In Denmark, being funny isn’t extra. It’s how you fit in.

By: Slava Denys

April has a way of sneaking optimism into people. Maybe it’s the light stretching longer into the evenings, maybe it’s the quiet promise of summer - or maybe it’s just the perfect timing for humour to hit a little harder.

In Denmark, humour isn’t just a mood booster. It’s almost a social language. Dry, ironic, slightly self-deprecating - the kind that doesn’t try too hard but lands anyway. You feel it in conversations, in meetings, even in moments that, elsewhere, would stay strictly serious.

That’s where Anders Fjelsted comes in.

As one of the sharpest voices in Danish stand-up, Fjelsted doesn’t just tell jokes - he observes. His humour sits right in that Danish sweet spot: understated, a bit absurd, and disarmingly honest. The kind that makes you laugh first, then realise there was a point hiding underneath.

In a culture where confidence often comes from not taking yourself too seriously, humour becomes more than entertainment. It’s a tool. A way to connect, to diffuse tension, to navigate social dynamics without overexplaining anything.

And maybe that’s why April feels like the perfect month for talking about it.

Because when the mood lifts, humour doesn’t just follow - it leads. And in Denmark, it does so quietly, with a straight face and a punchline you almost miss.

This is the interview of my colleague, journalist Thomas Sønnichsen, with one of the funniest people in Denmark, a stand-up comedian, Anders Fjelsted. About the role of humour in our lives and in our jobs and careers. 

Do you ever meet people and think, or even say, "Hey, you are not funny at all. Do all people not have a funny bone?" 

I think all people have some kind of funny bone or some humour. But I've met a lot of people where I thought, yeah, you don't have a lot of humour. You don't have my humour at all.

Of course, some people take everything a lot more seriously than others. Some people don't know how to distinguish between when something is fun and when it is not. But can anyone learn to be funny? Can anyone learn to write and read? Yeah, most people can.

And you can learn some of the, how do you call them, the tools behind the jokes, how to construct a joke. But the ability to see when something is funny and to say it right, it can vary from person to person. And some people are extraordinarily good at it. Some people can make other people laugh just by making a funny face.  

When you look at it, is it a special kind of humour that we have in Denmark?

I think a lot of Danes would say we have a special kind of humour. In the same way as the British, they probably think that they have a special kind of humour. I think in Denmark, contrary to other places, we use irony a lot.

And the Danish irony is famous or even infamous because there is  also a very tight line between if the receiver of something doesn't get the irony and just looking like a fool. So that can be difficult for people, especially on social media. In writing, irony can be very difficult to get across because you have to know if you can get the expressions and the sayings when you type it down.

So, is it in a way the quickest way to connect to someone?

I don't know if is, but I think laughing together can connect people all over the world. So in that way, humour is a great connector. 

When you, I don't know, maybe before you became a comedian, applied for a job and stuff, did you use humour as a part of getting the job?

I never applied for a job. I became a comedian almost right out of college. And I had some jobs when I was young, but now I don't think I used humour a lot there.

I studied advertising, and I thought I could use my humour there, but I never got to apply for any jobs there because I started doing comedy, and it was like, well, now I have a hobby where I can earn money as well.

Have you experienced someone coming and slapping you in the face or something like that?

No, I don't think I've been slapped, ever. And also, there's a big difference between where you do your jokes. Because if I'm at a comedy show and people buy a ticket to come and laugh, then they will laugh about almost everything. And they don't get offended as easily as if I go to somebody's funeral and start telling jokes. Then they might get offended more easily.  

So, Danish humour, is it similar to English humour? What's the difference? Is it irony, or is it something else?

Yeah, I think it’s tricky. A lot of people are drawn to British humour because of its darker edge - like Monty Python and similar content that can be completely absurd. And at the same time, the British, you know, they have this appearance of being very noble and gentleman-like. So, they tell jokes in a kind of underplayed way. Whereas Americans are like, here I am and I am funny! And the Danish, yeah, I think it's difficult to just put us in a box. In Denmark we also have a tradition of making fun of the government and all the higher places in the system, which I think maybe comes from having a lot of freedom of speech.

So, we can say anything we want without fearing repercussions. That can maybe be a problem in other countries, where you should be aware of where you tell your jokes. So, in Denmark, it's almost, you know, expected that you punch up at the government and the queen and the king and the prime minister and everyone.

If the audience were entirely women, might there be certain jokes that are harder to land?

There are a lot of stereotypes that we use to make people laugh. And if I have a stereotype about women not being able to drive a car, let's say. That's a classical stereotype.  If I make jokes about women not being able to drive in a room with only women, they wouldn't laugh as much as men would laugh. But it's not just a matter of gender. Also, if it's only old people or only very young people, I have to modify my jokes because some things they will understand and find funny, and other things they will not understand.  

So, you are reading the room when you are coming in to make jokes? And if people are going to have a job conversation or interview, should they read the room as well? Is that the way to go?

Yeah, of course. I always try to read the room and get a feeling of it - is this a place where I should be funny and make people laugh? Do I think they would accept the joke? And sometimes it can be difficult to do so... I don't start out with the toughest joke I have. I put in a smaller one and step it up slowly. And I've been doing shows for many years back for a community of handicapped people with all sorts of handicaps. I did a few jokes about disability, and afterwards some people came up to me and said, “You can go way harder than that - the jokes we make ourselves are much worse.” So the next time I came back, I didn’t hold back.

And I couldn't offend them in any way, because they had already bought into the idea that a comedian is coming, he's going to make fun of us, so we're not going to get offended by anything he will say.  

I often hear people say, “avoid sex jokes or anything too blue.” But when I test the waters a bit, I usually find they laugh at it just like anyone else.

I know that there are some people who don't have any sense of humour. Do you believe it? Or can people develop it? And how?  

I think people can develop a sense of humour. If I meet somebody who says:  "I have absolutely no sense of humour.  " I usually ask them: " But what could make you laugh? Have you ever watched a funny movie or series? " Most people can mention something that would make them laugh. If they say, I've never seen anything, I've never laughed, not even Jim Carrey, Steve Martin, clone movies or anything at all, then I believe them, but in my mind, that would be “a handicap” by itself.