Ladyboys and humor.

[sev7en]

I spent some time in Los and with a few lb´s and theirs and mine humor is as different as can be. What they laugh to on tv is what the kids, elderly and even retarded laugh at here.

MrBean, slapstick, clowns, people falling on their ass, chalie Cahplin (never understood him) etc . Basically the stuff i hate. Actually they like Jackass and so do i.

My recent current favs are The Office, Extras, Will Ferrel, Napoleon Dynamite, Dave Chapelle and Jon Stewart to name a few.

Irony usually fly right over thais head. They just don´t use it nor get it. Sarcasm and dry humor doesn´t seem to exsist?

Have you met or know any ladyboy that uses irony, sarcasms or this type of humor?

I think Eye is one, i think she has great humor, i´m not sure, sometimes i get the feeling it´s unintentional and that makes it sad as hell.

Please let me know if you of any lb that fit this description
Thanks

[koykaeng]

(sev7en @ Jul. 04 2008,09:14) I spent some time in Los and with a few lb´s and theirs and mine humor is as different as can be.

Well lets face it Sev7en, you are a unique character.  

But seriously, I think what you noted is more related to being Thai, than being a Ladyboy.

Being married to a Thai girl for 12 years, there is little doubt our humour is worlds apart.

Don't think I'm ever going to appreciate all those weird Thai movies & sitcoms she watches continually.

Cheers
Koykaeng

[sev7en]

(koykaeng @ Jul. 04 2008,10:30) But seriously, I think what you noted is more related to being Thai, than being a Ladyboy.

Oh for sure. Forgive my skills of expressing myself. So long since i moved from my native englishspeaking country.

I meant, if anyone know of any lb that has different humor from the thais.

[bigmick22]

(koykaeng @ Jul. 03 2008,20:30) But seriously, I think what you noted is more related to being Thai, than being a Ladyboy.

got it in one KK!

[Naang Faa]

But seriously, I think what you noted is more related to being Thai, than being a Ladyboy.

Be fair,the ladyboys we all know have more interaction with farangs than your average Thai..

Personally my friends have me in hysterics from dawn 'til dusk (or mid afternoon 'til sunrise)
I have never heard a joke,but the humour is visual or the good natured sarcastic bitching
between them.,some are witty little devils..our humour bounces off one another..
x

[Guest]

Homour is very much cultural and since thai culture is more shame-oriented than guilt-oriented it is different frpom European culture.
One thing I would like to know more about if it is my impression only or if thai culture doesn't use puns as much English, because misunderstanings are more annoying in thai or if that is only my failed attempts of jokes,
Laurel and Hardy are fun in both oriental and ocidentasl culture. Mony Python not.
The Marx Brothers? I don't know.

[marshal]

Ever seen the thai soap operas the gg's are glued to ? pile of shit,can't get my head round that, my main interaction for long periods with thais has been gg's and they have a way different sense of humour!

[dummy_plug]

Eye? Sense of humour? If she's laughing its only because she's screwing you over and I'm not talkin' bout the sex.

[stogie bear]

Good post muddy...  

What we find funny is usually as a direct consequence of our upbringings.

The Office is 'funny' because we know people like that and we see what they do in other people, or we see what other people COULD do if they were allowed to be themselves in public.

The difference between 'guilt orientated' and 'shame orientated' humor is something I had never thought of before but I will in future. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.

There are some common bonds that we farangs share with Thais... I think both cultures appreciate the romantic comedy in movies. The movie Notting Hill is a good example. They may not understand every word and the oneliners won't translate, but the relationship between two people is universal and can't be mistaken. It's a very simple story with a simple universal movie theme.

Other aspects of our lives will never translate... such as mother-in-law gags... Thais love their families and even the ones that won't would consider it rude to degrade and insult each other, so this will fall flat.

The sophisticated humor of 'Spitting Image' and 'Have I Got News For You!' is coming but it's still a few decades away from being 'Private Eye!'

The secret (well, one of them) of getting along with a ladyboy in a relationship is to ALWAYS let her choose what is on the TV or at the movies when you are together. If she says 'up to you' choose something that you absolutely can't stand like Garfield, Catwoman or Sex in the City and you know that you will have scored big in her book!

She'll enjoy the experience of watching something she likes AND being with you!

Thais are infantile in almost everything they do... and that's not a put down... I'm striving to catch up with them!  

