AEE 2447: Is Your Sense of Humor Offbeat?

Summary

All Ears English Podcast - Episode AEE 2447: Is Your Sense of Humor Offbeat?

Release Date: July 22, 2025

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Introduction: The Role of Humor in Connecting Through English

In Episode 2447 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan, alongside co-host Aubrey Carter, delve into the intriguing topic of how a sense of humor can bridge connections in learning American English. The episode, titled "Is Your Sense of Humor Offbeat?", emphasizes the importance of understanding different comedic expressions and styles to enhance conversational skills and cultural integration.

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Discovering Unique Comedy Scenes

Aubrey Carter shares his recent experiences with "Don't Tell Comedy," a burgeoning underground stand-up scene across the United States. He explains:

"It's sort of like the secret underground standup comedy... they just throw up chairs and have like great comedians."
[02:04]

This unconventional comedy format, often hosted in unexpected venues like clothing stores or gyms, allows comedians to experiment and connect with audiences in more intimate settings. Aubrey and Lindsay have been frequenting these shows, finding them both entertaining and a valuable source of authentic humor.

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Favorite Comedians and Shows

Lindsay McMahon expresses her admiration for comedian Jim Gaffigan, remarking:

"He is hilarious. I recently was listening to him and he was just cracking me up, like laugh out loud funny."
[02:39]

The discussion further touches on their mutual appreciation for the TV show Righteous Gemstones, highlighting its unique humor style:

"It is laugh out loud funny... extremely dirty."
[05:35]

Aubrey Carter adds his perspective on comedic duos, mentioning pairs like Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and Steve Martin and Martin Short, emphasizing how collaborative dynamics can amplify humor.

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Exploring Different Types of Humor

The hosts delve into various comedic styles, providing learners with vocabulary to describe different humor nuances:

1. Laugh Out Loud Funny

   • "I think Jim Gaffigan is laugh out loud funny."
     [04:45]

2. Witty

   • Defined as smart or clever humor.
   • "My friend is so witty. He doesn't seem like he's making a joke, but everyone laughs anyway."
     [06:19]

3. Dry Humor

   • Often understated and requires a moment to grasp.
   • "Some Brits are known for their dry sense of humor."
     [06:51]

4. Offbeat

   • Unconventional and different from typical jokes.
   • "I like offbeat comedians, but my family likes pretty basic humor."
     [11:35]

5. Blue Humor

   • Inappropriate or sexual jokes.
   • "He was a little blue. I don't really like that humor."
     [13:39]

Aubrey notes the subtlety of terms like "blue humor," pondering its regional slang implications:

"I wonder if this is sort of a, like a trendy slang on the east coast that hasn't reached the west coast yet."
[13:18]

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Role-Playing to Reinforce Vocabulary

To illustrate the practical use of these comedic adjectives, Lindsay and Aubrey engage in a role-play scenario where they discuss a comedy show they attended. This segment showcases how to seamlessly integrate new vocabulary into everyday conversations.

Sample Dialogue:

• Lindsay: "Wow, that was so funny. I loved the opener."
• Aubrey: "He was a little blue. I don't really like that humor."
• Lindsay: "Yeah, he was offbeat, but his delivery was excellent."
• Aubrey: "I thought the second guy was laugh out loud funny."
• Lindsay: "Yeah, I loved him. He had such a witty way of telling jokes."
• Aubrey: "Yes, a lot of dry humor."

This interactive segment not only reinforces vocabulary but also demonstrates real-life application, enhancing listeners' ability to discuss humor effectively in English.

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Connecting Through Shared Humor

The episode concludes by emphasizing how shared humor fosters deeper connections. Lindsay reflects on past episodes, like "Find Your Happy Place," to highlight how laughter serves as a universal bonding agent:

"When you can connect with someone over a laughter, I think it really bonds you very quickly to that person."
[15:35]

Similarly, Aubrey underscores that even divergent comedic tastes can find common ground through specific types of humor, reinforcing the idea that understanding and appreciating varying humor styles can enhance interpersonal relationships and language proficiency.

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Key Takeaways and Linguistic Insights

• Understanding Humor Types: Familiarity with terms like "witty," "dry humor," "offbeat," and "blue humor" enriches conversational vocabulary and aids in expressing nuanced sentiments.

• Cultural Nuances: Recognizing regional variations in humor (e.g., British dry humor vs. American slapstick) is crucial for effective communication and cultural assimilation.

• Practical Application: Engaging in conversations about comedy, as demonstrated in the role-play segment, helps solidify language skills and fosters meaningful connections.

