Volume 5　ユーモアは国境を越える？


Something Ineffable

Michael: The main elements of British humor are what we would call black comedy.

Ann: Uh-huh. 

Michael: And a certain amount of surreal comedy as well. Those are two mainstays of, of British humor going back to really the 1950s I think with, we had radio shows, called, uh, Round the Horne was one, The Goon Show, uh, was the other one. Very surreal kind of comedy. It made you laugh but you weren't really sure why. It was just the bizarreness of it all. And that continues through, for example, perhaps the most famous British comedy export is Monty Python.

Ann: Yeah, and, and what is it with Monty Python? 'Cause honestly I saw it occasionally when I was growing up and I never got it.

Michael: Exactly.

Ann: It never made me laugh. I mean, did you think it was funny?

Michael: Oh, absolutely. My god, it's hilarious. It's, but I could never understand how it could be funny to other cultures. I think you really have to be British to appreciate . . .

Ann: There's some sort of, what, ineffable ...?

Michael: . . . the humor.

Ann: Yeah, there's something.

Michael: And it's not something you can explain to people. You cannot explain why it's funny.

Ann: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Michael: What about American TV comedy?

Ann: American TV comedy, Americans often, I think, the sense of humor is often based on making jokes rat other people's expense, you know? And so like, the Tina Fey, you know, got really famous for her impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.

Michael: Oh, yes, which was wonderful.

Ann: That kind of thing is really common, I think, you know, and, and a typical kind of American humor.
And what do you think about like, uh, in terms of relationships? And I know, often when they do surveys, for example, in the States and they say, "What's important to you in a partner?" when you're looking for a partner in dating or in marriage. And "sense of humor" ranks very high in those surveys. And in your experience, like, for you, does that matter?

Michael: It does, I think. Yeah, it, it . . .

Ann: It does matter. Yeah, you would need to have . . .

Michael: You need to have someone who can tolerate my, ha-ha, rather odd humor. No it, yeah, I think it is important because you n-in a relationship you need to be able to cover all kinds of areas and angles and I think, you know, if you have someone who tends to take everything a little too seriously, it can get a bit tiring. It can be hard work. There's no pressure valve release, which humor gives you.

Ann: I agree. Well, on that note, we will wrap up for August.

Michael: Oh that's a shame. It was such a nice little chat there. Anyway, so thank you all for listening in.

Ann: Keep your sense of humor, keep cool, and we will look forward to being with you next time.

Michael: Oh, that'll be exciting. Yes, see you next time. Bye-bye.

Ann: Bye.