In his article on the ethnicity of humour, Simon Critchley writes that “Humour is local and a sense of humour is usually highly context-specific. Anyone who has tried to render what they believe to be a hugely funny joke into a foreign language only to be met by polite incomprehension will have realized that humour is terribly difficult to translate…” [1] It made me think about films/tv shows that make use of the fact that humour is untranslatable for their advantage – to create comedic situations. By putting characters in uncomfortable situations where they and their sense of humour are misunderstood, often as well as most of other aspects of their usual behaviour, the creators of the films make the characters more vulnerable and perhaps even more realistic, since the audience in this case can almost sense a second-hand embarrassment. Therefore, I believe that to some extent, the untranslatable nature of humour can relate to some of the things we discussed during the Cringe and Awkward Humour week, since comedy in the scenes that depict the misunderstanding caused by cultural differences usually involves a lot of awkwardness.
To illustrate this, I chose a clip from Friends where Chandler gives a toast at Ross’s and Emily’s pre-wedding dinner which takes place in London. The entire episode is a little uncomfortable to watch, since Chandler’s jokes are usually well-received (although not by the other characters who almost never laugh at them, but by the live-audience whose laugh we hear in every episode). However, here we see Chandler being put in this awkward position of giving a toast in front of an audience with a different cultural background (since most of the guests in the room are apparently British). Chandler proceeds to to tell jokes about the melba toast and Monty Hall’s Lets Make a Deal game show which is known in the US but evidently not so much in the rest of the world. Although this moment is definitely uncomfortable for Chandler – since not one person in the entire room appreciates his punchlines – it is made less awkward for television audiences who can still hear the laughter of the live-audience who, unlike the characters at the tables, understands and laughs at Chandler’s jokes and the situation he got himself in.
1. Critchley, On Humour, 67.
I think this is a great example of the idea that “humour returns us to our locale,” as Critchely claimed on page 74, as Chandler, who bases a lot of his personality and personal value on his ability to make people laugh, is strongly reminded that he is not in his home country when his references are met with deadpan stares, and it becomes clear he has no idea how to interact with the other wedding guests.