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Conclusion: Embracing Humor for Language Fluency

In "Is Your Sense of Humor Offbeat?", All Ears English Podcast adeptly illustrates how humor transcends language barriers, serving as a potent tool for connection and fluency. By exploring various comedic styles and providing practical language applications, the hosts empower English learners to engage more naturally and confidently in conversations about humor. Embracing these insights not only enhances linguistic abilities but also enriches cultural understanding and personal relationships.

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Thank you for tuning into All Ears English. Remember, connection not perfection is the key to mastering American English!

Transcript

[Aubrey Carter]

This is an Allers English podcast. Episode 2447. Is your sense of humor offbeat?

[Michelle Kaplan]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American host, Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl and Aubrey Carter, the Ielts wiz coming to you from Arizona and New York City, usa. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the Allears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com app.

[Lindsay]

One of the best ways to connect in English is over a shared 7 sense of humor. Today learn phrases to describe comedy so you can start a conversation about this today.

[Aubrey Carter]

Are you feeling stuck at your English level? Are you sure what your real English level is? If you take our free quiz, we'll tell you what level you're stuck at and how to reach your next English Milestone. Go to allersenglish.com fluency score. Now that's fluency score. One word. Allersenglish.com fluency score.

[Lindsay]

Hey Aubrey, how are you?

[Aubrey Carter]

Hi Michelle. I am great. How are you?

[Lindsay]

I'm good. Thanks guys. Lindsay will be back next week, but Aubrey and I are excited to record together today. So Aubry, what is the funniest thing you've seen or you've heard recently at a comedian? Maybe a funny story?

[Aubrey Carter]

Oh, we discovered something called don't tell comedy. It's all over the United States now. I guess you can find it in most cities where it's sort of like the secret underground standup comedy and you never know where it's going to be. It's in just like random venues that might be in a clothing store or a gym and they just throw up chairs and have like great comedians. So it's fun that it's kind of underground and the comedians are always really great. So we have been going to these don't tell comedy shows, especially pretty fun.

[Lindsay]

Cool. That's awesome. So yeah, I one comedian that I really love is Jim Gaffigan.

[Aubrey Carter]

So funny.

[Lindsay]

He is hilarious. I recently was listening to him and he was just cracking me up, like laugh out loud funny. So today we are going to talk about how to describe things that are funny. So this is going to be a fun, light hearted episode. We've talked about how I always say I feel funny with. That's kind of my catchphrase. Apparently, Aubry, I would say I feel funny instead of I feel strange. Right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. That's funny because it's interesting. That doesn't have anything to do with actually being like laughing funny. That's more like I feel strange. I feel weird about this.

[Lindsay]

Right, Right. So we've kind of touched on this topic a little bit before in the past, but a while ago, and we want to revisit it today because it's such a huge connection topic. So we want to make sure that we're giving this all the attention that it deserves. So. So, for example, as far as connection goes, I have some new neighbors and we recently discovered that a whole group of us are Seinfeld fans. We think Seinfeld is so funny and this connected us already because then we were saying references from the show and making jokes. So this is just huge. Because people love to laugh, right, Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes, absolutely. This happened to me recently. We discovered that some friends of ours are also big fans of the show Arrested Development. I don't know if you watched that, Michelle, but we were all quoting it and laughing about.

[Lindsay]

Right.

[Aubrey Carter]

Episodes. When you find you have this in common, it is such a huge way to connect.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. So this is gonna be really huge for connection here today. So we're gonna talk about how you can talk about a show or a stand up comedian. So we're going to talk about different vocabulary. You can. We can use all dealing with humor. So the first one is I actually said this. I was talking about Jim Gaffigan laugh out loud funny or just la out loud. Right. So you could say I was laughing out loud. But you can describe someone or something as being laugh out loud funny. So I could say I think Jim Gaffigan is laugh out loud funny.

[Aubrey Carter]

I used this recently. I was describing there's a show on HBO called Righteous Gemstones. Wait, you watch that load? I love it. So.

[Lindsay]

Oh my God, we have to talk. Okay, I'll talk to you later about.

[Aubrey Carter]

See, this is going to be that connection moment for us.

[Lindsay]

I haven't met anybody else who watches it and we need to see.

[Aubrey Carter]

I'm obsessed and I laugh out loud so often that I miss a lot of lines. So I have to watch this the episodes twice because I was laughing over so many of the lines.

[Lindsay]

I'm so excited. Yeah, guys, when you find something funny, when you find something you really enjoy, there's. It's so exciting to talk to somebody about it.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes. Right. This is such a. So now Michelle and I are going to, of course, connect about. Yes.

[Lindsay]

I'm gonna have to call you and.

