Fabulous Finns – Finnish sense of humor
I haven’t done any of these “Fabulous Finns” posts in a while and with reader Hannu’s suggestion, I thought I’d do what now.
Finns have a grrrrreat sense of humor. I think that was one of the most surprising things I discovered about Finnish people when I first arrived 2 1/2 years ago. Finns’ humor is dry, dark, cynical, silly, sarcastic, sometimes juvenile, simple (in a good sense)…I find it to match my own sense of humor almost exactly.
Finns love to laugh and love to make other people laugh. But unlike the British for instance, Finns don’t have this need to try and be funny every seven seconds. I get this impression that if a Brit doesn’t say something funny, witty, or biting in every other sentence – they’re looked down upon by their peers or something.
My theory as to why Finns have such a great sense of humor has to do with their history. Up until very recently, times were tough here, life always wasn’t so pleasant. I think that hard work combined with poverty make society have a bit dryer, darker, and more cynical sense of humor. This is why maybe Swedes and Germans are known for their lack of humor? Like I said, it’s just a theory of mine.
I can get frustrated sometimes when my girlfriend enjoys some of the Finnish comedy classics like “Kummeli”, but I can’t quite follow along yet. But until my Finnish skills become fluent, MTV3, Nelonen, and SubTV import some excellent comedies like The Simpsons, Conan O’Brien, Seinfeld, Saturday Night Live, All in the Family, The Office (UK, YLE)…what else am I missing?
Of course, there’ s alot of shit being imported from the U.S. as well. I think American producers often go for quantity over quality. That’s one good thing about the British shows, they know when put a cork in a particular series rather than milk it for every penny like in the states.
But the definitive proof that Finns have a great sense of humor is that The Simpsons is HUGE here. Sometimes I feel there are two types of people on this earth, people who love The Simpsons and people who don’t.
It seems you have some British blood in your veins. How is this phrase as an example of DRY British humour:
“Sometimes I feel there are two types of people on this earth, people who love The Simpsons and people who don???t.”
If this is NOT humour, then what is the third alternative?
Comment by Thomas — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 9:50 pm
Thomas, do you love The Simpsons?
Comment by Phil — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 9:55 pm
“Thomas, do you love The Simpsons?”
Love is a strong word, and I do not like to use it very easily. But I LIKE the Simpsons, if that is good enough.
Comment by Thomas — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 10:01 pm
I personly find The Simpsons enjoyable be rarely funny, like on abc1, there are back to back American sit-coms yet I rarely laugh at them, even with the canned laughter. Perhaps it just the laughter is differant over the pond.
Comment by Philip — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 10:11 pm
Yeah, I”ve noticed that Brits have never gotten into The Simpsons. American humor and British humor are just too different I guess.
Comment by Phil — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 10:18 pm
Being British, I must say, dear chap, that The Simpsons and Family Guy are marvellous. Pip pip.
Comment by Ace — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 10:25 pm
“Coupling” is quite enjoyable as well, at least the first two seasons.
Comment by Pete — Sun, May 29th, 2005 @ 11:47 pm
But, Kummeli in itself is rarely about language. It’s the characters.
Comment by sepisp — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 1:48 am
If you’re missing Kummeli, you’re not missing much.
Comment by M — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 7:30 am
Have a go at Studio Julmahuvi, ehich should be out on DVD in the fall (yay!). It is probably THE best comedy show ever produced in Finland.
Comment by Anzi — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 9:24 am
I think Neil Hardwick (in the picture) has made a few amazingly good tv-comedy series. Of course they were 80’s stuff like ‘Tankki T?¤yteen’
and ‘Reinikainen’.
You should check out his “Kielipuoli potilas”. Phil would appreciate it surely. Nice 1970’s milieu too…
I like ‘Keeping up Appearances’ ‘The Store’ and ‘coupling’ is pretty good too.
Comment by Hank W. — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 9:27 am
Despite what people say, Julmahuvi is crap. I can’t see the difference between that and Vinti?¶t or anything produced by Petelius et al. The only good sketch in it is “Practical English with Abu”.
Kummeli is about the characters, Abu is about the characters. Do you see the pattern?
Comment by sepisp — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 2:21 pm
I can???t see the difference between that and Vinti?¶t or anything produced by Petelius et al.
Well aren’t you just so different. Do you dislike Julmahuvi because “everybody” likes it or because you genuinely dislike it?
Comment by Anzi — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 3:56 pm
In a comedy series, there should be something funny. In Julmahuvi, there isn’t. Most Petelius productions suffer from the same problem. It’s “emphatically embarrassing”, not fun, to watch Petelius “apuuuva” sketch.
Comment by sepisp — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 7:44 pm
In a comedy series, there should be something funny. In Julmahuvi, there isn???t.
I feel for you. It must be awful living a life with no taste whatsoever.
What kind of comedy do you like then?
Comment by Anzi — Mon, May 30th, 2005 @ 8:55 pm
I think finns like the Simpsons so much because Homer is very much like the stereotypical finnish man. A fat guy who drinks beer and watches sport on his sofa.
Comment by Jussi — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 12:56 am
I think Finns liked “All in tthe Family” because “Archie Bunker” was everyones dad.
Comment by Hank W. — Tue, May 31st, 2005 @ 2:28 pm
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Comment by Dave — Thu, Jun 26th, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
Want to explore what’s apparently funny to the Finns? Here’s some songs by comedians, with translations of the lyrics and links to youtube
http://lyricstranslate.com/en/pieni-hiace-small-toyota-hiace-southern-us-accent.html
http://lyricstranslate.com/en/makke-mies-makke-man.html
http://lyricstranslate.com/en/tulin-minae-kaapista-ulos-i-came-out-closet-indeed-southern-us-accent.html
Comment by jörkkä — Wed, Feb 4th, 2009 @ 8:38 pm
Might wanna check out this website!! It offers a compilation of Finnish humor – first time translated into English. All videos
Comment by jörkkä — Mon, Feb 9th, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
It didn’t publish the website. Here we go again.
http://finnish-sense-of-humor.blogspot.com/
Comment by jörkkä — Mon, Feb 9th, 2009 @ 5:59 pm