How would you describe Irish humour?

Rds1989

and is it that different from British humour?

ilovesleep

witty

m@cc@

Rds1989 wrote: »

and is it that different from British humour?

I think Irish humour is darker. We're much more likely to fit death and alcoholism into jokes.

UrbanSea

Sarcastic and uncaring.

pragmatic1

m@cc@ wrote: »

I think Irish humour is darker. We're much more likely to fit death and alcoholism into jokes.

Yeah I think its very similar to Brit humour but a little darker.

Saila

was in a cafe the other week, they were getting a roof next door but still part of the cafe put on/fixed...it started raining..

the guy fixing the roof says "were getting wet now"
owner says "get the roof on and you'll be nice and dry wont you!"

classic..only in Ireland would you get that

smugchik

What about Psychoville and The League of Gentlemen? Doesn't come much darker than that...

I think it depends on the individual rather than the country. Although, I spend quite a lot of time in Donegal and find them humorless. I have good friends up there but the ones with a gsoh all originate from outside Donegal....

Saila

sharp and witty

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Not that dissimilar, other than the fact that we're better at taking the piss out of ourselves.

thehairyelbow

Un f**king beatable!

m@cc@

smugchik wrote: »

What about Psychoville and The League of Gentlemen? Doesn't come much darker than that...

What's your point?

Sky King

A lot of it now is influenced by comedy from the USA and UK.

I think one thing that is unique to us is the horriffic slagging we can give each other. i remember there was an italian guy in a group of me and my mates one time... the thought a fight was going to break out but we wer just tearing strips off each other for the craic. No harm done.

bonerm

sarcastic, ironic, reactionary, puerile.

orourkeda

unique

smugchik

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Yeah I think its very similar to Brit humour but a little darker.

m@cc@ wrote: »

What's your point?

I was answering an earlier comment which stated that Irish humour was darker than English humour. On the whole, I find English humour darker. Of course there are always exceptions...

I should have included the original message. Sorry for confusion.

mfceiling

The only country where you can tell someone to f*ck off and what you mean is "are you serious"...

Dangerous Man

Depends. A lot of Irish people I know find Tommy Tiernan and the D'Unbelievables funny. Others don't. It can't be easily summed up.

For Forks Sake

mfceiling wrote: »

The only country where you can tell someone to f*ck off and what you mean is "are you serious"...

**** off

RichieC

sarky and self deprecating.

Some people think it's picking on someone unmercifully... they aren't usually funny at all.

Saila

mfceiling wrote: »

The only country where you can tell someone to f*ck off and what you mean is "are you serious"...

nah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26UA578yQ5g

LETHAL LADY

I would describe Irish humour as dry humour.

starviewadams

Puerile and shíte for the most part!
With the exception of Dylan Moran and David O'Doherty.

Craebear

Get up on stage, shout and jump around like a lunatic and you are considered the funniest man in the country.

Saila

Craebear wrote: »

Get up on stage, shout and jump around like a lunatic and you are considered the funniest man in the country.

another one who's only seen his latest stuff..

W.Shakes-Beer

As dry as Ghandi's slipper.

In my (and my friends) cases it is often sickeningly crude, so much that I have to watch who's around me first.

ilovesleep

Ireland was handed a cruel hand of cards and we've been poked and proded with the sharp end of the stick and I think it is great that many people here on AH and also in my daily life can crack up jokes about it and find some humour in it all despite all the baddness.

Wackawacka

From having worked extensively overseas, I had to adapt my expression of humour to be accepted locally. One of the things I've had to adapt is that the format of Irish humour is markedly different. Irish humour tends to revolve primarily around telling stories ("So I says 'xxxxx', so she says, 'xxxxx' "), or making puns ("Tonehenge", "Stiffy on the Liffey"), etc. Definitely slagging is not universal, it is definitely Irish, but don't know enough to say whether it is Irish only or British only as I've never lived there. Also, I've noticed that when asked our honest opinion about something, even in writing, it isn't uncommon to insert humour there as well, which to foreigners may look out of place or inconsistent with expectations of decorum. Humour tends to be much more common place in Irish society than many other places.

Taboo subjects tend to be very different. Gay sex jokes, sex jokes in general, race jokes, religion jokes, and political jokes, tend to be much more taboo than elsewhere. Irish humour tends to be shier, and more about, well, nothing. Standup comedians use funny situations, poke loving fun at Ireland and Irish culture, make fun of regional stereotypes, but humour tends to be, well, about nothing, i.e. the point is to have fun, but not to be (very) critical. By comparison, the great standup comedians of the US, like George Carlin, Andrew Dice Clay, Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks, Chris Rock, Dennis Miller, Lenny Bruce, some of these were viciously aggressive, usually with a specific point in mind. I do think British humour to be in between Irish and American humour in that regard.

Given the state of affairs in Ireland, imagine if we had a Jon Stewart lampooning Irish politics on a nightly basis. There surely is plenty enough fodder! Though I'm not sure if he'd be made Taoiseach, run out of town, or sued to bits.

bayern282

Vastly overrated, Dara O'Brien springs to mind. You can almost hear him thinking to himself

'' OMG, listen to me, I'm so wacky and whimsical, must be cos I'm OIRISH , no one else is capable of this !''

The funniest humour doesn't have to try so hard, Glaswegian wit or Northern English drollery is far funnier to me than the sort of stage Irishness that tends to grate.

OPENROAD

bayern282 wrote: »

Vastly overrated, Dara O'Brien springs to mind. You can almost hear him thinking to himself

'' OMG, listen to me, I'm so wacky and whimsical, must be cos I'm OIRISH , no one else is capable of this !''

The funniest humour doesn't have to try so hard, Glaswegian wit or Northern English drollery is far funnier to me than the sort of stage Irishness that tends to grate.

The one Irish comedian I really like, actually probably my favorite comedian

Blobby George

bayern282 wrote: »

Vastly overrated, Dara O'Brien springs to mind. You can almost hear him thinking to himself

'' OMG, listen to me, I'm so wacky and whimsical, must be cos I'm OIRISH , no one else is capable of this !''

O Briain is a terrible comedian who has been winging it for far too long. He is symptomatic of the nudge wink type humour the Irish lap up so much.

Pauleta

Timing