Many people ask whether humour travels – sometimes it does, but more often than not it gets seasick on the way. Here are 10 things to consider on the topic of intercultural humour:

1. Humour gets rather seasick when it travels! Don’t be surprised if foreigners don’t laugh at your jokes
2. Each culture has its own sense of humour. Be aware of the types of humour appreciated by various cultures; irony, slapstick, linguistic, etc.
3. Some cultures have humour that seems infantile to others, or even grotesque!
4. Most cultures have a ‘type’ or a nation who are the butt of their jokes. Ask about that when you are on your travels.
5. Humour can be about nuances which are too subtle for other cultures
6. Humour often involves wordplay and colloquialisms
7. Different cultures have preferences for humorous topics; family, mother-in-law, politics, religion, sexist, blondes, etc. Be aware that what is acceptable in one culture is often very offensive in another. Listen and learn!
8. Some cultures use humour to diffuse tense situations
9. The ability to laugh at oneself is appreciated in some people, but astonishes others. How can you belittle yourself?
10. Don’t start your business presentation with a joke unless you are certain this is acceptable.  Many cultures believe it shows disrespect and demeans the event.

Tags: humour, intercultural humour, international humour, sense of humour

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 2:39 am and is filed under cross-cultural communication, cross-cultural differences, General . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.