Hispanic Humor by Don L F Nilsen and

Hispanic Humor by Don L. F. Nilsen and Alleen Pace Nilsen 1

Gustavo Arellano GUSTAVO ARELLANO: http: //m. youtube. com/watch? feature=youtu. be&v=Eav 5 x. J 1 cfhk&desktop_uri=%2 F watch%3 Fv%3 DEav 5 x. J 1 cfhk%26 feature%3 Dyoutu. be 2

Mel Blanc as Speedy Gonzales Mel Blanc and the “Tijuana Strings Band”: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=vvr. Pnsgm. Nb. Q 3

Bob Cabo 4

CHEECH AND CHONG Cheech and Chong (Richard Marin and Tommy Chong) have been described as the Bob and Ray of the scruffy drug culture. 5

Cheech and Chong CHEECH AND CHONG: UP IN SMOKE: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=k 2 p. Xx. HW 1 DHs 6

Sandra Cisneros 7

Esperanza Cordero, the Protagonist of The House on Mango Street “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing. ” 8

“At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. ” “But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister’s name—Magdalena— which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza. ” 9

R. Cristi 10

Ted Cruz 11

Bill Dana, a. k. a. Jose Jimenez 12

Bill Dana A BILINGUAL STORY from Laurence Peter and Bill Dana’s The Laughter Prescription “There was un ratoncito, a little mouse, and he was hiding in his hole in the living room. He was very frustrated, because he knew where there was some queso, some cheese. But, he heard the ‘miao’ of el gato, the cat. ” 13

This was no ratoncito estupido, because he knew that gatos eat ratoncitos. So he waited until he heard “Woof, woof, ” and he knew it was el perro, the dog. He knew that perros scare away los gatos, and also that perros don’t eat ratoncitos. So he walked out and saw, no perro, pero el gato! And el gato gulped him up and said: “i. Que bueno ser bilingue!” 14

Rene De Costa: Humor in Borges 15

Miguel De Cervantes: Don Quixote 16

Jaime De. Leon “Tour of Little Village”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+jaime+de+leon&&view=d etail&mid=A 569 EB 0859 E 4 CEC 02 DD 1&rvsmid=6 A 86 DB 1131014 E 020 E 856 A 86 DB 1131014 E 020 E 85&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSR V 17

Gabriel Iglesias: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+gabriel+iglesias&view=d etail&mid=616 E 469 CA 06921 D 11143&FORM=VIRE 18

George Lopez “Spanglish”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+george+lopez&&view=de tail&mid=92 D 188 E 78964 FD 84 E 7 CE&rvsmid=B 4 C D 8 CBC 9 A 31 D 2 A 70612 B 4 CD 8 CBC 9 A 31 D 2 A 70612&fsscr=0&FORM=VDFSR V 19

GEORGE LOPEZ “I liked the original Batman because the Joker was Latino—Cesar Romero—but I thought Batman should have been Mexican because that car was way too nice for a white man to be driving. ” George Lopez: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+george+lopez+funny+mo ments&view=detail&mid=5 A 13 DD 116 CEB 07425 A 005 A 13 DD 116 CEB 07425 A 00&FORM=VIRE 20

Manny Maldonado: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+manny+maldonado&view =detail&mid=D 1 A 3698 CD 445 CA 12023 E&FORM= VIRE 21

Joey Medina “Mexican vs. Irish”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+joey+medina&view=detai l&mid=95 F 3 AF 02 DD 6 CF 24 D 962 C&FORM=VIRE 22

Carlos Mencia CARLOS MENCIA: http: //www. comedycentral. com/shows/mind_of_mencia/index. jhtml 23

Alex Reymundo “Hick-Spanic Trailer”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+alex+reymundo&view=de tail&mid=1 FEBA 0 A 58 B 394 F 64 A 015&FORM=VIR E 24

Alberto Rios 25

Paul Rodriguez “Gotham City Live”: http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+paul+rodriguez&view=de tail&mid=6 F 99 F 822909518 CBA 122&FORM=VIRE 26

JEFF VALDEZ “My brothers’ names are Alfonso, Lorenzo, Ramon…[and me] Jeff. I guess that was right about the time my parents assimilated…right there!” 27

Joey Villagomez “Food is very expensive. ” http: //www. bing. com/videos/search? q=youtube+joey+villagomez&view=d etail&mid=CB 92 F 52138 C 3320 C 85 C 1&FORM=VIR E 28

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BILINGUAL ALLUSIONS In John Nichols’ The Milagro Beanfield War, Horsethief Shorty gives a forest ranger the following warning: “These people wouldn’t confide in you, in that uniform, Carl, if you was Cesar Chavez, Pedro Infante, Cantinflas, and Lee Trevino all rolled into one. ” 30

BILINGUAL EDUCATION • One young bilingual child defined “Bilingual Education” as follows: • “That’s when the teacher says everything twice, but you only understand it once. ” 31

A BILINGUAL KNOCK-KNOCK JOKE • • • Knock knock. Who’s there? Kelly who? Que le importa? (Spanish for “What’s it to you? ” 32

Mexican Stereotypes 33

MAGICAL REALISM • Magical Realism is a blend of exaggeration, fables and cultureal lore that is distinctly Hispanic. • It can be seen in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, and in Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate 34

Rudolfo Anaya and Laura Esquival 35

• Like Water for Chocolate gets its title from a Spanish colloquialism alluding to water that is agitated or ready to boil. • Tita is the youngest of three daughters in a Mexican ranching family. She was born in a kitchen and therefore has a special affinity for food. • So many tears were shed at Tita’s birth that when the tears dried there was enough salt to last the family for many years. 36

• When Tita is forced to bake the wedding cake to celebrate her sister’s marriage to the man that Tita loves, Tita cries so many tears that her sorrow is baked into the wedding cake and all of the guests become ill. 37

Mexican Stereotypes 38

MEXICAN CORRIDOS • Because Mexican “corridos” are about the “corridor” between Mexico and the United States, they are very bicultural. • These Corridos make allusions both to Mexican folk heroes and to American folk heroes, whether they are real (like Jimmy Hoffa), mythological (like Pecos Bill), or superheroes (like Superman). 39

Mexican Stereotypes 40

MEXICAN HUMOR • Mexican humor is expressed in folk genres such as jokes, jests, and anecdotes. It is very bilingual and bicultural. • Mexican proverbs are epiphenal, as in “En boca cerrada, no entran moscas. ” 41

OFFENSIVE ETHNIC HUMOR • Sometimes our sensitivities change. Bill Dana used to have a character named Jose Jimenez who used a Mexican accent to tell hilarious jokes. • But this offended so many people that he had to stop using this persona. • The same is true about the Taco Bell spokesman who spoke with an accent. 42