View Comments to “SeoulPodcast #26: What’s So Funny?”

1. Robert Says:
   October 27th, 2008 at 11:50 pm

   You mentiomed the 2002 deaths of the two schoolgirls run over by the US tank. Just a few facts. This story was indeed reported in the Korean media when it happened. Koreans were aware and did know that the deaths had taken place. The story was in the news the same day that the girls were horribly killed. But!:

   - the deaths occurred during the 2002 World Cup.

   - the American military, within a few days, launched a campaign among their service men and women, to compensate the families of the victims.

   - the American military were the first ones to have a candlelight vigil in rememberance of the two dead girls.

   - the American military, through donation programs, raised thousands of dollars to pay and compensate the families of the victims.

   All of this occurred during the 2002 World Cup. The American military in Korea were the ones who started candlelit vigils, and raised thousands of dollars to give to the families of the two dead girls.

   It was only weeks latr, after the 2002 World Cup was finished, that Koreans held their first candlelight vigil. They were perfectly aware that the girls had died, but it was only weeks afterwards that they actually cared, and copied what the Americans had begun and started their own candlit protests.

   Ever heard of a candlit protest before 2002? Guess where they got the idea from? The American military in South Korea.

2. Donburi Says:
   October 28th, 2008 at 8:49 am

   “This is an anti-comedy culture.” Joe, you were too diplomatic when the guy made that totally innaccurate generalization of a culture he clearly does not understand or at least does not agree with his own idea of comedy. Has he been to Korea? Watched TV?

   Further, I’d like to see a more detailed (intelligent) argument for Kim Dae-jung’s supposed “bribary” in order to get a Nobel Peace Prize. I attended a lecture by the man who was in charge of Canadian aid to North Korea during the time in queston. He was involved in meetings with DPRK officials and noted greater (though delayed development) in joint North/South projects, opening doors for future opportunities. Without the Sunshin policy North Korea would be even more inaccessible.

   The same lecture preceded a discussion by scholars, diplomats, and NGO officials who have been to and worked in the North about the “morals” in aiding North Korea. All of whom had a better argument than Roger’s.

   The point is that he had a lot of incendiary things to say which were only kind of true and gloss over the real issues not accessible to us unexperienced and uneducated types.

   http://www.nkrg.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27:the-dilemmas-of-humanitarian-and-development-assistance-in-north-korea-foundations-for-a-coherent-aid-strategy&catid=7:past-events&Itemid=16

3. Roger Says:
   October 29th, 2008 at 1:14 am

   Robert, thanks for the information. I was here when all of that happened and I recalled the matter as one where the Korean government downplayed or muted the press in order not to disrupt the World Cup focus. I do believe the Korean media softpedaled the issue in one way or another until World Cup fever subsided.

   Donburi, in my ten years here — and yes, I do live in Korea — I’ve seen very few outlets for comedy. The phrase “anti-comedy culture” is more appropriate than you realize. Comedy clubs in Korea? Not really. Poking fun at the Korean president on national TV? That’s quite a no-no. There are cultural phenomena in this country that inhibit the growth of comedy as a force for challenging presumptions, fallacious reasoning, dogmatic beliefs, and so forth. I mean comedy on the things people care about, not just slapstick. There are plenty of Korean Danny Kayes. You would be hard-pressed to find any Korean George Carlins.

   As for your political comments, the title of the show was “What’s So Funny?” and the guest was this guy who represents no particular political group but instead a group of comedian wanna-be’s. Am I right in thinking you’re into podcasts for…the politics?!? We talked more about poop and celebrity boob jobs than about Kim Dae Jung’s Won-greased Nobel Prize. If you’re coming to this show of all places for policy discussion, you are truly starved for punditry.

4. Chae Says:
   November 1st, 2008 at 4:36 am

   Listening to this week’s podcast, I learned that a discourse on the theory of comedy is far less entertaining than the actual comedy. To be honest, that shouldn’t be a surprise. A lecture on the classic Newtonian physics is a lot less fun than going out and hitting a few baseballs. At any rate, an interesting podcast it was not, at least the first 30 minutes or so.

   As far as Korean being an anti-comedy culture, I would disagree. As a native Korean who has been living in the US for past 25 years, I know that what westerners would recognize as the standard comedy fare does not exist in Korea. Comedy in Korea, besides the obvious slapstick buddy shows, do exist but its influence has been dampened in recent years precisely because of the misguided attempts by entertainment/studio heads to copy the western style. The reason why monologue styles do not exist in Korea, despite Korea’s effort to copy, is that the jokes do not translate well. Slapstick physical comedy, however, knows no linguistic or cultural barrier. A buffonish guy falling down the stairs is comedy gold, period. So there’s definitely a trend for the easy, lazy effort. But that doesn’t make the culture as a whole an “anti-comedy.”

5. Roger Says:
   November 3rd, 2008 at 3:31 am

   Again, don’t get hung up on that phrase “anti-comedy culture.” I refer y’all to my earlier post.

   Having never heard a podcast before in my life, and having not heard Joe’s show in particular, I did not know what to expect. An acquaintance of mine in Pohang, who had also been a guest, told me it was a good show, better than his appearance. I think there’s a lot of unnecessary listening in a three-hour format where people just sorta talk about this and that. I thought I was going to be on for one hour, tops, actually. Shows ya what I knew.

   In regard to Chae’s comments, the topic of comedy technique IS cool, if it’s done in a certain way. Hitting baseballs may actually be more boring than a discussion on the physics involved. The physics involved in hitting a baseball can open up a lot of interesting doors beyond baseball. The same holds true for any theoretical discussion. Depends, good, people, on where you get your thrills — though if it were JUST theory without application to the real world, it would be quite disgusting.

   Check out some CDs from laugh.com from their On Comedy series. A couple of them are cool stuff. If the topic of comedy technique on its own were given much more room to breathe in a podcast, it may open up possibilities for the listener in interesting ways, such as, for example helping people confront their darkest fears and dilemmas in a more constructive, entertaining fashion.

   And, for what it’s worth, I’m listening to a lecture series on CD entitled “Induction in Physics and Philosophy” because it could dramatically change my job as an English teacher, if I understand it correctly. As Ludwig Boltzmann once said, “Nothing is more practical than a good theory”.

6. Hagwon Stand-up Comedy | ZenKimchi Says:
   November 13th, 2008 at 12:43 am

   [...] is a comedian who performs at clubs around Asia. Roger Fusselman mentioned him in a recent SeoulPodcast episode. The first third to half of it on teaching in Korea is [...]

Leave a Reply