Humour in Diversity

As Churches have become more diverse, humour has become more difficult -- because humour is so often at the margins of meaning. It is challenge enough to try to tell a joke, say, to a combined British and Swiss audience -- but when it comes to Africa, it's abandon ship. I think, in many situations, one needs to give up humour, and simply substitute kindness. OBSERVATION: In my experience, Africans (very generally) have a fairly straightforward understanding of language and life -- they don't look for layers as one finds in much Western humour. But African humour loves to poke fun at people's ignorance, naivete, or lack of critical insight -- and create situations which put it on display. It is so different to Western humour, it has caught me completely napping -- and I can't emulate it.