Distinctive Australian Humour

As a society in the ‘land down under’, certain personality profiles are viewed as the class clowns of the community, just by the way they act. Chris Lilley’s cleverly produced mockumentary, Summer Heights High (SHH), adopts these stereotypes presenting them as immensely exaggerated representations. Lilley’s show comprises of Ja’mie King, a snobby and manipulative private school girl, Mr G, a self-absorbed drama teacher, and Jonah Takalua, a rebellious 15 year old boy of Tongan descent, commonly associated with the phrase, “Puck you miss”. Although SHH is socially accepted as Australian comedy by the blokes and sheilas of ‘Straya, foreign countries don’t always align with our satirical gag shows.

Australia is a country filled with many stereotypes, including people riding kangaroos, wearing cork hats, wrestling crocodiles and cooking snags on the barbeque while having a beer. However, Australians are usually easy-going people, unlike what stereotypes suggest. The worldwide film industry uses these stereotypical images of Australia to mock and parody Australians. However, the Australian film industry uses these images to their advantage to create intelligent, satirical comedies of the Australian way of life. The 1997 Australian comedy movie, The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch, is an amusing satire of a stereotypical Australian family fighting for their rights.

The characters in the film are how Australians really are. The characters are examples of stereotypical Australians. The men are tough, big and buff, they are hard working beer-drinking men. When the workers are not working they are usually at the pub. It’s a small community where everyone knows each other and it’s like a family. They have good humour and can insult each other without taking real offence. They reflect the attitude of Australians in their way of language and how they say things. They use colloquial language, slang and joke around with each other. Many Australians do this today also. They are a multicultural society, which is exactly what Australia is. People from all around the world are characters in this movie. They also drink lots of beer, appear rough and are dirty and grimy. One of the characters, Peeto, has a feminine side, which is ironic because he is portrayed as a rough manly man. The clothes that the men wear are singlets, short shorts and boots. The women wear dresses. They wear clothes that keep them cool, giving the viewers an understanding that the weather in Australia is harsh, dry and

It would seem that no one is quite like the Australians. We are different. We are bronzed. We are laconic. Oh, and we are a bit lovable-larrikinish too. But did you know that we Australians are said to have a characteristic of mateship?

The authors assessment and opinion on the australian identity is that we lie about every part of our identity and it needs to change. I agree strongly with this opinion and the australian identity must be modified. The author shows us this when he uses certain techniques such as humour and rhetorical questions. Richard glover has used humour to portray his thoughts and opinions by using humour to convey his thoughts. One example of this is when he writes, “if we ever want a national slogan, it should be;this isn’t going to end well” this use of humour shows the reader that this is a serious problem and something should be done. Another key way the author has chosen to show his true opinion is through rhetorical questions for example. “ this

Australian humour has been around for many years, and someone who displays this humorous trait is known as a larrikin. Mick Dundee illustrates his true larrikin nature in the film in different scenes such as where Sue has just been grabbed by a crocodile and Mick jumps on it, stabbing it in the head with his knife. Sue asks, “Is it dead?” and Mick replies, “Well, if it isn’t, it’ll be a hell of a job

Babakieueria is a Satire film which focuses on how people are treated based on the skin colour, this film shows the relationship between Aboriginal people and White people. The type of Satire which is used is Junvenalian which is a rough, abrasive, rude type of Satire. The film was made in 1986 and directed by Don Featherstone who is an Australian filmmaker, his work includes documentaries about significant figures in Australian culture and arts. The purpose of the film is to show racism in society, how Aboriginal people are treated and the stereotypes about them as people and of their culture.

While plays like Godface can sometimes stray towards being overtly heavy-handed in message, political satire in artistic forms is always important, only more so given Australia’s current situation. Not only does it allow us to poke fun at the systems that control us, it also gives us a chance to properly scrutinize them and find the loopholes that are used for its manipulation and power.

Despite many people's perception of the typical Australian being male, the average Australian actually a woman: according to the 2011 census, 50.6% of Australia’s population are female.

Australian humour has a long history that can be traced back to our origins as convict colonies. It is therefore no surprise that a national sense of humour quickly developed that responded to those conditions. This unique sense of humour is recognised (although maybe not always understood) the world over as being distinctly Australian. Our humour is dry, full of extremes, anti-authoritarian, self-mocking and ironic.

Australian culture has vanished and turned into multiculturalism. There is no longer a typical Australian culture, but it has been replaced by a melting pot of diversity. There is no longer a typical Australian food, instead it has imported and embraced cuisines from around the world. There is no longer a typical Australian life instead each immigrant can have their own culture in Australia. There are few national holidays and festivals that are unique to Australia, but rather have come from other cultures. To get a better understanding of this, culture is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as:

Ed Byrne, an Irish stand-up comedian, uses various conscious techniques in order to create humour. When performing, he tends to talk at a fast pace, uses body language and occasionally uses profanity. In this essay, I will compare both comedian and writer, in how Ed Byrne creates humour and if it reflects how Sarah Thorne describes how humour is produced in her chapter titled ‘The Language of Humour’ (Thorne 2008). Ed Byrne predominantly discusses everyday life such as, becoming a father, relationships and ordinary things such as attending the doctor’s. Thorne states, ‘humour is based on every day observations’, comedians make witticisms the audience can relate too, they have an understanding as to where they’re coming from and can identify truth in the exaggerated version of these events Thorne 2008:502).

It is clear that, for a number of reasons, Australia is indeed a lucky country – in fact, one of the most fortunate nations in the world. There are several advantages that our country has been granted with, especially in comparison to other countries across the globe. The multiculturalism of the Australian population must be celebrated, as well as the fact that we are fortunate to have a diverse and beautiful environment, along with ideal weather all-year round. Australians are also extremely privileged to live in a democratic country where our rights are respected.

In reading this weeks selections, I felt all of the stories felt very Australian and that they are varied enough to represent Australian children’s literature. Both the original and aboriginal stories felt Australian because the original stories are folklore

Not surprisingly, Australian humour shows the fingerprints of Convicts who lived their lives by challenging the law, breaking rules and being alternative. Although this humour may get a few people grumbling, it’s still how we Aussie’s find something to laugh at.