There's little funny about North Korea's comedy TV show, which has no jokes
56 replies, posted
[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63B4KQ20100412[/url]
[release][B](Reuters) - Stern, serious, socialist North Korea has carved out a spot in TV history for having one of the world's longest running comedy shows, despite it being mostly devoid of jokes for the decades it has been on the air.[/B]
The show now called "It's So Funny" is meant to uplift the morale of troops and extol propaganda about the virtues of serving under "The General" Kim Jong-il. Laughter is optional -- unless the soldiers in the audience are ordered to do so.
The format of the show is usually a conversation between a man and a woman in military uniform, who sometimes sing, dance and try a little slapstick, but mostly avoid telling one-liners.
"Often, it is really hard to find the humor," said a South Korean official who monitors the North's official broadcasts.
"This type of show has been on since almost the beginning of the state's official programing (in the 1970s)," he said.
The latest version that came out in the past week extolled the virtue of beans, while avoiding any flatulence humor.
It opened with the man soldier saying to the woman soldier he feels better and looks more handsome because he has been taking medicine made from beans.
"If we soldiers see beans, we become happy," he said and laughs. "If we farm in the way the General tells us, we will become happy," she said and laughs.
Few of the soldiers in the audience could be heard laughing.
There was one long send-up that did gather a few chuckles. The two talk about how bean-fed North Korean soldiers were able to fight off U.S. imperialist troops during the Korean War.
The women soldier, playing the part of an old woman, said bean-fed troops including her husband had amazing strength on the battle field. "But he died," she said.
The show concludes with the two delivering homilies on Kim Jong-il's military rule.
"He had tried so hard to fill the people's tables," they say in tearful voices.
There is no room for irony in the performance shown on the reclusive state's only channel to a people who have battled chronic food shortages for decades due to the government's bungled agricultural policies.
Kim Yong, who defected from the North and became a TV personality in the South, said the actors on "It's So Funny" have immense talent but they are working with comedy vetted by propaganda experts and government censors.
"The show is delivering the same material over and over again," Kim said.
"They are still talking about beans. The country hasn't changed at all since I defected about 20 years ago."[/release]
Mad props for the first person who can find a video.
Bonus North Korean humor:
[quote][list]
[*]An Englishman, a Frenchman, and a North Korean are having a chat. The Englishman says: "I feel happiest when I'm at home, my wool pants on, sitting in front of the fireplace."
The Frenchman, a ladies' man, says: "You English people are so conventional. I feel happiest when I go to a Mediterranean beach with a beautiful blonde-haired woman, and we do what we've got to do on the way back."
The North Korean man says: "In the middle of the night, the secret police knock on the door, shouting: Kang Sung-Mee, you're under arrest! And I say, Kang Sung-Mee doesn't live here, but right next door! That's when we're happiest!"
[*]Chang Man Yong works on a collective farm in North Korea. He goes fishing, gets lucky, and brings a fish home. Happy about his catch, he tells his wife: "Look what I've got. Shall we eat fried fish today?"
The wife says: "We've got no cooking oil!"
"Shall we stew it, then?"
"We've got no pot!"
"Shall we grill it?"
"We've got no firewood!"
Chang Man Yong gets angry, goes back to the river, and throws the fish back into the water.
The fish, happy to have had such a narrow escape, sticks its head out of the water and cheerfully yells: "Long live General Kim Jong Il!"
[*]Two men are talking on a Pyongyang subway train:
"How are you, comrade?"
"Fine, how are you doing?"
"Comrade, by any chance, do you work for the Central Committee of the Workers' Party?"
"No, I don't."
"Have you worked for the Central Committee before?"
"No, I haven't."
"Then, are any of your family members working for the Central Committee?"
"Nope."
"Then, get away from me! You're standing on my foot!"
[*]Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin are having a summit meeting in Moscow.
During a break, they're bored, and they decide to take a bet to see whose bodyguards are more loyal.
Putin is on the 20th floor and calls on his bodyguard Ivan, opens the window, and says: "Ivan, jump!"
