The document provides warnings about offensive content in examples of Hispanic humor. It discusses censorship from both the political right and left as well as how Hispanic humor tends to be colloquial and "vulgar" as it uses common language. The authors have tried to avoid offensive examples in their work but acknowledge what is offensive can vary between individuals.

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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.
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3. Bob Cabo
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4. El Chavo
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5. Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez & George Lopez
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6. Sandra Cisneros
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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.”
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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.”
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9. R. Cristi
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10. Ted Cruz
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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.”

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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
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14. Miguel De Cervantes: Don Quixote
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15. Jaime DeLeon
Jaime DeLeon “Tour of Little Village”:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+jaime+de+leon&&view=detail&
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16. Filipe Esparza
Filipe Esparza “Ugly People”:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+filipe+esparza&view=detail&mi
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17. Gabriel Iglesias
Gabriel Iglesias:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+gabriel+iglesias&view=detail&m
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18. George Lopez
George Lopez “Spanglish”:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+george+lopez&&view=detail&m
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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+moments&view=detail&mid=5A13DD116
CEB07425A005A13DD116CEB07425A00&FORM=VIRE

20. Manny Maldonado
Manny Maldonado:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+manny+maldonado&view=detail&mid=D1A3698CD445CA1202
3ED1A3698CD445CA12023E&FORM=VIRE
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21. Joey Medina
Joey Medina “Mexican vs. Irish”:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+joey+medina&view=detail&mid=95F3AF02DD6CF24D962C95F
3AF02DD6CF24D962C&FORM=VIRE
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22. Carlos Mencia
CARLOS MENCIA:
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/mind_of_mencia/index.jhtml
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23. Alex Reymundo
Alex Reymundo “Hick-Spanic Trailer”:
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+alex+reymundo&view=detail&mid=1FEBA0A58B394F64A0151
FEBA0A58B394F64A015&FORM=VIRE
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24. Alberto Rios
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25. Paul Rodriguez
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26. Paul Rodriguez, Alex Reymundo, Manny Maldonado,
Joey Medina, Joey Villagomez & Jaime De Leon
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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.”
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?
q=youtube+joey+villagomez&view=detail&mid=CB92F52138C3320C85C1
CB92F52138C3320C85C1&FORM=VIRE
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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.”

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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.”

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

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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
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• 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.

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• 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
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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).

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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.”

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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)
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