The best humour about Danes and Denmark
Humour about Danes and Denmark is a very niche subject as there are only 6 million Danes and only so many people can know how accurate any teasing or satire might be, and only a non Dane can see Denmark from the outside to make the observations. Plus the need to understand Danish or at least have a strong connection to Denmark. Here are three of the best in my opinion.
Laura Ramoso
Laura Ramoso is a Toronto based, half German, half Italian comedian with a huge social media following. Her character of ‘German mother’ is genius, as is pretty much all her work. Well worth a comedy deep dive into her videos.
However her ‘That one girl who just got back from Copenhagen’ – part of a series of ‘That one girl that got back from…’ is one of the best bits of comedy I have seen on Denmark, and it is crammed into a 55 second video. Less is more, indeed.
What you need to know if you don’t know Danish, is her pronunciation when she drops in Danish words (the ones she chooses to pronounce properly), and the choice and exaggeration in those words, is absolutely spot on accuracy, and incredibly funny. Not to mention the quite brilliant Airbnb gag, the tiny detail of flag waving – just come through arrivals at Copenhagen Airport to get that one – and umpteen other great gags. I would love to know, has she lived in Denmark, does she have Danish friends, or did she manage to pick this up in a weekend? (there is an update on that at the end)
Laura on Instagram
Laura on Facebook
Ari Eldjárn
Ari Eldjárn is an Icelandic comedian, who performs in English, and has lived in Denmark. His Netflix special ‘Pardon my Icelandic’ is an excellent comedy special, and includes a number of references to Danes that are incredibly accurate, and very funny. See on Netflix here (may depend on region)
The video below is a teaser for the show, but doesn’t reference Denmark in this bit. I thoroughly recommend the whole special. There are a couple of things he mentions about Danes during the show I have also experienced, and was delighted to learn ‘it wasn’t just me’. Probably more accurate and insightful than any documentary on Denmark I have seen, and very entertaining.
The Sopranos Series 1 episode 10
A little bit of salt from The Sopranos (HBO). This article was originally just Laura and Ari but I bumped into this from about my twentieth Sopranos re-watch. Rule of three and all that! Just a silly gag.
Update: I was in the process of doing an illustration for this article and was trying to find a good resource picture on Laura, and low and behold I discovered she has played Denmark at Bremen Theatre, but also it is mentioned on her Facebook page (her public business page!), her sister in law is Danish.
So it is very logical why Ari and Laura are both on this list. Both are highly successful international comedians who perform in English, and with a strong connection to Denmark that would give them the material for this.
So to mis-quote the comedian Stewart Lee, these guys are geniuses, and so am I, because I like them!
Iain Cameron is a Copenhagen based graphic designer and web designer, here is my portfolio.
