English v Vietnamese humour

VN humour a lot of the time is visual. I watch some VN stage shows with my wife and much of it is slapstick.

Vietnamese humor is childish, primitive.
someone falls, they laugh

I think Vietnamese people understand some sarcasm.

My favorite levity to share with someone when I first meet them is to tell them that I know how to count numbers in Vietnamese.

Then I say, "một, hai, ba, yo..."

Nine out of 10 times it gets a big laugh

FabriceVN wrote:

Vietnamese humor is childish, primitive.
someone falls, they laugh

If I were you, I would refrain from saying that until I understand the language well enough to know the difference between laughing and groaning.

colinoscapee wrote:

VN humour a lot of the time is visual. I watch some VN stage shows with my wife and much of it is slapstick.

TV shows and videos are visual media thus the humour is mostly slapstick.  The core of true VN humour, which appears between everyday people and in written literature, is 100% word play.  Same as in many other countries.

There were (were, because I'm not familiar with the new generation performers) many comedic musicians and stand up comedians whose materials were outstanding; some of them routinely made their audience laugh about risqué subjects without feeling offended. 

The only performers I know of in this generation is a comedy duo (Vietnamese husband and Korean wife) whose acts are drawn from their relationship and everyday life (à la Burns and Allen in American comedy).  They're very funny, clean, and wholesome.  Not one slapstick act and nobody falls down.

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Great to see some old UK shows on TV here, even after thirty years still funny especially with the political correctness going mad in the west.

Watching old episodes of mind your language and still funny now, along with episodes of little Britain - VN friends watched and didn't understand any of the humour..😟

I like Harry Enfield & Chums, Mr Chumley Warner .....showing my age now, can actually remember when TV was like that

https://youtu.be/LS37SNYjg8w

Jlgarbutt wrote:

Watching old episodes of mind your language and still funny now, along with episodes of little Britain - VN friends watched and didn't understand any of the humour..😟

Humour is the most difficult obstacle to overcome for people who learn a new language.  I don't expect anyone to understand another culture's humour until he has a chance to immerse in that culture for a long period of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRfluaMKoOY

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I think Vietnamese people understand some sarcasm.

I too think they understand sarcasm but that does not mean that they like it.  I think your "một, hai, ba, yo..." example is appreciated not because it is sarcasm but because it is based on word play as pointed out by Ciamballa.

I think sarcasm is not appreciated in any East Asian cultures because it goes against the concept of "face."

colinoscapee wrote:

VN humour a lot of the time is visual. I watch some VN stage shows with my wife and much of it is slapstick.

Mr Bean is big here

goodolboy wrote:

Mr Bean is big here

That's true but I think it is because it is because it is in pantomime.  Rawan Atkinson's other works like The Thin Blue Line are not at all popular in Vietnam because the humor is very verbal.  Same thing with Tom and Jerry.  No words spoken.

THIGV wrote:

No words spoken.

I should clarify my comment above.  I did not mean that Vietnamese are particularly drawn to pantomime but that in the shows mentioned, people do not need to know English to appreciate them.