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英国华裔小哥讲个段子,就荣获了最佳笑话奖,英式冷幽默是有多冷?

2017-08-23 王铭洁 中国日报双语新闻


一年一度的爱丁堡艺穗节(Edinburgh Festival Fringe)有一个特殊的奖项,那就是最佳笑话奖(Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe)。


这个奖通过大众投票产生,而今年一个华裔小哥的段子在15个参赛段子中拿到了33%的选票,一举拔得头筹。


来听这个小哥的段子……


https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=d1323fh8na8&width=500&height=375&auto=0


是的,非常简单,就一句话:


I'm not a fan of the new pound coin, but then again, I hate all change.

我不喜欢新款一英镑硬币,不过我本来也讨厌所有零钱(改变)。


:英国在今年3月开始全面发行新款一英镑硬币,由原来的圆形变为了十二边形。

 


Get到笑点了吗?


其实就是change这个词一语双关,可以指硬币类的零钱,照应了前面的一镑硬币,也指的是所有的改变(新硬币的推出本身就是一种改变)。


你笑了吗?反正我没笑。



不过近几年,英国发生了太多的变故。脱欧、提前大选、恐袭、新硬币纸币发行、大本钟静音……也许正是因为这些changes让大多英国人感同身受,引起了共鸣吧。



讲到这里就不能不提一下这位讲笑话的小哥。根据小哥向中国日报驻英国记者提供的信息:

 

The winner is called Ken Cheng, his mother is from Beijing and his dad has Hong Kong roots. Ken was born and raised up in the UK.

他名叫Ken Cheng,母亲是北京人,父亲是香港籍,Ken从小在英国长大,是很典型的BBC(British born Chinese)。



Ken studied mathematics at Cambridge University since 2007 but soon dropped out to become a professional poker player.

2007年,Ken被剑桥大学数学系录取,但没过多久就直接辍学改行做起了专业扑克玩家。


He started comedy about six years ago. It was just a hobby at first and he didn't see it as a possible career until a couple of years ago. Ken reached the final of the 2015 BBC Radio New Comedy and his show ‘Two birds with one stone’ made a big success among the audience.

大概6年前,Ken开始接触喜剧笑话。最初只是兴趣爱好,他从未想过将其发展成职业。2015年,Ken成功入围了英国广播电台(BBC)举办的新喜剧比赛的决赛,凭借演出《一石二鸟》俘获了大批英国观众。



今年是Ken首次参加爱丁堡艺穗节(Edinburgh Festival Fringe),也是Ken首次在世界级的艺术节上崭露头角。


He was surprised the joke won the award because it had been a “groaner”. 

让Ken没有想到的是,当初对新一英镑硬币发行后的一点吐槽就让他能获得如此大的荣誉。


他说:


“It was when they announced they were going to come up with a new coin, so I first came up with it in 2014.”

这个想法最初是2014年有的,当时正宣布说要设计新的硬币式样。


“Audiences tend to groan at it a lot. I’m generally going after laughs, but I’ll take the groan.”

观众对新一英镑硬币颇多吐槽抱怨,我只是力求搞笑,但是也会采纳那些吐槽。



这次荣获最佳笑话的头衔,Ken也非常开心:


“As a tribute, I will name my firstborn son after this award and call him ‘Joke of the Fringe’.”

我决定这次获奖之后,给我第一个儿子就取名为“艺穗节最佳笑话”,作为纪念。


获奖之后小哥迅速成了网红,他的照片瞬间占领了BBC、《卫报》、《镜报》等主流英国媒体的主页。


BBC:一镑硬币的笑话荣获了爱丁堡艺穗节最佳笑话奖

 

《卫报》:Ken Cheng的一镑硬币段子被选为爱丁堡艺穗节最好笑笑话


《镜报》:爱丁堡艺穗节观众评选的15个最好笑笑话出炉


对于迅速走红,小哥表示很欣慰,顺便给自己的节目做了一波宣传。


“It’s been good for exposure, and I hope people come to see my show because of it, even though the joke doesn't represent the show very well and it’s just one joke, but I’m very proud of the show, it's something different and I’m glad I’m getting that exposure because of it.”

有媒体曝光很好,我也希望人们因此都来观看我的表演,即使这个笑话不能很好地代表我的表演,而且这仅仅只是一个笑话,但我对自己的表演非常自豪,它很特别,我也很开心能因此带来更多的知名度。


我们来看一段小哥制作的节目,视频中,他盘点了10句最蠢的英语俗语,挨个狠狠吐槽了一番。语不惊人死不休。


https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=a0541dfkxra&width=500&height=375&auto=0

话说回来,小哥获奖的这句段子一出,国内网友纷纷表示被冷到了:

 



如果排名第一的笑话太冷,那再来感受一下其他参赛作品的温度如何(按得票顺序排列):



Trump’s nothing like Hitler. There’s no way he could write a book.

特朗普和希特勒一点都不像,他可不像希特勒那样有文化能写出一本书来。




I’ve given up asking rhetorical questions. What's the point?

我以后再也不说反问句了。有意思吗?


注:“有意思吗”本身就是反问句。



I’m looking for the girl-next-door type. I’m just gonna keep moving house till I find her.

我喜欢邻家女孩那样的姑娘,所以为了能找到这样一个姑娘,我到处搬家换邻居。



I like to imagine the guy who invented the umbrella was going to call it the ‘brella’. But he hesitated.

