Argentine Humour
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Argentine humour is exemplified by a number of humorous television programmes, film productions, comic strips and other types of media. Everyday humour includes jokes related to recurrent themes, such as xenophobic jokes at the expense of Galicians (
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance peoples, Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of National and regional identity in Spain, national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex Hist ...
) called ''chistes de gallegos'' (where they are commonly portrayed as simpletons), often obscene sex-related jokes (''chistes verdes'', literally "green jokes", a term equivalent to the English-language "blue humour"), jokes about the English, the Americans, blonde women,
dark humour Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
(called ''humor negro''), word and pronunciation games, jokes about Argentines themselves, etc. In early 2018, a report carried out by the consultant D'Alessio IROL that inquired about the humor of Argentines concluded that jokes about physical "defects",
gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
,
sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
, and those that objectify women were no longer considered funny. The advancement of the
feminist movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality b ...
, in particular
Ni una menos Ni una menos (; Spanish for "Not one omanless") is a Latin American fourth-wave grassroots feminist movement, which started in Argentina and has spread across several Latin American countries, that campaigns against gender-based violence. In it ...
, and the rights acquired by the LGBT community have been crucial to this process.


Television shows

There are and have been many humorous Argentine television shows, of many genres and themes. Many artists focus on political humour. Shows include '' Cha Cha Cha'', ''Todo por dos pesos'', ''
Caiga Quien Caiga ''Caiga Quien Caiga'' (''Whoever May Fall''), also known as ''CQC'', is an Argentine television show. Under the format of the production company Cuatro Cabezas, ''CQC'' has also been adapted in Spain, France, Chile, Italy, Brazil, Portugal and b ...
'' commonly referred to as ''CQC'', ''El Show de Videomatch'', etc. Notable television comedians include
Juan Verdaguer Juan Francisco Verdaguer Queirolo (1915–2001) was a Uruguayan actor. He is best known for his role in the 1958 Argentine film '' Rosaura at 10 O'clock''.Goble p.123 Selected filmography * ''Estrellas de Buenos Aires'' (1956) * '' Rosaura at 10 ...
,
Tato Bores Mauricio Borensztein (27 April 1927 – 11 January 1996), known by the stage name ''Tato Bores'', was an Argentine film, theatre and television comedian, who specialized in political humor. His ironic TV monologues, delivered at a fast pace, b ...
,
Alberto Olmedo Alberto Olmedo (24 August 1933 – 5 March 1988) was an Argentine comedian and actor, popularly regarded as one of the most important comedians in the history of his country, for his outstanding work in television, cinema and theater. Olmedo ...
,
Jorge Porcel Jorge Raúl Porcel de Peralta (; 7 September 1936 – 16 May 2006), known as Jorge Porcel, was an Argentine comedy actor and television host. He was nicknamed ''El Gordo de América'' (''America's Fat Guy''). Porcel is considered, along with A ...
, Antonio Gasalla,
Jorge Guinzburg Jorge Ariel Guinzburg (3 February 1949 – 12 March 2008) was an Argentine journalist, theatrical producer, humorist, and TV and radio host. Background Guinzburg was born on 3 February 1949 to a Jewish family in Buenos Aires. He finished the hig ...
,
Alfredo Casero Alfredo Casero (born 12 November 1962) is an Argentine musician, actor and comedian. Casero began studying acting with Norman Briski in 1987. Soon after he started working in the underground humour scene of Buenos Aires. In 1992 he created, a ...
, Juan Carlos Mareco,
Gianni Lunadei Gianni Lunadei (May 1, 1938 – June 17, 1998) was an Italian Argentine actor. He is considered one of the most versatile actors of his generation, and is best known for his work in Argentine comedy. Biography Lunadei was born in Rome in 1938. H ...
,
Guillermo Francella Guillermo Héctor Francella (born February 14, 1955) is an Argentine actor and comedian. Besides a long history of working as a television leading man, he also has a varied theatrical and film career. Francella is widely regarded by experts and c ...
, and most recently,
Diego Capusotto Diego Esteban Capusotto (born 21 September 1961) is an Argentine television presenter, actor, and comedian who is noted for his participation in television shows such as '' Cha Cha Cha'', '' Todo por dos pesos'' and '' Peter Capusotto y sus vide ...
. Many of these and others have also appeared in numerous comedy roles in
Argentine cinema Cinema of Argentina refers to the film industry based in Argentina. The Argentine cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of Argentina or by Argentine filmmakers abroad. The Argentine film industry has histor ...
, notably Olmedo, Porcel, Francella,
Niní Marshall Marina Esther Traveso (June 1, 1903 – March 18, 1996), known by her stage name Niní Marshall, was an Argentine humorist, comic actress and screenwriter; nicknamed ''The Chaplin with a skirt'' and ''The Lady of Humour''. Life and work S ...
,
Luis Sandrini Luis Sandrini (22 February 1905 – 5 July 1980) was a prolific Argentine comic film actor and film producer. Widely considered one of the most respected and most acclaimed Argentine comedians by the public and critics. He has made over 80 appe ...
, and
Javier Portales Javier Portales, born Miguel Ángel Álvarez (21 April 1937 in Tancacha, Córdoba, Argentina – 14 October 2003 in Buenos Aires), was an Argentine actor who worked in television, film and theater. Biography Portales started to work early i ...
. Between the 1960s and the late 1980s, there was an important influence of Uruguayan humorists.
Ricardo Espalter Ricardo Espalter Arrieta ( Montevideo, 14 April 1924 - Maldonado, 20 March 2007) was a Uruguayan actor and comedian. Biography In the 1960s he started a long career on television. Together with a notable group of Uruguayan humorists (Eduardo D' ...
,
Enrique Almada Enrique Milton Almada Cavo (15 July 1934, in Montevideo – 29 April 1990), also known as Quique Almada, was a Uruguayan actor and comedian. In the 1960s he started a long career on television. Together with a notable group of Uruguayan humoris ...
, Raimundo Soto, Eduardo D'Angelo, Julio Frade, Berugo Carámbula, Henny Trayles and Gabriela Acher were active in many television programs, such as Jaujarana, Hupumorpo, Comicolor, Híperhumor.


