DANISH HUMOR and What Foreigners Living in DENMARK Need to Know About it 

We live in Australia, but dad grew up in København. We talked about Lord Nelson who attacked København in 1801. Dad referred to him as that English sea pirate who actually did the Danes a favour. In those days København was so disease ridden and rat infested, that the only way to clean it up, was to burn it down. I am told that this is typical København humour.

Conrad Molden is absolutely brilliant. I’m really impressed how he manages to merge English and Danish culture/humor in his shows. It’s quite unique.

I really like this style of interviewing migrants/expats and natives alike, to get both perspectives.

I am kinda happy that I, as a person with ADHD live in a country where people can deal with my directness and find it funny when I end up basically bashing them with my directness and lack of filter. It often ends up being insider things that I get poked with once in a while.

Danish humor is specific to Denmark in the sense that it often has word play or a little Danglish in it...but it leans closely up against the Scottish/British humor ..as we often laugh at the same self-depracating things The Scandi/Nordic countries have a similar sense of humor, but the Danish version might be the 'darkest' Fun guys..hello from Hundested 🌸

The danish humour actually grew lighter and less sarcastic and ironic over the last 100 years or so. If you go back and read Holberg from 1700 or Gustav Wied from 1900, it goes really dark in the personas. I think the best example of this kind of sarcastic persona based humour in modern danish humor is Mick Øgendahl, who draws from some pretty dark personality traits, and spins them into ridiculousness. Gustav Wied from the 1900 is really dark and sarcastic, mocking every little bit of human nature and the small petty minds of the citizenry. Maybe find the old tv series of Livsens Ondskab, and yes, that is cruelty with a comic twist.

@Conrad Molden 8:14 - what do you mean about "become alcoholics in the evening" - we don't have a problem with alcohol in Denmark - we drink - we get drunk - we fall down - not a problem 😋

The jovial bashing needs to be a two-way street. I love poking fun at people I like, but I hate it when they don't return in kind - it makes me feel like a bully, and that is absolutely not my point. I WANT them to poke back. And this is a very tricky balance with new people - making sure that they understand the intention. I think of it as trying to start a verbal game of catch or something. I throw something for you to catch, and you throw something back for me to catch.

Danish humour are very sarcastic and ironic with great empathy and a big heart!

Self-ironi is the core of Danish humour: Why are the jokes about blondes getting more and more stupid? We've started making them oursleves 🙄

"People dont complain too much.." 🤔 Conrad, how long have you lived here? 😃

In a workplace setting, you only joke once you've shown that you can be proffesional and do you job. It's like an extra treat you get once you've proven yourself.

That part where Mike says when a Dane makes fun of you, that shows they like you, that part are so true, for me to make fun of someone shows i do like that person, if I’ve don’t like you i simply ignore you

After seeing many of your videos its abvious that you have struggled with many issues living here, but you are now also defending the danish way. Thank you for contributing to our society in this positive way. It is your kind of hard working foreignors we like to welcome!

Wow, you've really upped your game in this video, looks really professional, good job!

So HAPPY to see you back!

Here's the thing, though, about Nordic humour: you have to remember that we live quite far up in the north, with long, dark winters, so our humour _has_ to be dry - and sometimes even bitter - purely to preserve it for those long months, until we can harvest some fresh humour during the summer.

Very good, and you obviously put a good deal of work in it, the result was rewarding, thank you.

Delivery is also a big part of the humor. With the tone of your voice and such you can often tell that it's meant as a joke, whereas if you just read it on paper, it could be harder to get. So in that way the humor also requires some social skills

The British comedian is also helped by the fact that Danish and British humor is quite similar.

So, Danish humour is just like British humour. Sharp, dark, dry, ironic, sarcastic and self-deprecating. And plenty of word play.

There's definitely something to be said for not interpreting things in the wrong way. If someone is making an offensive joke, it's almost certain that they don't actually mean it. A lot of times, the absurdity and shock value in what people say is part of what makes something funny - because we as the audience understand that no sane person would say such things and actually mean it. People familiar with the British comedy scene might be able to relate to Jimmy Carr and Sean Lock. Their brand of edgy dark humor is not uncommon to find in Denmark.

Anders Thomas Jensen movies can be an introduction to Danish humor.

If you enjoy the humor that happens when Danish language meets English, Crazy Christmas Cabaret in Tivoli gardens is the place to go.

