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

2. WARNING ABOUT HISPANIC HUMOR, TABOOS, AND CENSORSHIP
In selecting examples of Hispanic humor we have tried to be edgy, but not offensive, but consider the following:
CENSORSHIP FROM THE RIGHT: Blasphemy, Obscenity, Profanity, Swear Words, Vulgarity, Mention of Body Parts, and Body Functions
CENSORSHIP FROM THE LEFT (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS): Age, Disabilities, Gender, Ethnicity, Belief System, and all other marginalizations.
Ethnic humor tends to be in the vernacular. It is colloquial, and ungrammatical and unpretentious, but it is also often “vulgar” because it is in the language of the common people (compare “Vulgar Latin”).
We’ve tried not to use offensive examples, and we hope we have succeeded, but remember that what is not offensive to one person might be very offensive to another person. We apologize in advance if any of our examples are offensive.

3. Bob Cabo

4. El Chavo

5. Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez & George Lopez

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. But, he heard the ‘miao’ of el gato, the cat.”
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.”

12. 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: “iQue bueno ser bilingue!”

13. Rene De Costa: Humor in Borges

14. Miguel De Cervantes: Don Quixote

15. Jaime DeLeon
Jaime DeLeon “Tour of Little Village”:

16. Filipe Esparza
Filipe Esparza “Ugly People”:

17. Gabriel Iglesias
Gabriel Iglesias:

18. George Lopez
George Lopez “Spanglish”:

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:

20. Manny Maldonado
Manny Maldonado:

21. Joey Medina
Joey Medina “Mexican vs. Irish”:

22. Carlos Mencia
CARLOS MENCIA:

23. Alex Reymundo
Alex Reymundo “Hick-Spanic Trailer”:

24. Alberto Rios

25. Paul Rodriguez

26. Paul Rodriguez, Alex Reymundo, Manny Maldonado, Joey Medina, Joey Villagomez & Jaime De Leon

27. 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!”

28. Joey Villagomez
Joey Villagomez “Food is very expensive.”

30. 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.”

31. 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.”

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

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 Wall Mart

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 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.”

40. 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.

41. Dia de Los muertos with Lauren Nilsen (Grand Daughter of Don and Alleen Nilsen)