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I went to a comedy show last night where part of the comedian's subject matter was the way that when he did a few shows in the US he fell totally flat because the audience just did not get his humour.
There seems to be a strong link between a nation's humour and the general demeanour of its people. In England we do not like to shout about success, it seems a brash egotistical thing to do, and our humour reflects this. The English humour is very self-focussed and self-deprecating, concentrating on our own shortcomings, as an individual and as a nation.
On the other hand, in the US seems to be no embaressment in being loud and proud about acheivement, and lack of success is, well, failure, and is almost a guilty secret. Humour seems to be much more outwardly-aimed and success based.
However, British society seems now to be becoming much less coy about success and material possessions, and I can see the time coming when the national trait of finding humour in failure starts to disappear, and humour, like so many other things, becomes globally homogenised.
We're becoming used to more and more experiences being the same no matter where in the world you are, the fact that you find a Starbucks and a Gap in most major towns wherever you are in the world being an easy example. That is bad enough, but I can't help thinking that it would be awful if cultural experiences went the same way, but I think it's going to happen.
Sure, lack of understanding of another nation's humour can lead to silly little conflicts (we see it on here all the time), but aren't those national differences a wonderful thing.
Is this just me thinking too much on a Friday afternoon, or is it something that's apparent elsewhere too?
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