[Aubrey Carter]

The writing and the characters. Right. Because we have this in common that we both. Yes.

[Lindsay]

Oh, my God.

[Aubrey Carter]

It is laugh out loud funny.

[Lindsay]

It is definitely laugh out loud funny. Also extremely dirty.

[Aubrey Carter]

So it is very inappropriate. Not for children and maybe not for, you know, other sensibilities. Right. I. I don't mind. I don't mind some inappropriate television.

[Lindsay]

Oh, my. Okay. I'm so excited. Anyway, so there we go. We already connected. Another word is witty, right? That you can describe someone or something as witty. Witty is kind of like smart, almost like clever, right?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes, exactly. This is the highest compliment for someone to call me witty, because I do. You know, I'll have some like, funny little one liners or like, make little jokes. And if someone's like, you're really witty, I'm like, thank you.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. So you could say, my friend is so witty. He doesn't seem like he's making a joke, but everyone laughs anyway.

[Aubrey Carter]

So it's not like dad jokes. They're not puns. Right. It's worse like a. Like something clever if you're witty. Yeah, I love. And. And when we also use the noun wit. Someone has wit. Right. A dry wit is often those. Or dry humor. That's our next phrase here. There are a lot of television shows that are very dry humor. Especially British television is known to have dry humor.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. So you could say something like some Brits are known for their dry sense of humor. I mean, this makes me think of people like Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, you know, where they just.

[Aubrey Carter]

It's not Ricky Gervais.

[Lindsay]

Oh, it's very dry. Oh, I love Ricky Gervais. He's hilarious.

[Aubrey Carter]

So funny. But it is pretty dry. Right. Sometimes it takes you a second to get it. It's not the kind of jokes that you would, like, tell to a kid or often it's like, it's not very obvious. Right.

[Lindsay]

It's kind of also, I think of shows like the Office where you know, they just. It's. It's a lot of the timing. It's like the awkward timing. And so it's very dry. Not for everybody. Dry humor. Some people love it. Some people are like, I don't know, they're not really into it.

[Aubrey Carter]

I think Arrested Development is a, like, poster child of dry humor. Right. A lot of you, you're not going to laugh out loud, but you might chuckle. There's going to be like some clever lines that'll make you chuckle.

[Lindsay]

Right. Right. Aubrey, who is the funniest person you know?

[Aubrey Carter]

I think my neighbor. I have a neighbor who his parents Are from Mexico, but he was born and raised in the states in a border town and he says is just so funny. A lot of dry humor, a lot of inappropriate humor, to be honest. But I am guaranteed to just be laughing whenever I'm hanging out with him. What about you? Who's the funniest person? You know me, right?

[Lindsay]

Yes, you. It's you.

[Aubrey Carter]

Thank you.

[Lindsay]

You're welcome. Who is the funniest person I know? I should have thought of that when I asked you the question.

[Aubrey Carter]

I, it's hard to think because you probably know a lot of people that are funny and that's not something we compare very often. Right. We're like all of these people I know are funny. Who's the funniest? I haven't thought about that.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, well, you know, there are sometimes there's funny combos of people. So like my husband and his friend, they're really funny together. So I, I, I would say they're, they're pretty funny. Just one. But I, I can't think of like the funniest person I know.

[Aubrey Carter]

Right. This, that's a good point. That a lot of combos are funny both on like TV and movies. Sometimes coup more funny as a combo. Right. Or like buddy comedy movies like Will Ferrell and Colin. It's Will Ferrell and Colin Farrell. No, no. Mark Wahlberg. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are such a funny comedy pair in a lot of movies that they've been in. Daddy's Home. Those are so funny. And they're. Yeah, they're funny by themselves, but as a pair.

[Lindsay]

Steve Martin and Martin Short.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah.

[Lindsay]

There are all these comedy teams. Right.

[Aubrey Carter]

So and it's the same thing in real life. Right. A couple or two friends might be especially funny because they sort of build off of each other, play off of each other and what they say.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michelle Kaplan]

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[Lindsay]

Okay, Aubry, what is the next word that deals with comedy?

[Aubrey Carter]

Okay. Offbeat. This is a really interesting adjective to describe a type of comedy. It sort of means, like, unexpected, a little bit different than the average joke you might hear.

[Lindsay]

So you could say something like, I like offbeat comedians, but my family likes pretty basic humor, so we don't agree on comedy too much.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, that's always interesting. If you like dry humor or offbeat humor, and then most of the people, you know, like, just, you know, slapstick is another type of comedy, these kind of more obvious jokes, dad jokes, puns, then you might not be able to really connect about the types of comedians or the types of TV shows you find funny.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, but. And like, we were talking about the righteous gemstones this show. Like, we could use the word blue. Aubry, you ever hear that word to talk about?