Totally ❤❤❤this Vlog 👍😎👍

I watched several of your videos before visiting Copenhagen for the first time, last week. The city and people were truly inspiring. I envy the community spirit that the Danes have built. Sadly, I don't have much hope that the British could emulate it. Keep up the great work guys!

I can't really translate it, but I think Piet Hein described an important element in Danish humor in a rhyme (or "gruk" as he called his small rhymes): Den som tager sjov for sjov Og alvor kun alvorligt Han og hun har faktisk fattet Begge dele dårligt

just found you guys while drinking OFC xD as a half DANE half Norwegain. i love your vids man.

Judged by the success various british comedy shows have had in Denmark, it’s fair to asume that british and danish humour are pretty much alike. Monty Pythons Flying Cirkus, Benny Hill, Mr. Bean, Fawlty Towers and the various 70’s comedy scetches like Robin’s Nest, Men behaving badly etc have always been huge in Denmark. But yes, often a very dark humour.

Yes, if people start to tease you, it means they like you and want to know you better.

Thank you, this is really helpful! I just arrived in Denmark for a 3-year contract. I'm really concerned because I have health issues that make me stand out quite a lot (I have to wear a mask at all times, and other inconvenient restrictions) and I'm worried about people's reaction and comments surrounding that. I come from a place where dark humour is not common, and I don't really have thick skin as a result. Your video really helped me understand where they come from and how to interpret it. I'm still a little worried, but at least I know more what to expect.

Yeaaa :D Conrad!

The quartet known as Sons of the desert are a mix of comedy and bedroom talk

Worth noting imho. The sarcasm part is absolutely true.. But sarcasm as word have a negative tone to it, and I dont think the danish sarcasm is evilspirited, its more a matter of bringing everything down to same lvl so to speak, And so true. A dane making fun of you is the best proof that "you made it"

I love this Video. Danish humor is all about roasting people and being sarcastic with reference to yourself. If you insult someone, insult yourself slightly more than the next person. Danes like Political incorrectness but you have to threat carefully here in this day and age. Also you have to understand - Even though Danes are seemingly sarcastic they are in many cases also provocateurs.

8:15 "When they became alcoholics in the evenings, and everything becomes ridiculous jokes." 🤣 A fitting description of Danish social life.

I think what makes me laugh more than the style of humor is hearing a conversation completely in Danish with an English expletive sprinkled in unexpectedly haha

It was a good and clever video. You covered the topic well. As a Dane, I have never encountered serious problems when I use "Danish humor" - people from the western/Christian part of the world have no problems with it. People from more distant and more culturally different regions may well be offended by it though.

I wish you guys could illustrate what you mean by giving some examples of Danish humour being dry, sarcastic, direct, harsh, blunt etc... so it will be easier for us well at least for me to understand or relate to the comments made.

About the Danish use of Irony, there's an entire song written about sarcasm mistaken as irony, it's called "Det kaldes ironi" written by a legendary satire group called Svedbanken, it's a story told from the point of view of a man who's breaking up with his girlfriend, and he's taking all the fights and sarcastic snark as ironic humor, like she's not really angry, she's just really ironic. The chorus is --------------------------------------------------- It's called irony It's the new type of humor Where nothing is serious, irony It's where you say the things you don't mean It's called irony It's a crazy form of humor Where everyone is vulnerable, Irony It could be fashion If you can understand it, Irony --------------------------------------------------- It's like layers upon layers of irony. I guess you could say meta humour, joking about the joke is also pretty popular, like you can say something really fucked up as a joke, and then point out how dark it was as a continuation of the joke, snowballing into endless bants and possible trying to one up eachother with how dark you can make it. Anybody interested in Danish humour should check out the satirical songs and bits written by Gramsespektrum and Svedbanken, of course major downside is that it's all in Danish, but it's so god damn funny. Like the story/bit about Pelle, the first man who had both his legs removed and had them replaced with two wheels and an engine, sadly though it only runs on the urine of Michael Carøe so if anybody sees him tell him to come home, to Pelle.

Weird thing is that my mother is very sarcastic, but when sarcasm is directed at her, it often goes over her head.

Yes danes/danish comedians might use a lot of self-ironi, dry, dark humour, below the belt humour, and also try to push the barrier of what can be joked about(mostly its easier to get away with joking about something serious for example an illness, if you do it from your point of view, what your specific experience/situation has been, instead of just generalising.)

