at the synagogue. Suddenly, the rabbi came running up, and cried, "Wonderful news! The murdered girl was Jewish!""
edited 22nd May '11 6:32:58 PM by LilPaladinSuzy
Would you kindly click my dragons?I'm not really a fan of Mexican comedy: it relies too much in "characters" (see El Chavo Del Ocho) and is unexpectedly racist, and not even the "racial tension" kind of comedy, but the "Hahaha, Blacks are savages, Chinese have funny eyes" kind of thing.
Maybe too modernist for a posmodernist? It just feels...backwards compared to the awesome British Surrealism and American Slice of Life observations
Thank God I'm a Jew...our comedy rocks!
Yeah, not all Monty Python was actually surrealist. Life Of Brian being one example where there's plenty of humour that isn't surreal (at least not in the same way as, say, Meaning Of Life was)
My name is Addy. Please call me that instead of my username.

If we're giving examples of jokes from our countries. My grandfather told me this when I was a young'un. I managed to rediscover it while looking up bilingual puns.
edited 20th May '11 10:45:35 AM by SoberIrishman