: Re: Variation in humor among ethnic/cultural groups Back when Bill Clinton was President of the United States, Al Franken (formerly a Saturday Night Live comedian, now a US Senator) gave him lessons

@Berumen699

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As I understand it, "funny" depends upon the unexpected. Jokes get told different ways, and the object of the joke changes (self-deprecating, racist, blonde, yo' mama, etc.), but the unexpected is what always gives the punch line its punch. The unexpected can be unexpected for various reasons: time, space, juxtaposition/comparison of two very different things, etc.

Ex 1: "Yo' mama is so fat, she weighs 800 pounds." That's not funny. You expected an exaggeration of your mother's weight, and that's all you got. So the joke is stupid. It is the kind of joke that a 5-year-old or a Vulcan might come up with.

Ex 2: "Yo' mama is so fat, she has her own climate." That's funny because you didn't expect the fat woman to be compared to an entire continent. Your mind tries to picture a woman that fat, and it can't because there are too many ridiculous things about it, and that makes it funny. (However, a 5-year-old would not find this funny, because he doesn't know about climates and continents.)

My point is that foreign/alien humor would work the same way, but it would operate under a different set of expectations. Unless you understand the culture and/or language and/or history, you won't get the jokes.

Your foreign/alien characters can still MAKE jokes, though. You will just have to explain them to your readers, at first. Make the explanations funny. "Suggesting Princess Suzie might enjoy rock moss was Gryznak's idea of a joke. (I found this out later. There's a hideously ugly creature in the Plains of Gxyap that eats rock moss.)"

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