The most popular kind of Danish humor between Danes is probably what is better known to the rest of the world as Roasting

Nice video! But as a graphic designer, remember to use a font that supports æ, ø and å (1:31) 🙂

going to visit Denmark soon, are there some places I should avoid if I go with my rainbow jacket

I love the Danish humor. It is very similar to dutch humor. Just watch, for example, Hans Teeuwen. If you speak about Dark humor.....he is the man.

Please remember that the more personal a Dane gets with the humor, the more the Dane likes you.

The thing about the Danish directness is that it's our natural frame of reference. I expect other people to be as direct as I am until I get some kind of cue that that might not be the case. If someone is saying something to me that I wasn't sure was a joke or not I'm just flat out going to ask "That was a joke, right?". This has the added benefit of "busting" people who have a hidden agenda into realising that perhaps they need to reevaluate their approach. But I also understand that in many other cultures that direct "That was a joke, right?" could be understood as "You better assure me that was a joke.. or else", so they'll have a hard time throwing it if they are unsure of my intentions. The general rule of thumb is: If you're unsure if Danes are taking a stab at you, they aren't. They're trying to get a bit of banter going. Roast them back and they'll laugh. If you do it well they'll even buy the next round of beers! :P

I mean Summer Bird is kinda more accurate than Butter Fly. Like, what they have to do with butter? Trust in the intention is what underlies all good banter. I think I had my Danish sense of humour somewhat tamed/toned down in England, only starting to let it back out now but British sensibilities have made it a somewhat tentative effort. In terms of humour though, I think The Julekalender from '91 is borderline legendary - the mixture of English and Danish language did a great job of playing with words in the same way shows like The Simpsons do - kids and adults will find two different jokes in the same scene.

butterfly is such a good example actually :) butter + fly makes a elegant colourful insect? sommer fugl (summer + bird) makes the same :P neither makes any sense at all but a dane or english person wouldnt really think about either

The Germans also play with words, I live there and loved it

Yearh, the washingbear is quite funny when you translate it directly into english. We also have a couple of excacating mashines that in danish are called: gummiged and gravko. Directly translated into english it will be a rubber goat and a dicking cow..... 🙂

8:15 "When they become alcoholics in the evening" 😂😂😂 Now that's a guy that knows about us Danes. 😄

Danish irony - it's serious business.

Based on my extensive travels and childhood in Singapore...Danes share our humour with the Dutch, Scots and English...in that order. Never gotten in trouble using Danish humor with any of those nationalities. Always a good response! Americans...now that means treading carefully...50/50 chance of causing offence.

I think the point about how Germans know when it is time for humor and when it is time for work was very pointed. We Danes completely lack that gene... sometimes that’s an advantage, sometimes... not so much.

It is a Viking trait. Read the Sagas, they are full of humor that most Americans would never understand. You can find the same humor in Iceland and occasionally in Scotland, Ireland, or Norway. The purpose is to show the absurdity in a situation, to make a serious situation lighter, to show the ridiculous sides of a matter, and so on. Most jokes cannot be translated. A "front" is the folded edges of a coat (and has many other meanings too, of cause). A "for" is the inside lining of a coat. So, during the German occupation, King Christian used to ride his horse daily, alone, in the streets of Copenhagen. It was to give a sense of "we get through this" attitude to his people. One day, a communist jumped in front of him and his horse and screamed "Red Front!". The king opened his coat and said: "Red For"! Another time he was at a horse race. The winner (a lady) rode her horse up towards him to greet him. While doing that, the horse farted loudly. The lady blushed and said: "I am so sorry!". The king replied: "No problem! I thought it was the horse!". It is wrong to call the humor sarcastic. It is meant to show absurdity in a situation by pretending not to understand. And of cause to make the atmosphere lighter. It is close to impossible to live in a country without humor, like the USA. I live much of the year in Tanzania, and much to my surprise, the Tanzanians have the same sense of humor. It makes everything so much easier! We can laugh together. Like when I had been on a long trip on the Savanna and one of my Tanzanian friends said: "You are really brown!". I replied: "But you win!".

You guys say harsh. I say thought-provoking.

