Bavarian: I'm actually German. I just live in Austria and know both cultures and their sense of humour well enough to make this statement.
Here's an example from one of Austrias most popular cabaret artists (they avoid terms like 'comedy' or 'comedian' because this label only fits German artists in their perception). It's the only one I could find with English subs on YT, but it perfectly shows the typical attitude of Austrian cabaret: Full of subliminal hatred and rage towards society in general, other people in particular and even themselfs.
Josef Hader Ah, so Austria is just where you live? Well, I should have known better, considering that I actually come from Crete, but do live in Cyprus- so I put from Cyprus in my from tag because I do live there and also because it kind of stands out compared to all those "from Greece" dudes. I checked out your video a little bit and, well, if it weren't for the subtitles I wouldn't have understood much -at any rate this video reminds me of stand-up comedy (only difference was the guy was sitting). As for the hatred, even though I didn't watch much of the video as I said, it was subliminal indeed- I recall at the beginning he was like "so this young guy wears these clothes bought for 20 000 that look as if they costed 2000" -I didn't watch much further than the 2nd or 3rd monute, because bitter humour isn't my thing, but I now see for myself that what I thought about German humour (that it was kind of black) is actually Austrian humour. So thanks for heling me debunk this stereotype in my mind. :-)
immi101: like Leroux i am a bit puzzled that there is (or supposed to be) a specific kind of humour that is unique to Germany.
I'll have to google that :p
obviously there is all kinds of humour that is hard to grasp for foreigner as it is based on making fun of specific local customs, dialects etc. And just the casual misuse of the appropriate grammer can be quite funny as well.
but I would think that's not something that only exists in Germany.
Indeed, I did mention that wordplay humour is present in other languages too, and indeed it seems from the whole discussion I've had that you're right -there's not a specific kind of humour that could be called "German" -and the one I thought would be more "German" was actually Austrian. So anyways, thanks everybody for discussing this subject with me. :-)
*Looks around*
Ah, the giveaway is apparently over already -congrats to the winners and thanks againDoc0075 for hosting this kind giveaway and for giving me the opportunity to discuss the topic of German "humour" with other people -and thus discover that the stereotype about it isn't at all correct.
Also, thank you very much Doc0075 for sending me the leftover code for Ultimate Doom -if this wasn't a sending mistake or something, I highly appreciate this surprise gift. :D
Anyways, this was one of my most fullfilling participations on this forum, and this is why I still post semi-regularly -for the off-chance I might get to participate in such discussions! Thanks again everybody for responding to my questions on this and other topics and for keeping this forum such a good place. :D
So, vielen Dank noch einmal und Gute Nacht! ;)