Sobbing, Ivan says: "Mr. President, how can you ask me to do that? I have a wife and child waiting for me at home"
Putin sheds a tear himself, apologises to Ivan, and sends him away.
Next, it's Kim Jong Il's turn. He calls his bodyguard Lee Myung Man and yells: "Lee Myung Man, jump!"
Not hesitating for a split second, Lee Myung Man is just about to jump out the window.
Putin grabs Lee Myung Man to prevent him from jumping and says: "Are you out of your mind? If you jump out this window, you'll die! This is the 20th floor!"
Nevertheless, Lee Myung Man is still struggling, trying to escape Putin's embrace and jump out the window: "Mr. Putin, please let me go! I have a wife and child at home!"
[*]At High School No. 1 in Pyongyang, a girl brags to her teacher about the cat she's got at home: "Our cat has just given birth to seven kittens. All of them just stick close to their mother, they feel really comfortable, and sleep all the time. They're all true communists."
A few days later, the teacher asks the girl: "Are the communist kittens at home growing up nicely?"
The girl says: "Comrade teacher, big trouble! They've all opened their eyes, and they've all renounced communism!"
[*]Chinese, Russian, Japanese, American, and North Korean police officers gather and decide to assess their investigative capacity.
Under the watchful eye of their supervisors, each team gets a mouse, then lets it loose, and the mouse runs up a big mountain.
The winning team is the one that manages to catch and bring back the mouse in the shortest time.
The Chinese police employ human wave tactics, combing every square inch on the mountain in their thousands.
They capture and return the mouse after only one day's search.
The Japanese policemen use a smell detector, and after only half a day, they detect the mouse hole, search it, catch the mouse and bring it back.
The Russian cops send a robot equipped with a heat-seeking device up the mountain.
The robot locates all the mammals on the mountain and after only three hours the Russians capture and bring back the mouse.
The only ones left now are the American and North Korean police officers.
The Americans use a satellite signal device to locate the mouse, and then send in a mechanical gadget that looks like a snake gliding up the mountain.
The gadget gets into the mouse hole, catches the mouse and brings it back after only one hour.
The North Koreans are last.
Although the supervisors are watching, none of them makes a move, there is no brainstorming, and no one comes up with a plan of action, nothing at all.
After only about 10 minutes, a few North Korean police officers show up dragging a dog before the supervisors, saying they've found the mouse.
All the supervisors are puzzled: "What are you doing? It is not a dog you were supposed to catch! Weren't you supposed to catch a mouse?"
Instead of answering, the North Korean cops drag the dog through the dirt and repeatedly kick it in the ribs.
The sobbing dog suddenly starts to talk: "Stop, stop, please stop! Yes, I confess, I'm a mouse! I'm a mouse, please concede that I'm a mouse, or else they're going to kill me!"
[/list][/quote]
Sounds like a fucking terrible show
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mi5BUH_HKo[/media]
Is this it?
^NINJA^
Snippets of the video [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/its-so-funny-north-korean_n_537054.html]here[/url]. (?)
[QUOTE=wootmonster;21677279]^NINJA^
Snippets of the video [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/its-so-funny-north-korean_n_537054.html]here[/url]. (?)[/QUOTE]
:ninja:
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21677188][url]http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63B4KQ20100412[/url]
Mad props for the first person who can find a video.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/14/its-so-funny-north-korean_n_537054.html[/url]
You rang?
[editline]11:38PM[/editline]
Dangit ninja'd while I was reading :ninja:
I love this show.
I imagine that leaking a video from North Korea is tough.
[i]If we enjoy comedy in the way the General tells us, we will become entertained.[/i]
North Korea has to be the most amazingly fucked up place on Earth. It would be completely surreal for someone from the states or the UK to visit.
No raw video on it's own I guess?
And you can't make flatulence jokes on that show. The Great General shows the people the proper bean growing techniques in order to eliminate flatulent side-effects. Duh
[QUOTE=Odellus;21677575]North Korea has to be the most amazingly fucked up place on Earth. It would be completely surreal for someone from the states or the UK to visit.[/QUOTE]
Turkmenistan is a lot weirder.