It's really funny that Jacob Taarnhøj didn't get a name tag or description

One rabbit hole to fall into is when Danes go full-on "dad jokes"/punny on each other in Danglish... Conrad makes fun of what sounds funny if you translate it, but how do you think an English term like "far ahead" could translate in a mind that thinks in two languages at once? Anyway, it's entirely correct that being able to not take yourself too seriously is one of the cornerstones in Danish humour.

washing bear is the most common name for racoon around the world

There are Danes that are offended by everything. Recently i lost a friendship haveing lasted 10+ years because she didnt like the joke "What does a wife and a handgranade have in common? If you remove the ring you loose half the house"

Yes you can be VERY mean but in a good spirt / friendly way and it can be taken as a good joke. BUT you need to know with who ofc :)

you can have fun in Germany at workplace but of course you need to angle the fun differently than in denmark. if you are funny like in Denmark on a german workplace that is there it goes wrong.

What i don't get is that Simon Talbot is literally the only one who has done standup in english

In Dutch a raccoon is a Washing BEar too.Everything said here is a 1:1 fit with The Netherlands.From the Danes I know we are even more direct though. On the verge of being rude actually. But otherwise even making fun of someone as a sign you are one of us is also exactly the same. I add some more: no hierarchy. Your boss can be made fun at aswell. THe CEO of my company (6000 people) just is called Jan, sits at my table and we chat a way. He has not status. And my professor at the Uni is also called bby his first name and can be made fun off. THat is probably also the same in DK Making fun at the workplace constantly with collegues.....All the time! SO boss had this list during a meeting but tried to do things out of memory. And started to fail. So I said: Mike, I think you better use your list because this is really is not going too well and you know it! " It was said in a sarcastic way. Everyone (he also) laughed. 10 minutes later he was just talking about something else, we were babbling away and he was thinking about what to say. And I said: Mike, you probably should make more lists. II mean: We understand. You are not 100% up their, just acknowledge it, don't be ashamed that your brain or what it is up there works a little different from most people. Just use that list and carry on!" Last week his boss was walking on the stairs with his phone in front of him and no hand at the rail. That is unsafe. So I was standing 5 steps above him moving down. I said: Mr. Jansen! Now you know perfectly well that is extremely unsafe and cannot be tolerated! He (already laughing): I know I know. You are right I won't do it again! And I said: well, sorry, but I will HAVE to report you for this. You are not getting away with such behaviour so easy you know!" He laughed, but also said: you are really riht and I will remember. I never call him Mr this or that, just Henk. And last friday Henk saw ME coming up to the topfloor where we wrok and said "Hej Jay, are you finished eating already?! Damn, Ithought: I am going to eat and chat with Jay!" And I replied: ""As expected, which is why I thought: get the hell out of here! (In Dutch, my reply is way shorter and there for funnier), He was really lauging loud. A perfect example that I like him and he knows I mean nothing. Or another one, last monday. I was came back from 4 weeks holiday and my collegue, who took over (we are projectmanagers) was talking and Henk intervened. "Jay, the next time when you are at a roundabout"....Now the proejct was about electriccables in the ground near a roundabout. So I stopped him: "Hej Henk! Of course you mean to say this: Hi Jay! How are you doing! Did you hae a nice holiday etc!" But he carried on: "So when you are at a roundabout, and a car is coming from your left would you please be so kind to let that car pass instead of throwing your car in front of that one making that person (me!) brake like hell!" Me: "What? When did that happen!" He: "Last week!" Me: "So you were in Portugal, VIlamoura too! What a coincidence isn't it! How was your holiday there and man how did you manage not to get a tan in that part of Europe!" He: "What. You weren't in THe Netherlands??? I swear it was you, you have a white car don't you!" Me: "Something is wrong with you, Henk. Need to see a doctor. It is YOU who has a white Tesla. It is ME having a BLACK Seat." He: "Ehhh....okey.....so it wasn't you I guess.." Me: "First time you ar emaking some sense this morning. But when I am in Portugal, I indeed drive that way otherwise I will never get ON the roundabout. But over here...nope."" Again: is this funny? On paper probably not. In reallife we think these conversations with a lot of sarcasm or poking fun at someone else is what we find funny. And it does not matter if it the manager of the company or a coworker. It does not matter at all.

had a bar mate from england called tom shorts he thougt himself a bit of a player but all i could get was empty underwear tom meaning empty shorts meaning underwear he wassent happy when i atlast told him why i was laughing btw cheers mate btw people named tom would get things like this "so you are named after your fathers wallet"