[kahuna]

The little sweetie that I am seeing these days does have a very good sense of humor and also speaks English very well...Two of the things that endear me to her (there are many others)...She is a very special girl...She and I laugh and joke with each other every day...Well every evening, we are together...And she rarely, if ever, touches the remote...She appears or acts as though she actually enjoys English language TV shows...Not that we actually spend much time watching television...I hope my time with her lasts a very long time...It likely won't...And likely because of me not her...But I can hope...

I'm in Hawaii right now, but a couple of days before I left she sent me a text late one morning (yep, she actually has a day job and not an evening job) and she asked me where I was going that day....

Trying to wind up last minute travel arrangements before I left, I replied that I thought I was going crazy...

A few minutes later I received her reply..."Please only go short time baby."  And so I did...

[pacman]

now that's funny .....

[Otho]

I was in a regular bar in Phuket Town in 2005, mostly Thais in there. The Rugby World Cup was on, and one of the farangs must have asked them to put it on the TV. The Thais genuinely seemed to think it was meant to be funny! They giggled at scrums and roared with laughter at a full-on, crunching tackle!

I liked that.

[jimslim]

I actually think many Thai's have a great sense of humor , certainly many have had me laughing with the things they come off with .
Any differences are cultural or language related , maybe they don't do irony well because they don't understand it , do they do irony in Thai ? I'm sure they do .

The point about TV shows was good again thats a cultural thing some humor is unique to the country it came from , for instance being Irish I find Father Ted extremely funny and very smart for its piss take on the church and rural society but someone outside Ireland might just not get it .

The Office was mentioned , one of the best shows on British TV in the last few years but again uniquely British in the way it relates to real life situations , remember it had to be re-written and re-cast for the Amercian audience .

As for Thai TV 99.9% of it is trash , but thats the same the world over , lets face it millions in the UK would call spending a night watching so called celebrities making tits out of themselves entertainment , or constant soaps or the X factor or ............  

[rossco]

A guy in the 'Light Entertainment' business once explained something to me which helped me understand and see how humor evolved and developed. He had worked in some 3rd World countries as well as in the West.

In the 1800's the population was amused by deformity and circus clowns and some fairly cruel practices.

In the early part of the last century (1900 - 1930) both British and American audiences were in hysterics over

Charlie Chaplain
Keystone Cops
Harry Langdon
Buster Keaton
Laurel and Hardy


Mainly slap stick and in many cases quite cruel. Always a villain who the audience hated and of course the 'down trodden' hero - to whom they all related. Most of these silent comedians were from poor backgrounds and actually played out events based on their own experiences

Later came:

Abbot and Costello
Marx Brothers

Still predominately slapstick but with some clever dialogue

Later in the 1950's/60's, following the 2nd WW people had now travelled, came:

Monsieur Hulot - French mime
Carry on Films in the UK
Doctor series of films - Hattie Jacques as Matron

Then a number of quasi sitcoms:
Rising Damp
Porridge
Open all Hours
Cheers
Taxi

At about this time a new whacky new kind of humor appeared - some liked it and some did not.

Monty Python

Later:

Fawlty Towers

Now:

The Office etc
Political satires

His observation was that as a country becomes more educated, and literacy increases, then the sense of humor adapts and evolves.

The best example he gave was of the evolution of "stand up" comics.
Any comic knows he must 'appeal' to his audience and that they understand the joke. Look how comics evolved in the US and Europe.

In the 1920/30's is was still custard pies and funny walks.

The war years saw humour about war/rationing.
The 60's humour was aimed at lifestyle - family, wife, cars, kids
In the 1970/1980's - more people attending University changed the style and delivery and content of most comedians. No more "wife" jokes, no more ethnic jokes (not politically correct).
Comedians needed to adapt and find material that link to the 'current affairs' of their time - politics/religion/cults.

Humor adapts to the population profile - 'Sit Coms' where the audience relate to their own people/events. Political satire as the population becomes more politically aware.

Political satire is not going to work in Thailand currently

Thailand still has low literacy and only basic education so visual humor is still their favorite diet. It does appear childlike but guess what - that is what our Grandparents liked to!

[SamplerDoc]

Put Simply,  Every culture no matter the language spoken has a different style and sense of humor.  Every generation has a difference in what they think is funny to them also.

Perfect example... With the same language spoken, British and American humor can often differ