Australia Explained: A guide to Aussie humour（Ep.5）

Have you ever got perplexed by jokes your Aussie friend makes? Have you seen an Australian person who says things to make others laugh in some unexpected situations? In this fifth episode of Australia Explained, we look into the unique Australian humour, which has been bewildering visitors to the land down under for decades.

People laughing Credit: Pexels - Helena Lopes

What kind of humour is favoured by people in Australia? How do Aussies enjoy it?

Credit: Pexels Elevate

First, we hear Showko Showfukutei, famous Japanese comedian, ventriloquist, and Rakugo performer (Japanese Sit-Down Comedian) based in Melbourne, who has performed all over the world.

Showko Showfukutei says dry and sarcastic humour is prevalent among comedians here in Australia. But because many comedians from different sides of the worlds arrived recently in Australia, Australian humour has changed and it is not what it used to be.

Then what kind of jokes do Australian close friends make when they get together?

James works in an IT related company in Australia. He tells us a joke typical for people who are close friends.

Credit: Pexels Ketut Subiyanto

Amelie, who teaches English to international students in an English school in Melbourne, says sometimes people here use sarcasm to make people feel at ease in a stressful situation, like the sarcastic comments made after a lengthy meeting that did not achieve anything. 

We also hear from Megumi Carver, wedding and funeral celebrant and translator/interpreter in Sydney. She tells us she uses a more formal language when she speaks Japanese compared to when she addresses to the English-speaking audiences in a bilingual civil wedding.

Australians sometimes joke in a situation that would be unacceptable in other countries. The civil funeral celebrant Megumi says in her own experiences she has seen loved ones give eulogies that contain humorous stories.

Listen to the fifth episode of Australia Explained here:

LISTEN TO

オーストラリアのユーモア入門: ユニークなオーストラリアのユーモア（Ep.5）

SBS Japanese

22:35Japanese

Listen to all episodes of Australia Explained in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.

Australia Explained was originally created by Maram Ismail for SBS Arabic24.

 

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