[Aubrey Carter]

No, I haven't used. Blue means like inappropriate humor.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, that's like dirty or inappropriate.

[Aubrey Carter]

Interesting.

[Lindsay]

Could be sexual jokes, things like that. So, okay, he.

[Aubrey Carter]

I like blue humor then. I've never heard it called that. But I like inappropriate humor. It makes me laugh. I mean, it's interesting because there's always a line we say. There's like a line that you cross, and before the line, it's just funny. And then sometimes there's a line I'm like, oh, they went too far.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, that happens a lot. And that's the comedian's job. Right. But, you know, this could get into. We could do a whole other episode on, you know, cancel culture and how then sometimes comedians can get into trouble because, of course, the line. Yeah. Where they cross the line and they don't know really where the line is, and they're maybe, you know, so it's interesting. But yeah, for example, you could say he was funny at first, but then his jokes got a little too blue for my taste.

[Aubrey Carter]

I wonder if this is sort of a, like a trendy slang on the east coast that hasn't reached the west coast yet. I feel like that happens sometimes. So I'm curious now if I'm going to start hearing comedy referred to as blue.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, maybe. So I think that we are going to go into our role play now to show how this could fit together. Are you ready, Aubry?

[Aubrey Carter]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Lindsay]

Okay. So here we just went to a stand up show and we are talking about it. Okay. Wow, that was so funny. I loved the opener.

[Aubrey Carter]

He was a little blue. I don't really like that humor.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, he was offbeat, but his delivery was excellent.

[Aubrey Carter]

I thought the second guy was laugh out loud funny.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, I loved him. He had such a witty way of telling jokes.

[Aubrey Carter]

Yes, a lot of dry humor.

[Lindsay]

Definitely.

[Aubrey Carter]

Okay. So fun. Yeah. So we used a lot of this good vocab here, the one I wasn't familiar with. I said he was a little blue, which would mean a little inappropriate. And this will happen. I'll happen. A lot of people don't like the humor that others would call, you know, that you might be called inappropriate. Whereas others, that's what they think is really funny.

[Lindsay]

Right, Right, exactly. So let's go through this. So I said it was really funny.

[Aubrey Carter]

And you said he was a little blue but inappropriate. And then you said, yeah, he was offbeat but his delivery was excellent. So you're saying like, yeah, it's different than the average comedian for sure. But like you loved it. The delivery is often that's like how the jokes are told sometimes the physical.

[Lindsay]

Comic timing, timing, facial expressions. Yeah. And then you said, I thought the second guy was laugh out loud funny. So just how it sounds. Who made you laugh?

[Aubrey Carter]

Another similar expression, side splitting. If you heard this, that is side splitting, which is the same as laugh out loud funny. That means you're actually laughing.

[Lindsay]

Yes, exactly.

[Aubrey Carter]

And then I said, or you said, he had such a witty way of telling jokes. Right. So he had smart, he was very clever.

[Lindsay]

Yeah. And then you said, yes, a lot of dry humor. Right. So not that slapstick obvious stuff, but just kind of quieter, toned down, but very funny. Right.

[Aubrey Carter]

Sometimes you have to think about it a little bit and then, oh, I get it. There's the double meaning there. Some double entendre. Yes.

[Lindsay]

So guys, this is again huge for connection. I cannot stress this enough because I think laughter is such, is such a wonderful thing and people just love to laugh. And so when you can connect with someone over a laughter, I think it really bonds you very quickly to that person. So when I'm watching a fun something funny, I would say it's kind of my happy place. Which reminds me, guys, check out All Ears English. This episode we did was called find your happy place in this episode and we talked all about the expression happy place. So go and listen to that.

[Aubrey Carter]

Nice. It's similar for me. That's my happy place. I love comedies. But even if you have friends that they don't listen to comedy podcasts or that's not the TV shows they usually go in for, they still have a, a, a type of humor. Right. There will be certain jokes or certain types of humor that they enjoy. So today we're sharing phrases for all of these different types of humor. Yeah, this you can connect with someone even if you have sort of different tastes when it comes to humor.

[Lindsay]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So yeah, very good point, Aubry. And yeah, we're thank you guys for listening to this episode. Give these a try and yeah, let us know who you think is funny. So we will talk to you guys on the next episode.

[Aubrey Carter]

Awesome. See you next time.

[Lindsay]

All right, bye.

[Michelle Kaplan]

Thanks for listening to all ears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluency score. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.

[Unknown]

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