Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack

That will do.

Was going to say something else but thought jeez thats not nice. I'm off to do the mowing.

Originally Posted by cockney pommy

no. however not everything i say is hilarious, but not meant to be taken seriously either. it's not about being a comedian but being able to laugh at yourself and not take things seriously.


i was playing poker in a pub one day and one of the girls was eating a pizza. i looked at her with a frown and said "u got pizza on your face". a look of horror came over her face and she said "that was rude" (she did'nt have pizza on her face). i said "lighten up i was only kidding" and she said "that wasn't funny". all the blokes at the table laughed and the english woman sitting next to me, and the middle aged aussie woman.the youngish girls at the table did'nt even break into a smile. what i said was'nt actually funny but the reaction was hilarious. and what i said certainly wasn't rude. she reacted as if someone pulled her knickers down in public!!!!
and her face looked like this for the next 5 minutes one for each minute)
she certainly made us laugh. but the other half that makes up a sense of humour was missing(don't take it so seriously)

another example: i was talking to a girl over the phone(in her 20's), an agency employee about a medical i had to undergo for a job.
she told me to make sure i wear underwear. i said: "how do u know i don't wear underwear?....shit i hope my flies weren't undone when i registered at the agency". 5 second silence... "can u not say things like that"
the key word- UNBELIEVABLE
everyone i told this to broke out in hysterics except the young girls below roughly 30. they took it literally. i didn't bother explaining to them that it was a joke.
try and tell me that isn't funny. your not a young one r u?

Originally Posted by Dorothy

Sorry, but neither of those are funny. Women - and not just Austrlaian women - generally don't find it funny for a stranger to tell them they have pizza on their faces when they don't. Also, as someone who works in a professional environment I wouldn't find it funny when a stranger on the phone started telling me about his underwear wearing habits. As a matter of fact, when I worked at the recruitment agency in Adelaide your comments would have been reported to the agent in charge of your file and probably your application would have been withdrawn as unsuitable for our agency.

Comments of an insulting or sexual nature made to women you don't know are as a general rule not welcome by any woman. As I said before...It's probably that you're just not funny.

Originally Posted by Dorothy

Sorry, but neither of those are funny. Women - and not just Austrlaian women - generally don't find it funny for a stranger to tell them they have pizza on their faces when they don't. Also, as someone who works in a professional environment I wouldn't find it funny when a stranger on the phone started telling me about his underwear wearing habits. As a matter of fact, when I worked at the recruitment agency in Adelaide your comments would have been reported to the agent in charge of your file and probably your application would have been withdrawn as unsuitable for our agency.

Comments of an insulting or sexual nature made to women you don't know are as a general rule not welcome by any woman. As I said before...It's probably that you're just not funny.

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack

I'd agree with bits of this.

My experience is that Aussies do appreciate self-effacement because it is very much the larrikin way. Like you say, I've always taken the piss out of myself here and in the UK because it is safe and I know that the joke will be on me and not on a more sensitive soul who I might offend. Sort of consideration for others.

This came up the other day and I think a lot of Brits complain generally about the humour when what they really mean is that they generally dont do cruel scarcasm (still can't spell that) which I think is a good thing. But they do understand dry one liners - I don't care for the smarmy canned US style 'Friends' ones. which drive me up the wall.

Also I find that whilst Aussies like banter - especially if they know and like you - they don't tend to make jokes personal and DO tend to either laugh at themselves or situations. Like "How bad am I" etc ""Look what I've just done - I'd thought I do this and look". "If we do this, then we'll all be in it etc"

There's a new Brit bloke now in the office whose jokes fail and he looks disappointed and noone (including me) can understand his accent. His jokes sound like he is just trying to comment on something in the background. Everyone's body language is "What was that!?"

BTW I know an Australian bloke on the tram and he's extremely funny -almost stand up quality ie. the jokes are crap, (aren't the best ones!) but the timing and observation is bang on and we sort of do a routine down Toorak road, taking it in turns to take the piss out of people on the tram and things we see - and occasionally we forget people are listening in. The other week we had the whole tram laughing over something like the size of kid's bags - one poor boy fell over his getting off, and the next a poor girl got done for standing on the step which gave us some material so Aussies don't mind personal playful humour if its directed at a situation so we were laughing at the step and the bags not the people. You had to be there...

Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede

To be honest, if you lived in the western suburbs of Sydney, it wouldn't be long until you didn't have much of a sense of humour either.

There's not much to laugh about over there.

Originally Posted by ukecadet

So.Have I got this right.You and a bloke ,sit on the tram,taking the piss out of complete strangers,going about their own business.Sounds hilarious !! Oh I've just cracked a rib. Why don't the pair of you catch the last train out of the city on a Friday night and see how your routine goes down.

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack

No you haven't got it quite right and I exaggerated the stories that happened that day when we normally laugh with each other.

I should make it clear it's a situational thing - a commuting thing - I should have made that clear. We're all cramped in a sardine tin at that time of day for 10 minutes the time it takes to do that part of the route and noone minds too much because it's a short event.

It's clear we're not mean about it - the laughter we get is obvious. Most of the time we laugh at ourselves but these situations came up one time and everyone who could not help but hear, laughed.

Originally Posted by cockney pommy

i've noticed something about the aussie girls(at least in sydney), they seem to have a useless sense of humour, so many things go over their heads and they r also so very easy to offend over something silly. they never seem to laugh at themselves and they can't tolerate sarcastic humour.i'm not alone with this view because i know a lot of fellow brits both here and in the uk including a lot of females, that have said the same thing.the only exception seems to be the ones who r over 35, but even then it's very lacking in comparison to uk girls. might this have anything to do with the western suburbs?(sydney)

Originally Posted by BadgeIsBack

a) It probably wasn't that funny.
b) Your cockney chirpyness probably makes you sound a bit off. I can practically picture the way you said it too mate. I come from London, and there is a line of humour which can come over abrupt and offhand (almost like a mini insult) and therefore I imagine sort of rude to others (with all the best intentions) without being particularly dry or ''charming'''which it is meant to be. It's not just a London thing either.

When I was living in Central Europe we had a London Cockney turn up who everyone took offence at because all his oneliners sounded like mini insults and he was so deadpan he came over as an oaf. "What do you mean Missus?" Not a glint in his eye or so much a delayed grin. But I recognised the style. Unknown to others, I had been assigned to look after him, and people said it reflected badly on me too(!) as they thought we were both mates due to the London connection...

c) Once you find a girlfriend you won't have to worry about it.

cheers

Originally Posted by ozzieeagle

What feels cool in London, sometimes feels bloody ignorant over here, I have been around fresh off the boat duckers and divers and cringed in their company. It's weird how the humour doesnt travel. In fact when I first downloaded a podcast of Johnathan Ross, I thought to myself what an ignorant sounding coked up twat, the speed at which he talked sounded like he was trying to hard, which I find is the case with newly arrived cockneys. Took a couple of episodes before I acclimatised back to the humour. One of the problems seems to be an perceived invasion of personal space.

Originally Posted by fin

Itake it you don't know how to multi-quote?

Originally Posted by cockney pommy

no. i'm new to this

Originally Posted by Ozzidoc

That pizza joke.....that's 10 year old Aussie kid humour. I wouldn''t imagine many adults finding that amusing.

Originally Posted by >Trigger<

s'pose it's a bit like that joke me old fella used to do...point to me chest and say "summat on your shirt" then when you looked down he'd tap your nose with his finger...it was funny about 20 years ago