Comedy has always been an innate part of British culture. Our sense of humour is internationally renowned for being self-deprecating, sarcastic, subtle and laden with innuendo. Yet, increasingly we are seeing foreign comedians finding success within our shores. So why is international comedy becoming so popular?
Giacinto Palmieri is one such comedian who has found success within the UK. Born in Italy, he’s never actually performed in his home country. “Actually I’m having the opposite problem now because I’ve started to do comedy for an Italian audience; Italians living in London.” says Palmieri. “British comedy is my native comedy approach, not my native language. Actually, now I’m wondering; if I go to Italy and do something for an Italian audience, should I do anything different, because whatever I learn, I learnt it here, and I did it in front of a British audience.”
“What I really find interesting is when foreigners talk about their host country because it is where they can really bring their perspective into things, particularly foreigners who are not native English speakers. They can also look at the English language itself and try to express why they find it fun, surprising, charming and so on.” says Palmieri.
“Sometimes when I go outside London, I struggle a bit more I think because people relate a bit less to the experience of living in multicultural London” Palmieri told Laughing Stock. “Maybe they are also less exposed to foreign accents – I find myself struggling a bit more to be understood when I go outside London or festivals.”
Another comedian performing in a second language is German comedian Christian Schulte-Loh, who claims he had to leave Germany because he was ‘too funny’. He has similar views of being able to bring a fresh perspective to the country.
“I kind of have the feeling I’m still visiting this place, and that makes you see things differently, things that other people don’t see.” he says.
“In Britain there’s no boundaries really – you can go really far – and in Germany I think people are a bit more squeamish – definitely about historic things. For example I would be able to do some edgy Hitler stuff in Britain which in Germany is a bit harder to get away with, you know for obvious reasons. But then again, for example football is still a thing that the English are a bit sensitive about – I would tell them for example during the gig that ‘English people can relax, there will be no penalty shoot out after this gig’ – they would sometimes freak out a little, which is fun.”
“I love both markets a lot, but I love the British because the Brits are lots of fun” he continued.
“If you travel, you see different cultures, you see the different ways people live, it does open up your comedic mind more.”
But why are the British getting a taste for foreign stand-up? Nigel Williams is a British born comedian, who honed his craft in Belgium. He has subsequently come back to England to perform.
“A good trick with international comedy is that if you have just one local reference, they will take you to heart. If they know you’re not from there, one local reference and it’s like ‘Ah, he’s looked this up, that’s good’ and people like that. That gives you a window of opportunity to start doing your thing, because they give you a little bit of credit then. It’s only ever that two minute credit gap you get, but at least it gives you that little bit of an edge.” says Williams.
“You get all these people enlisting in workshops and stuff to try and learn standup comedy, but the money they spend on that would be better off taking a city trip to Bratislava, and just sitting in a bar and writing stuff. If you travel, you see different cultures, you see the different ways people live, it does open up your comedic mind more.” he said.
So is there a joke that works across all cultures? German comedian Christian thinks being able to perform in a variety of countries is a sign of a good comedian.
“There’s a lot of jokes that work in every country.” says Schulte-Loh. “I would say, a really good joke has to work everywhere; it’s so good that people will laugh about it almost anywhere. The thing is, with controversial jokes, you cannot open with them anywhere.
“You have to put them in the middle of your set because people have to first trust you and get to know you and they have to know that this guy is actually a nice guy, he’s not dangerous for us. So then later on when you do something really intense they would laugh with you and they wouldn’t be afraid. Generally I think a really good joke would work everywhere.”
So with this year’s Edinburgh fringe packed with international talent, it seems like fresh foreign perspectives are here to stay on the British comedy circuit.
Laughing Stock’s selection of some of the best standup jokes ever told.
