Laughter is a Funny Thing

Recently myself and another international student went to a comedy show. My friend and I are both British and we had tickets to see Russell Howard, a British stand-up comedian. A lot of my, US, friends exclaimed “you can’t come to the US and watch a UK comic! That’s like going to Greece as an American and ordering a cheeseburger to eat!” I’m telling you, my American friends were upset.

But actually, it was great seeing some homegrown talent do so well this side of the pond. He had a way bigger audience than I thought he would and people seemed to be enjoying him. It was interesting, from a performance point of view, to watch how he tailored his jokes to suit a different audience. Obviously some jokes landed way better than others, but being part of the handful of Brits in the crowd meant that I still got a good laugh from start to finish. Isn’t it strange how the US and UK have very different styles of humour? Luckily, I have a stupid sense of humour and laugh at literally anything.

I love seeing how humour transfers universally and bring people together. Especially in this time of political turmoil and unrest. It was great to sit back and laugh for a little bit, but even better was listening to that lovely British accent that reminds me of home.

Olivia Seaton-Hill
oseatonh@mail.sfsu.edu
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