Teaching ASL Humor for Culture Understanding

January 19, 2021

Humor is a way that cultures can share their perspectives of the world, allow others a peek into their belief system, and make intimate connections with others. Humor is an important part of every culture. For a language learner, it is imperative to understand the rules of humor and what is funny in order to communicate effectively. ASL humor is no exception.

Humor is only appreciated if it is understood by the listener. In order for humor to be translated, one must have prior knowledge of the culture and language. In American Deaf Culture there are several aspects of humor that students need to understand. Here are a few aspects that I focus on in my lectures. You can read more about humor here.

- Visual – Deaf people rely on sight. Therefore jokes, stories, and humor depend greatly on visual aspects of the language. Hearing students can get lost in the translation of a joke if they aren’t familiar with the language. If you’ve ever needed a joke explained to you because you will know that it just isn’t funny. Visual humor often relies on storytelling and linguistics to get the joke across. Deaf people learn at a very young age how to use events and people around them for humor. They mimic others, create stories and make jokes. The incorporation of their language, body, and expressions create the humor that often only members of the community can understand.

- Play on signs – Often times humor in the Deaf world is passed down from generation to generation through members of the community. Many times these famous stories and jokes use specific signs to create humor. We can see this type of humor used in the King Kong joke. And the ever so famous story Deaf people love to tell about the cop who signs vagina instead of license.

- Deafness – It is important for students to understand that deafness is more than an inability to hear. It is a culture and a connection to a community of people who share the same values. It is a different way of doing things. Another component of humor stems from the inability to hear. Many jokes, humor, stories, and literature focus on the inability of hearing and the experiences Deaf people have in their daily lives. Stories about deaf people trying to vacuum without the cord plugged in, or leaving a kettle of water on the stovetop, are such examples. Another joke is the Signing Cop where the deaf driver doesn’t get a ticket because the cop can’t communicate with sign language.

- Hearing people – The butt of many jokes in the Deaf community is the teasing of hearing people, and more often than not, interpreters. An example of this is the deaf man that throws his interpreter out of the window of a train because he doesn’t sign accurately. The joke is at the expense of the hearing person. And the deaf person comes out on top or in a superior position. Students must understand that it isn’t that deaf people don’t like interpreters or hearing people. Rather, this type of humor supports Deaf people, the culture, and freedom of oppression from the dominant hearing society.

The Takeaway

There are many aspects of humor that take place in the Deaf world. There are numerous examples we can share with students to help them navigate communication and understand humor. Students generally can’t figure humor out on their own so it is important to make it an addition to your curriculum. Give examples of jokes and explain to them as you teach but include a solid unit of study too. I demonstrate little jokes often when they connect with what I am teaching like MILK signed moving past the eyes to create “pasteurized milk” during a food unit. You can use fingerspelling T-O-A-S-T by wiggling circling the thumb, index and middle fingers.