Talk:Canadian humour
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For a December 2004 deletion debate over this page see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Canadian humour
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[edit] Still expandible!
We need French-Canadian humour, either in its own section or inline through the others, and we could do with a section on film (or integration into TV). Perhaps radio could have its own small section. Illustrated comics could go in Literature. Pre-modern historical humour would be challenging to write but interesting. Samaritan 05:47, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
...from reading the article, you'd still think Anglophones were about the only funny Canadians. Can anybody expand? I wish I could. :/ Samaritan 07:44, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- Thanks, Samaritan, for reminding us. Interesting how our first thoughts about humour are so ethnically and linguistically rooted. Second thoughts bring to mind Les Plouffe (TV), La Comédie canadienne (theatre), Yvon Deschamps (both), Juste pour rire (Just for Laughs), André-Philippe Gagnon, Michel Courtemanche... Oh and literature: Michel Trembley, Roch Carrier, Yves Beauchemin. We need a Quebécois(e) to help us on this. No wait, Antonine Maillet... We need Franco-canadien(ne)s. Sunray 18:13, 2005 Jan 3 (UTC)
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- I've started working on this. At first, there was so much, I thought maybe we would need a separate article. But then I began to see the similarities. From La famille Plouffe, to Just for Laughs, there is a tremendous amount of cross-over. I guess one of the best examples is the movie: The Decline and Fall of the American Empire--Canadian or what! This is exciting. The two solitudes unite... (drum roll, please) in humour. Sunray 20:57, 2005 Jan 3 (UTC)
[edit] Don't Delete it
It seems like a worthwhile page and is filled with lots of good names. Herm
[edit] Jann Arden, that controversial comic
User:24.207.10.76, as hir only edit thusfar, tacked this sentence to the bit about Jann Arden: "Many Canadians disagree with Jann Arden's sense of humour and this points to another area of Canadian culture: disagreeing on what Canadian Culture is." I reverted it. I think it's a given that any humourist will leave a fair number of people cold; we can trust our readers to understand this without tagging every reference to a widely-recognized humourist with weasel words. Further, it's unsupported; any relevant/attributed and/or specific/factual discussion of critiques of her humour might do well at Jann Arden; this wouldn't be the place. Samaritan 06:31, 4 Jan 2005 (UTC)
[edit] 'Integral part' and 'excelled at comedy'
Re: the opening paragraph. Isn't it a kind of universal trend for citizens of a country to think that their particular country leans a lot towards comedy and humour, like a kind of Comedy Forer Effect. It's not like many people would say that they/their country is particularly unfunny. I recommend it be changed.
[edit] Rick Mercer?
I find it odd that there's an entire PARAGRAPH devoted to Rick Mercer, who's actual appeal beyond "This Hour" has been minimal at best (being hawked by the CBC and MacLeans is a poor arbitrar of popularity), while Steve Smith with two successful comedies under his belt (one of which, The Red Green Show, has become a massive hit both domestically and for export, a feat perhaps even more substantial than Due South or Kids in the Hall) and his show makes a mere couple of mentions.
There's nothing particularly important about Mercer, and his section should be toned down.
[edit] Quebecois humour and English Canadian humour not the same
English Canadian humour and Quebecois humour are two seperate phenomena. There's very little cross-polination between the two. This article treats Quebecois humour as if it were simply the same as english-Canadian humour, but in a different language. The argument that both engage in satire of politicians is hardly a convincing argument for their being treated as the same subject. An article could equally be written about Canadian/Swedish humour, pointing out that both engage in satire of politicians, and then noting some Swedish humourists anecdotally alongside Canadian humourists. And it would be an equally false analysis. Anyone who lives in Quebec and speaks both languages realizes that Quebec and English Canadian senses of humour are very different. They should not be treated as a united subject. Doing so is intellectually dishonest, if not outright politically motivated. Seperate sections for Quebecois and English-Canadian humour. How many comedians are popular both in english-Canada and Quebec? Quebec has many more comedic tv shows inspired by French television than by english-Canadian television: Et Dieu Créa Laflaque is clearly inspired by Les Guignoles; Tout le Monde en Parle is an adaptation of the French show with the same name (The most popular comedic talk-show, by far); etc etc etc. This article smacks of cultural appropriation.
