Sometimes, while watching another country’s comedy program, it’s hard to understand the jokes they make and laugh along. Whether it was for studying or looking for a good laugh, from time to time people get to watch other country’s comedy programs. However, even though the laughter comes out from the speakers, people find themselves in an awkward situation where they can’t fully grasp the joke.
  ‘Two Broke Girls’ is a TV series that best describes the types of jokes being made in America. ‘Two Broke Girls’ is a comedy, which is basically about two girls who were broke. One girl, whose name is Caroline, was once a millionaire but went broke because of her father being caught for fraud. Another girl, whose name is Max, has always been at the bottom of society her whole life. The story begins after these two girls meet each other and decide to sell Max’s homemade cupcakes to become rich.
  In this drama, it’s easy to see that the jokes pop up every other minute. One method of jokes is based on satire. The reason why can be easily explained by the political feature that America has, which is Democracy. Using sarcasm to satirize has played an important role in democracy where freedom of speech is strongly valued. In order for people to express their ideas, the media has been one of the fastest and easiest ways for people to express their thoughts to others. Another comedy factor that commonly appears in American sitcoms is sexual jokes. Since America is more open-minded compared to Korea, it definitely shows more intense and straight-forward sexual jokes. Due to this cultural difference, some of the sexual jokes can be uncomfortable for some people to hear.
  As an illustration, the following dialogue best describes when the two main comedy sources are combined together. It happens when Max asked if the customer is ready to order, he said that he was out of town for the summer, so he asked her if there was anything new. Max replied wittily, “Anything new? Let’s see, well... Facebook went public and Edward Snowden went private. Paula Deen is out, gay marriage is in, and a teacher in California’s out for letting her students get it in. Oprah gave Lindsay $2 million, cunnilingus gave Michael Douglas throat cancer, and Michael Douglas gave guys everywhere another excuse not to do that. Egypt went crazy, Amanda Bynes went crazier, and the NSA checks our phones like a crazy ex-girlfriend” Then the guy replied, “I meant on the menu.”
  American jokes are like the saying, ‘You see as much as you know’. Therefore, it might be hard to catch their jokes. However, because of this feature, by watching an American comedy, not only can your English be improved, but background knowledge also can be learned as you watch.

By Heo Jae-rin
jr34@cbnu.ac.kr