5 ms·
I wish some soviet era standup comedian material was translatable to English. The jokes were layered in the way that made them funny, even to people who only gr
by AzzieElbab 6y ago
I wish some soviet era standup comedian material was translatable to English. The jokes were layered in the way that made them funny, even to people who only grasped the surface layer.
- avmich 6y agoI'm not sure if cultural background is required. "Yesterday those lobsters were so big, really big, but sold for 5 roubles each. But today they are so small, pretty small, but sell for only 3 roubles. Should I have bought yesterday? Should I buy today? I have a frog..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkL54oQgf6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkL54oQgf6I One of the really good humoral references to Soviet cliches is "Lord of the Rings", translated by Goblin (e.g. here - https://oper.ru/trans/view.php?t=1039986472 https://oper.ru/trans/view.php?t=1039986472 ). Imagine Tolkien's heroes played by a sort of lumpen, with snippets of classical Soviet tunes, including patriotic ones, quotes from blockbuster Soviet movies, political jokes etc. - same video, but very different sound. It's a treasure trove of references, but pretty hard to appreciate to someone not familiar with culture. Every significant nation has their own stories of old which everybody knows, which helps people get together. And it's hard to enjoy to outsiders.