New Zealanders are funny people, but what makes us funny? Is comedy in our DNA or does it come from the people and places that surround us? Funny Roots asks just that, as the nation's finest stand-up comedians travel to the country of their birth or ancestry to find out about their funny roots.

Each episode features a different comedian finding out what makes people laugh in a different country by observing local culture and meeting with local comedians. Do people in a foreign land laugh at the same things as us, or is their humour completely different? The ultimate test then comes when the comedian performs stand up comedy in front of a foreign crowd! Does our comedy work abroad? Or will these stand ups fall down? Finally the comedian has an emotional discovery as they ask where their comedy comes from and who, where and what it is that has helped shape their sense of humour.