Wow. I feel so sorry for the people of North Korea. Don't worry, guys! We'll get you out of that shithole once your glorious leader makes his move.
[QUOTE=ASmellyOgre;21677653]Wow. I feel so sorry for the people of North Korea. Don't worry, guys! We'll get you out of that shithole once your glorious leader makes his move.[/QUOTE]
And then a lot of you will die in the process.
They're so brainwashed it isn't [i]funny[/i].
:rimshot:
I heard about this on the radio. He was making jokes about it, the reporter.
"Oh reah, we have Seinfield Jong-Il"
Lol... Sounds incredibly boring.
That little snippet of them acting like they were eating was funny to me.
"If we farm in the way the General tells us, we will become happy"
Sounds more like a brainwashing attempt
It seems like every new thing I learn about North Korea makes them seem more and more backwards.
[QUOTE=Odellus;21677575]North Korea has to be the most amazingly fucked up place on Earth. It would be completely surreal for someone from the states or the UK to visit.[/QUOTE]
My uncle (served in Korea in the late 60s) went to NK a few years ago.
He said it felt like Disneyland - looked like normal life, but it was obviously staged.
And to think if China had never reversed our gains in the war this shit wouldn't be around right now.
Man they're crazy.
[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21677188]"But he died," she said.[/QUOTE]
Morale Boost +1.
I once saw a documentary with North Korea. Shit was fucked up.
[quote]Chinese, Russian, Japanese, American, and North Korean police officers gather and decide to assess their investigative capacity.
Under the watchful eye of their supervisors, each team gets a mouse, then lets it loose, and the mouse runs up a big mountain.
The winning team is the one that manages to catch and bring back the mouse in the shortest time.
The Chinese police employ human wave tactics, combing every square inch on the mountain in their thousands.
They capture and return the mouse after only one day's search.
The Japanese policemen use a smell detector, and after only half a day, they detect the mouse hole, search it, catch the mouse and bring it back.
The Russian cops send a robot equipped with a heat-seeking device up the mountain.
The robot locates all the mammals on the mountain and after only three hours the Russians capture and bring back the mouse.
The only ones left now are the American and North Korean police officers.
The Americans use a satellite signal device to locate the mouse, and then send in a mechanical gadget that looks like a snake gliding up the mountain.
The gadget gets into the mouse hole, catches the mouse and brings it back after only one hour.
The North Koreans are last.
Although the supervisors are watching, none of them makes a move, there is no brainstorming, and no one comes up with a plan of action, nothing at all.
After only about 10 minutes, a few North Korean police officers show up dragging a dog before the supervisors, saying they've found the mouse.
All the supervisors are puzzled: "What are you doing? It is not a dog you were supposed to catch! Weren't you supposed to catch a mouse?"
Instead of answering, the North Korean cops drag the dog through the dirt and repeatedly kick it in the ribs.
The sobbing dog suddenly starts to talk: "Stop, stop, please stop! Yes, I confess, I'm a mouse! I'm a mouse, please concede that I'm a mouse, or else they're going to kill me!"[/quote]
This made my day
Mad props to the Facepunchers with links to the videos.
I like how they don't even have proper microphones. It's a miracle they manage to broadcast something IN FUCKING COLOR.
[QUOTE=Tu154M;21688286]I like how they don't even have proper microphones. It's a miracle they manage to broadcast something IN FUCKING COLOR.[/QUOTE]
It's a miracle that they can broadcast in black and white. back in the 1950's they could only broadcast in black or white.
Poor actors. They'll never reach their full potential :(
[editline]09:11AM[/editline]
[QUOTE=hypno-toad;21688296]It's a miracle that they can broadcast in black and white. back in the 1950's they could only broadcast in black or white.[/QUOTE]
B&W has existed since the 1930s when BBC TV in Ally Pally was set up. That's plenty of time to smuggle equipment over, considering most of the items Kim wants probably don't exist in NK.
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