1:58 In Dutch the same. Racoon = Wasbeer

"When they become alcoholics in the evening..."?? We work hard to make that a 24-hours thing. No one wants to be sober when going to work.

i bør virkelig få nordisk film + det er en streaming tjeneste. også se filmen terkel i knibe så skal i se dansk humor :P

"... In danish it is just butterfly". Yes, because "butter-fly" is just as logical as "summer bird". 😬

My humor is VERY sarcastic and extremely punny. If I am really comfortable with someone, I roast them mercilessly. Nobody is safe! I don't roast them in a mean way, though. It's all in good fun

At its core, there is an expectation that you can recognize a joke as a joke

I joke also with completely new people. For some reason everyone knows when I do it it's all in a good spirit

Butterfly = smørflue 😂

You can enterpret "The Law of Jante" as you choose. There are ten "commandments", and some of them are stupid, others are just right. "You shouldn't believe that you are better than us!" This is like what Jesus said: "What you do for the least among you, you do for me!" As in: "I am Jesus, and I am in solidarity with all those that you may disregard!" As in: Noone is a better human being, because no human can be trusted with the task of defining a good human being, because all humans are - humans! To me this makes perfect sense! But another law of Jante says: "You shouldn't believe that you could teach us anything!" And that is just the recipe for idiocy and fascism. By all means, tell me what you think I don't know or understand, and I - as in I and I - will judge if I can use your words for any good! So, as with all "fine litterature", you must draw your own conclusions" and that suck, because, if you have important stuff to tell us, why can't you just be clear? And if not, why are you here, speeking? But that's a hole and nut there (a whole nuther?!?) can of bean worms...

I'f you are in Denmark and feel really offended about someone said. Don't just take it as a joke.

So summerbird may be funny but a butter-fly (smør-flue) is just wired 😅

Hvem er Jacob Tårnhøj?

I wonder what kind of jokes the viking guys made, on their dragon ships ,when going to a raid...now THATS a funny thought to me....jokes starting with " this viking sets foot in a raidable country...........😉

Ørkenens sønner. Syntes jeg er dk humor. 😂

its like danish : stol på det oversat til engelsk : Chair on that

There's nothing like a dad joke

We can and will say anything. Ask my game mates. If we can joke about the queen and the bible, whats not to joke about?

I most of my jokes, i make fun of me.. because if im not offended who should be. My gaming mates have a book of stupid shit i said. They get upset when i joke about murica tho...

Would it be better if we called it "smørflue"? I don't think so...

Trying to explain humour is not funny. A little anekdote about Storm P. A student went to his house, to ask him, if he could hold a lecture about humour. Storm P. : About humour, I know nothing, I'd rather jump from rundetårn. The student walked to the garden gate, when Storm P. called him back. "Young man, young man come back, I've changed my mind. The student walked all the way back to the house. Storm P.: I've changed my mind, I'd rather jump from the Eifel tower.

This video was 10 minutes long, but there’s a companion tik-tok video called “complete encyclopidia of German humor”...

How is "summer bird" any funnier than "butter fly"? I love you guys, but right here a little self awareness of your own silly language would have been nice 😊

So it's dry,twisted and slightly macob??? Cool.

As a dane I have never found sarcasm and provocative jokes funny due to the high rate of misunderstandings - a lot of danish humor is honestly just intern jokes and roasts - and that does indeed make you feel a bit like an outsider if you aren't part of the group or just don't find that kind of humor funny.

A danish friend welcomed me to his house once by giving me a beer and then burning a quran in the living room.I find danish humor hard to understand really.

Molden has clearly misunderstood something.. 🤔🙄 British and Danish humour are more or less EXACTLY the same.. Dark & Ironic. 😉

I think Americans in general lack a sense of humor. And joking to point out a problem or flaw would be seen here as passive aggressive.

A GE MAM?

A bit sarcastic!!! Are you being ironic?

Sarkastisk er sjældent morsomt og ofte ondt. Ironisk er ofte morsomt og ikke ondt. Gå efter bolden ikke manden.

You just have to stop trying to be funny straight away 😂

more like English humour.

hvis i vil lære dansk så er i inviteret til at bruge tid med mig, åben inv. det her er dansk. har i mod på det ellerer det bare en drøm, jeg hedder jimmy rene kragh