Asians now slightly funnier

Yes, we are gradually catching up with those hilarious Westerners

ON THE BILL at a US comedy show in Long Island this week is a guy called Steve GB, whose tagline is “The World’s Funniest Accountant”.

Reader Sammi Tan, who told me about it, was unimpressed. “Not a lot of completion for that title, surely?’ she asked. She’s probably right.
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Meanwhile, US show comedy Saturday Night Live said the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was The Least Funny Event in History, “quieting any crowd”, according to a spokesman.

What?! Clearly these people have never heard of the National Chinese People’s Congress Plenary Sessions, the mere MENTION of which induces instant sleep in anyone with a functioning----zzzzzzzz.
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Oops, sorry about that. Just dropped off for a moment.

But I have good news and bad news on the comedy front.

The bad news is more reports are appearing accusing Asians, particularly mainland Chinese folk and Muslims, of having no sense of humor.

One example: a would-be web humorist called Dugger last month had a dig at China with a fake news item intended to be taken ironically: “In a surprise announcement, The United Nations has stated that China is now officially funny and has been awarded the prestigious Most Funny Country Award.”

Thanks, Mr Dugger. Your article would be funny if only it was funny.
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The good news. Asia IS taking small but steady steps to becoming genuinely hilarious.

There are lots of Chinese comedians these days, and some good-natured Muslims are even willing to poke fun at their undeserved reputation as terrorists.

Q: What did the female suicide bomber say to her husband?

A: Does my bomb look big in this?
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Last week I got chatting to an old friend, Indonesian comedian Isman Suryaman (he posted a comment recently; you may have seen his name).

He tells audiences about the existence of “the Friendly Neighborhood Muslim, who doesn't make the news at all.

“Imagine CNN reporting the following: ‘This just in: Thirty year-old Ahmad Fadlan just knocked on his neighbor's door and—oh my goodness –lent him some sugar.’”

Isman advises Americans to consider Muslims useful as a “navigational tool”, since they always pray towards Mecca.
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Islam’s most successful comic is probably Azhar Usman (pic above and at the top), an acquaintance of Suha Cassim, a reader and contributor to this column.

Azhar’s brilliant show goes like this.

The stage lights go on.

A guy with a beard steps on to the stage. He says: “Salaam alaikum.”

The Muslims in the crowd reply: “Alaikum salaa.”

The speaker says: “I notice we have some non-Muslim friends and family in the crowd, so I'll explain what that means. It means: `We're gonna kill you'.”

Pause.

Laughter.

Speaker: “I'm just kidding.”
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Azhar talks about the problems he has travelling, since he is a big guy with a beard and robes.

“Imagine what it feels like, looking like me, walking into the airport. Heads turn simultaneously. And security guys are going: `Right there. We got Muhammad at four o’clock, right there.’”

When he gets on the plane and walks down the aisle, people catch sight of him and interrupt their own conversations with: “I’m gonna die.” On the plus side, he added: “Of course, everybody's real nice to me once the plane safely lands.”

Don’t get me wrong. Asians still have a way to go. But one day we may actually have our own world-class comedians, and, like Isman and Azhar, we’ll all be able to joke about ourselves.

Q: Did you hear about the Muslim strip club?

A: It features full facial nudity.
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Technorati Tags: Asian humor,Islamic humor,Azhar Usman,Isman Suryaman

Comments

[Chamin AKA Maria Chaminda Veneracion DeJesus III]

Some Sri Lankan humor:

In hell, people are grouped by country and put in large pits that are heavily guarded to prevent escape.

The Sri Lankan pit, however, has no guards; if anyone tries to get out, the others pull him back in :-p.

[Salaya]

enjoy your holiday mr jam, you earned it, can you tell us where you are going so we can look out for you?

[farah]

LOL :)

i get the same panic attack when i see any long bearded man in a robe while i'm travelling. the oversized robes do look like a hiding place.

[fardel]

"me panic attack when i see any long bearded man in a robe while i'm travelling"

i believe......oops I STRONGLY believe that for Aviation safety those guys with robes should wear..................Miniskirts

[Dan Kubiske]

Steve GB may be “The World’s Funniest Accountant" but please remember that Bob Newhart back in 1960 made a series of comedy albums that featured issues from his days as an accountant. And Newhart's first album and the tagline: "The Most Celebrated New Comedian Since Atilla (the Hun)."

Why the last part was set aside, I don't know. I mean, how many famous Atillas were there in history?

[TS]

I think Azhar Usman might recognise the following situation:

http://tiny.cc/9gh5u

[Mahjuja]

Ha ha, farah, I feel the same way too, when I see bearded and robed guys! Isn't ironic? Us being muslims and all.

[kartini]

luv this guy on youtube. his singaporean jokes are funny to those who get it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjXy2QykmMQ

[TS]

@kartini,
I just wish I could still screw myself into a dress like that... :-)

[Kim]

If you haven't seen Omid Djalili yet - make sure you do. He's British/Iranian. We wondered if our Iranian friend (who's just in Europe for the first time) would get what looks to us like British humour. He loved the show to bits and said maybe he missed a few British jokes, but he was equally sure that we missed a whole lot of Iranian humour.

[TS]

Omid Djalili have claimed that he is the only Iranian comedian in England, which is still three more than in USA.

Déjà vu... have I said this before?

[Chamin]

Kartini,

Hm, I have lost most of my hard earned Singlish listening skills.

The good thing about being a comedian is the ability to say some things that might result in arrest if non-comedians say those.

[Vernette]

I know that there are some really good Indian Comedians in the UK. A lot of the clips are on youtube. Enjoy :)

[Minkha]

And what about Stephen Chow?

[Christyn Rana]

The only joke i know of Nepal is that it is capable of closing the country up like a department store whenever someone died because he was apparently a significant figure. We call it ''Bandh'' which literally means 'close'. So when Nepal faces ''Nepal Bandh' its like holiday. We're the kingdom of Many Holidays as if all the religious holidays from dog worshipping day (honest!) to books worshipping days and everything in between aren't enough. I mentioned before that there are a certain kind of asians who are living jokes like people live in houses

[adrian]

And if Chinese immigrants are under this category, maybe you can check out Joe Wong on youtube.
He has become Ellen Degeneres' favourite.