Comic strips and comic books

Quino's ''Mafalda'' is one of the internationally best-known Argentine comic strips and comic-book series. Its humour is related to local and international politics. Caricaturist Andrés Cascioli edited and created cover art for one of the nation's longest-running satirical publications, Hum®, Humor, which ran from 1978 to 1999, and frequently met with censorship. Maitena is another successful comic-book writer, dealing with women and family values. Roberto Fontanarrosa, Fontanarrosa was another famous Argentine cartoonist, known for his comic strip ''Inodoro Pereyra'' featuring a gaucho. ''See:'' Gaturro, Macanudo (comic), Macanudo, Yo, Matías


Literary humour

Humour can be found in the works of some of Argentina's best-known writers. For example, Jorge Luis Borges was known for his dry, sometimes dark, humour. He begins his story "The Dread Redeemer Lazarus Morrell" by describing Bartolomé de las Casas as having taken pity on the natives suffering and dying in the mines of the Antilles, thereby leading the Spanish government to relieve their suffering by importing African slaves to suffer and die in the mines of the Antilles. His one-paragraph short story "On Accuracy in Science", probably inspired by a remark of Lewis Carroll's, imagines a map drawn at 1:1 scale, so that it covers the entire country that it illustrates. Borges and another of the country's leading writers, Adolfo Bioy Casares, created the pseudonymous H. Bustos Domecq, under whose name they wrote, among other things, comic detective fiction.


Theatre and Stand-up comedy

Numerous comedy theatre actors earned renown among Argentine audiences over the years, including Florencio Parravicini, José Marrone, Pepe Biondi,
Niní Marshall Marina Esther Traveso (June 1, 1903 – March 18, 1996), known by her stage name Niní Marshall, was an Argentine humorist, comic actress and screenwriter; nicknamed ''The Chaplin with a skirt'' and ''The Lady of Humour''. Life and work S ...
, Juan Carlos Altavista, Antonio Gasalla, and others. Well-known Argentine stand-up comics include Enrique Pinti and Luis Landriscina.


Musical comedy

Established in 1967, Les Luthiers is the nation's best-known musical troupe, and are known for inventing many of their instruments. Midachi, a musical comedy trio established in 1983, was also popular both on stage and on television.


References

{{Authority control Argentine humour,