I thought it would be interesting to see which comedies people like which are not in English.
This idea came to me after I had a word with Mark about why we don't have any comedies on the guide broadcast on S4C, because while this is an English-language website English is not the only language spoken in Britain, and there are comedies in Welsh. Examples include the football-based sitcom C'mon Midffild.
What is more, nearly all the comedy we get from abroad comes from the USA, most foreign stand-ups who perform in the UK are either American, Canadian, Irish or Australian, and those stand-ups who come from non-English speaking countries tend to perform in English (e.g. Henning Wehn and Hans Teeuwen).
So, I thought it would be interesting to see how many people what comedies that are not in English. It can be in any other language (French, German, Welsh, etc.), can be of any medium (TV, radio, film, internet, book, etc.) and of any comedy genre (sitcom, sketch, satire, comedy drama, etc.).
My personal favourite is in Japanese. It is an Japanese animation or anime called Gurren Lagann, which is a sort of post-apocalyptic comedy drama. The story itself is described as the tale of one boy's destiny. In reality it is about huge robots and very, very, very big drills.
The humour in it is probably best described as being in a Carry On style. At one point the main female character, Yoko, has her bikini fly off her Barbara Windsor style.
The reason I like this series so much is that is so brilliantly and ridiculously over-the-top. It's full these bombastic quotes like: "Do not believe in yourself! Believe in me that believes in you!"
You could well have a scene in which there is a huge battle, and there is chaos, pain, destruction, panic and death, and all while this is going on, there is a little furry animal seeking refuge from the madness... by hiding in a huge pair of tits. All you need is Sid James laughing at it and it's complete.
