a bit of comic relief today, having talked about comics yesterday. i've just been alerted to russell peters, a canadian indian comedian. and when i say indian, i don't mean first nation but a child of parents born in india who migrated to india. anyway, thought you'd enjoy this clip:
i was also sent this one about a year ago, from a different guy, which was also quite funny, though a warning if your fussy about language:
5 comments:
I was reminded of Russell Peters just recently when I read this essay about why Chinese (including Indian, and other non-Western) mothers are superior. (Peters had a joke about how white people should beat their kids). The essay has caused some blogosphere furore in the States apparently. It would be interesting to hear your views on that essay, either here or at the Hand Mirror.
But back to comedy.
Imran Yusuf has an interesting take on the ethnic-comedian-talking-about-racial-differences. He jokes about being British.
What do you think of the idea that women are on average not as funny as men. If I had to think of funny women, I'd think Shappi Khorsandy, Sue Perkins and maybe Sandi Toksvig and it's fairly rare that even they make me laugh out loud. But then again it could just be that the powers that be don't put women in the light as argued here [The relevant bit starts at 21 minutes, but the whole thing is interesting, as is the entire series].
lots of interesting things there RL. i haven't read chinese mothers thing yet, though i saw others linking to it. if i get time tomorrow, i might have a look at it.
re the women not being as funny as men, not having read your link, i'll just make the comment that women haven't traditionally been rewarded for being funny. in fact, they have been discouraged from it. men are supposed to be funny, it's treated as a plus point, and women are supposed to laugh at their jokes. also, i've found that many women stand-up comedians are still working in such a male-dominated environment that much of their material is almost as negative towards women as their male counterparts (the usual stuff with slut-shaming, fat-hatred etc etc). even so, there are some good women doing funny stuff that isn't so negative. i love the michael mcintyre's roadshow thing that has screened on a few channels now, cos there were not just women comedians included, but an iranian woman & a black woman, who were both quite cutting with their comedy - at least as regards racism, which is apparently "ok" in a way that being cutting against misogyny isn't.
anyway, i'll have a look further when i get time. thanx for your comment.
"and women are supposed to laugh at their jokes"
I've heard that and accept it as being true, but I find it particularly bizarre. If this humour dynamic has evolutionary advantages, then women laughing at men's jokes regardless of merit seems quite contrary to the point. Although, I'm not entirely convinced yet of the evolutionary argument (but then I'm sceptical of most if not all evolutionary psychology).
Although in personal experience I find men and women equally unfunny (but also equally enjoyable company). It's just at the top end of the funniness bell curve where there seem to mostly be men.
Regarding the Chinese mothers thing.. I should clarify I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on how it holds as being relevant in a NZ immigrant context as opposed to the relative merits of her approach.
"iranian woman"
That would be Shappi Khorsandi. She's funny for the most part, but she's woefully thin on material. Her recent divorce has given rise to some fresh jokes (I like the one with the cat). She does well as a semi-satirical commentator too (father's daughter I guess). It would be nice to see more of that from her I think.
Josie Long is another popular female comedian, but I could never get into her style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1oXIZVLthw
great link, thanx for sharing anon.
Post a Comment