German humour

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German humour is for linguistic reasons quite different from British humour. German sentence construction, and its fewer double meanings (because of the way it creates compound words) mean that German humour has to rely more on humorous ideas than on plays on words.

Because German humour is quite different from British, the Germans have a reputation in Britain for having no sense of humour (see Typical joke themes below).

1 Typical joke themes and forms
2 Types of stage and television comedy
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Typical joke themes and forms

Fritzchen (Little Fritz): A boy of 8-10, who traps adults (usually teachers, parents or policemen) in witty plays of question and answer, exposing their silly or bashful adult ways
Jokes about other nationals: Germans have their own set of stereotypes about other nations, that sometimes appear in jokes. For example, Scotsmen are portrayed as miserly, Swiss as slow, French as sophisticated lovers, Poles as notorious thieves, Dutch as smokers of marijuana, Chinese employ caricatures of Confucian wisdom. An Austrian is usually merely an antagonist of a German character, and may be presented as superior, inferior, or unacknowledged equal.
Ostfriesen (East Frisians - people living in East Frisia, the north-western corner of Germany): This national minority is portrayed as absurdly stupid or naive. Jokes often in the form of question and answer, both given by the joke-teller. Example: Why do East Frisian policemen carry scissors? To cut off the criminal's escape route!
Blondinen: Blonde women are portrayed as dumb, naive, and pre-occupied with fashion and sex.
Mantawitz (Manta joke): The male counterpart to the blonde is the Mantafahrer, the male driver of an Opel Manta, who is dull, lower class, macho, infatuated with his car and his blonde hairdresser girl friend, and often exceedingly proud and possessive about things that most people would consider embarrassing.
Antiwitz (anti-joke): A short, often absurd scene, which has the recognizable structure of a joke, but is illogical or lacking a punch-line. Example: Two thick feet are crossing the street. Says one thick foot to the other thick foot: "Hello!" Other example: "Nachts ist's kälter als draußen" (At night it's colder than outside) or "Zu Fuß ist's kürzer als über'n Berg" ("Walking is faster than over the mountain").
Kalauer: Short, often deliberately clumsy puns and plays on words.
Bauernregel (Farmers' rule): Told in the traditional rhyme scheme of weather lore. There are two variants: one is really about weather, but the rule is absurd or tautologous; the other can be about any other topic, makes some sense, often with sexual connotations, and may feature word play or some real, hidden or twisted wisdom. Example of the first variant: Wenn der Hahn kräht auf dem Mist, dann ändert sich das Wetter, oder es bleibt wie es ist. (When the rooster crows on the dungheap, then the weather will change, or stay as it is).

[edit] Types of stage and television comedy

German distinguishes between "Comedy" (using the English word) and "Komödie" (the German word of the same origin). "Comedy" refers to modern comedy, using modern media such as television or radio, whereas "Komödie" is a more old-fashioned word, mostly used for comedy on stage, unfilmed, such as some of Shakespeare's plays.