我觉得一开始发明雨伞(umbrella)的人本来是想叫它伞(brella)的,但他犹豫了一下。


注:犹豫时会英国人一般会说ummm(恩……)来表示思考中。





Combine Harvesters. And you’ll have a really big restaurant.

把所有的收割机集合起来。这样我们就会拥有一间很大的餐厅。


注:英国有一家连锁餐厅就叫Harvesters。




I’m rubbish with names. It’s not my fault, it’s a condition. There’s a name for it…

我记不住名字。这也不是我的问题,而是一种毛病,这毛病叫什么来着.....




I have two boys, five and six. We’re no good at naming things in our house.

我家有两个男孩,分别是五岁和六岁,哎,我们家真的是不擅长起名字。



I wasn’t particularly close to my dad before he died… which was lucky, because he trod on a landmine.

在我父亲去世前,我并没有和他很亲近。不过这也是好事,毕竟他是踩到地雷才……


注:close英文有亲近和距离近的意思。



Whenever someone says ‘I don’t believe in coincidences’, I say ‘Oh my God, me neither!’

每当有人说“我不相信巧合”,我立马会说“太巧了!我也是!”



其实很多英国人一样不买账,于是评论区开始了英国网友们讲笑话大会:

 

I gave up trying to describe 24 hours. So I called it a day.

我懒得形容24小时了,于是直接说一天。


An Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman go into a bar. The landlord says: "Is this a joke?"

一个英格兰人、一个爱尔兰人、一个苏格兰人一起进了家酒吧,吧主说:“开玩笑吧?”


Best joke of the week was: "Insomnia is terrible. B 47 33036 47 15536 0 0 3677 0 0:00:08 0:00:04 0:00:04 3678ut there are positives too. Think about... just three sleeps till Christmas."

这周最好的笑话是:失眠很痛苦,但也有好处呀,想下再睡三觉就直接到圣诞节了!

 

Police announced they're looking for 2 men who robbed the local pizza shop, a large Hawaiian and a small Mexican.

警方说他们在追捕两个抢劫了当地披萨店的男人,一个是很大只的夏威夷人,另一个是比较小巧的墨西哥人(注:夏威夷和墨西哥本来也是披萨的种类)。

 

A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can. Three years later there's a knock on the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says: "What the hell was that all about?"

小明在家听到了敲门声,他打开门看见门口一只蜗牛,他把蜗牛捡起来扔了老远。3年之后又有敲门声,小明打开门,还是那只蜗牛,蜗牛说:“为什么这么对我!”


其实英式幽默贯穿于众多的英剧中,大名鼎鼎的憨豆先生(Mr Bean)便是英式幽默最好的例子:

 

-咖啡?

-好的

-要糖吗?

-不要

-你中文说的很好嘛

-阿里嘎多!

(原文为法语西语)


当然除了憨豆,英国人更喜欢的本土喜剧还有:


《是,大臣》(Yes Minister)。


 英国的外交目标500年来没有变过:就是制造一个分裂的欧洲。


《IT狂人》(The IT Crowd)。


-着火了!灭火器在哪儿?

(灭火器熊熊燃烧中)

-怎么会这样?!

-英国制造……(所以质量这么差)


《布莱克书店》(Black Books)。


-你觉得我该洗洗胡子吗?

-我觉得你是该洗一洗,然后刮掉,贴在飞盘上,再把它扔向彩虹。


英国人的冷幽默俨然已是民族精神的一种了。如果你喜欢看英剧,多少都能感受到他们对冷笑话的热爱。


但英式幽默有什么特点呢?又应该怎样理解呢?以下是一个指南:


❶ Laugh at yourself 自嘲


The key to understanding British humour is to know not to take yourself too seriously and to highlight your own flaws as much as possible. English people love to make jokes out of their own failures so as to show a more humble, approachable personality.

理解英式幽默关键要学会自嘲并且极大地放大个人的缺陷。英国人喜欢拿自己的失败来开玩笑,以此来展现出自己的谦虚和可亲。


例如:


I am so bad at cooking –I could burn water.

我做饭特别糟糕,都能把水烧焦了。



 Sarcasm and irony 讽刺讽喻


Self-deprecation with a dose of understated sarcasm equals the soul of British humour. But sarcasm and irony are often produced with a deadpan delivery that will leave people wondering if it was a joke or not.

损自己再加上一点讽刺就是英式幽默的精髓了,但是很多时候这种讽刺讲出来时,讲话人都是一张面无表情的脸,让人很难分辨他是开玩笑还是认真的。

 


例如:


I absolutely love it when my train is delayed.

火车又晚点了,好开心啊。


 Don’t take what they say seriously 别当真


British people are famous for being gentle and polite, but they do sometimes offend you with some tongue-in-cheek comments. Don’t get them wrong. These are not mean-spirited statements but rather a playful exchange of verbal sparring delivered with a smiling face and no apology.

英国人以绅士礼貌而著称,但他们有时也会用一些“虚情假意”的话来“攻击”你,不要当真,他们其实并没有恶意,只不过是笑着说出一些开玩笑的俏皮话,说完也不道歉而已。



例如:


I can’t be friends with someone who doesn’t drink tea!

我是不会和不喝茶的人做朋友的!


所以下次,当一个英国人一本正经地跟你开玩笑的时候,为了避免尴尬,还是象征性的多笑几声吧!

 


编辑:左卓






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