Londonderry,Northern Ireland,where the tour guides are like comedians.Credit:Getty Images
We travel to relax,or for thrills,or to be educated – but what if we just need some good cheer? Some places,frankly,are funnier than others. Of course there is always the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (about to finish) or the Sydney Comedy Festival (about to begin),but what about outside Australia?
An English friend of mine has a theory:it’s all in the weather. Britons (like the Irish and Canadians) have miserable,wet,cold days,so they develop a good sense of humour. She added that Iceland also has a terrific comedy scene. So what are the world’s funniest places? Let’s not suggest places just because they have silly names. However amusing it is to see a sign for Gobbler’s Nob or Titty Hill (yes,those are real),they are basically one-joke places. Weird places like the Creation Museum and the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets sound like funny concepts,but don’t quite make it. And while everyone might like to pick on places like Belgium,Poland,or Geelong,the places themselves aren’t immediately funny. If you want a real laugh,or at least a different glimpse of humour (see Gabrovo),you’d have more luck in these places.
Las Vegas
Circus Circus,in Las Vegas,offers all sorts of family-friendly fun.Credit:Getty Images
It seems almost too obvious to include a place where you can be married by an Elvis impersonator,or chat up strangers in a bar made entirely of imported ice (Eskimo suits provided),but Vegas is a good place to take the kids for a laugh. No,really. You can stay at Circus Circus,a resort-hotel with a free daily circus,featuring family-friendly acts from around the world. You can see so many Cirque du Soleil shows that anyone would assume that the troupe’s home is Vegas rather than Montreal. (While most of them focus on spectacle and acrobatics,some have good clowns.) It’s also a hotspot for stand-up comics and magicians,such as Murray (no surname,apparently),who produces Ferraris from thin air at the famous Laugh Factory stand-up venue.
Lasvegas.com
Gabrovo
Bulgarians,like their Russian neighbours,are not known for their sense of humour. The central town of Gabrovo,however,is known as “the merry capital of Bulgaria” (which,depending on your taste,is either a fitting description,or pretty funny). Gabrovians have long been the butt of jokes for their alleged stinginess. (A Bulgarian joke:A man from Gabrovo is crying bitterly at a funeral. “How were you related to the departed?” asks someone. “He owed me money,” weeps the man.) Recognising a profitable idea,they have turned their town into the joke centre of Eastern Europe,focused on the House of Humour and Satire,a museum taking us from mediaeval clowns to recent political cartoonists. It stands out in its bright colours,like an oasis in Gabrovo’s post-industrial greyness. Gabrovo has also hosted an international humour carnival since 1929.
visittobulgaria.com