I can think of plenty of naitonalities known for their humor: English, Jewish, Japanese, Italian, Mexican, even Russian. But I can’t really think of any comedian, troupe, movie, TV show, that’s German in origin and internationally known for its humor. The closest I can come is the rock group Laibach, what does Wagnerian covers of ditty pop tunes like Life is Life with goose stepping, kettle drums and herald trumpets. Even then, it’s done more for shock value than humor, as you’re not really sure whether they’re being serious or not.
There’s also Hogan’s Heroes, but that doesn’t really fit.
A couple of years ago I read about a German comedian who was famous just before WW2 . He used to come on stage and give what looked looked like a " Heil Hitler" salute . When everyone had responded and quietened down he would come out with “In my village last year , the snow was this deep” . He was either very brave or very foolish.
From the repertoire of a superb German comedian whose name I’ve forgotten.
"Before I became a comedian I used to travel frequently and I became exposed to a lot of anti-German stereotypes. In fact, the reason I became a comedian was to debunk the charicature of the Germans as mechanical automatons obsessed with order and sequence.
When I was a teenager one of us got their hands on a copy of a book by Freud on humour. All the jokes were German puns which of course made absolutely no sense in an English translation. We learned a few and used to interject them in conversations with other people. All the members of our group would “laugh” uproariously at gems like, “In his haste to write the prescription the Indian doctor has made an error.” Ever since then that very phrase has said “German humour” to me.
Michael Graham once stated a list of oxymorons that went something like, “Italian modesty, French gratitude, British dental hygiene, and German humor.”
I used to share an office with a man from Germany who told the following joke at lunch.
There is this man who works in a large office. One day he goes to the mens room, stuffs a roll of toilet paper under his jacket and takes it home. Then, for the next two years he goes to the mens room once a week, takes a roll of toilet paper, stuffs it under his jacket and takes it home.
One day his boss calls him in and tells him they have proof that he has been stealing from the company. The police arrest him and the judge gives him five years for stealing.
The first day in jail, his cellmate asks him what his crime was and the man answers “I stole over 100 rolls of toilet paper from my job!”.
“Ach” cries the cell mate, “you should have just taken one roll a week for two years!”
Every german at the table laughed like crazy but the Americans just looked confused.
A lot of German humor isn’t exportable (due to needed context or untranslatable wordplay), and most of the rest isn’t recognizaby German after translation.
As examples of the former I recommend the oeuvre of Loriot (Vicco von Bülow), e.g. his two movies Ödipussi and Pappa ante Portas.
I’ve found that Germans love the ridiculous. Like sending one of those cryptic sympathy cards for your birthday. Or calling a cat a northern european house-panther. And I get the toilet paper joke, so I’m special.
An example of what the web site of Germany’s largest newsmagazine presents as chuckleworthy. (the sign, on a cinema’s front, says: “It is not allowed to consume food or drink taken from outside”).
HAH! I’ve seen this guy and watched with 1st generation American Mr. Ujest. I went…see! See! Everyone makes fun of zee Germans…you guys are just begging for it. He gets a bee up his nose everytime someone makes fun of zee Germans, yet he can see that the rest of us are that far off the mark. And I am not saying all Germans are humorless mechancial automatons. When they drink, they are loads of fun.
One of the best examples of the difference between US and Them is this joke.
First the set up
There is a german folk song called, Nord See Kuste (on the North Sea Coast) that has clapping involved with the lyric.
On the north sea coast :::::clap clap clap::::
got it?
So, these two germans are off on a hike and they fall off a cliff. By some chance they both grab onto the same puny tree that cannot support both of their weight.
“What should we do?” Asks one.
“I think we should sing a song…loudly…to see if anyone above will hear us and come to our rescue.”
“Good Idea…What song?”
“Nord See Kuste”
The other guy sings…" On The North Sea Coast " clap clap…AAAAAAAAAAIGH!
It’s about physical humor. Three Stooges. Jim Carrey. People falling into open manhole covers. Funny. But that is a global thing.
In a German POW camp, an unlucky British officer has a wound on his left arm that becomes gangrenous. It has to be amputated.
He asks the Kommandant if it were possible that on the next German bombing raid over England, if they could drop his arm there so that it the folks at home would see the sacrifice he’s made for the war. The Kommandant agrees and it is done.
A month later the poor slob loses a leg in a gas heater explosion in the barracks.
Again he asks the Kommandant if they could drop his leg on old Blighty on the next bombing run. The Kommandant agrees and it is done.
Next month the unthinkable happens and our British officer loses his right arm when he is hit by a supply truck entering the camp. He requests that his right arm be dropped on England on the next bombing run.
The Kommandant says “No, we have reason to believe you are trying to escape.”
