The Pub Landlord (Al Murray) summed it up, "If Americans can't explain something the say it's Aliens, at least the British will admit when they're pissed"
I'd say the biggest difference is work life balance. I work a 4 day week, Monday to Thursday. Before I took the job I asked did they do any overtime on a Friday, the boss man said and I quote.."who the fuck wants to do overtime" lol
Literally one of the most common positive responses to “you alright mate?” in Britain, is “can’t complain”… that’s the best we can hope for - that we don’t have to complain. We’re always wanting to complain and expect the worst and when that doesn’t happen, we’re content. We Brits are just fine with being content, not much extreme emotionally.
Yep. Ireland here and "notsa bad" or not too bad is the standard here as well. We even have an extension to the "can't complain" response. "Aright, buddy?" "Can't complain. And if I did? Sure who'd listen!" followed by defeated laughter.
To add to the "blue blood" thing, I'm friends with the direct descendants of the people who owned New Jersey. The whole fucking state. It's why it was renamed to New Jersey, because of them. Two cities in that state are named after them. You walk into their incredible 900-1000 year old ancestral family home, you see stuff that is of historical antiquity, you see the family crest, they have a feudal lordship title and to this day the heir will be a "Sir". A bunch of them are historically successful/important. Having parts of the world named after your family, your specific ancestors. Some of their ancestors are buried in Westminster Abbey, the same place as kings and queens of England. They looked after Charles II in exile, it's how they got gifted the colony by his successor. No matter how rich you are, how successful you are, that is upper class. It stems from a family history us lower or middle class people just don't have. Nothing to do with money, albeit the correlations are strong.
A great example would be the BBC comedy Red Dwarf. In the original UK version the main character is an overweight loser with no prospects. He was played by Craig Charles who is a short slightly overweight comedian. In the states they tried to remake the show, but, totally missed the point by casting Craig Bierko who is 6 feet tall fit and handsome at the time. He even said in an interview that he never understood why he was cast as Lister.😉 'edited for crappy typing'
You gave us Karens and we gave you James Cordon (sorry about that) I think that makes us equal 😄 We've all got things that are not so great, and we've all got things that we should be proud of, the best thing we can do is learn from eachother, embrace and share the positive stuff and laugh at our failings.
Murphy’s law. I’m originally Irish. Frazer and Niles were losers, but unaware of it. I put British humour down to a rich 7% who have ruled for centuries , but downplay it as entertainers and 93% who have been shit on as much as most of the colonised, who instinctively get it won’t change. Even the successful 60s bands, come from the blues / the story of dealing with losing. Exception are business winners / like Alan Sugar, but their type are not love here. Ireland (possibly Scotland) has less loser humour, more - let’s take a whimsical, bizarre look at what life deals us. Both countries are brill. Love your reactions - you bring so much. Thanks. Try - Alan Partridge meets Martin Brennan. - I lost my teeth for 8 hours - is that racist, Tommy tiernan.
@@spruce381 I've seen Frasier and Niles mentioned before in this conversation: they still fit the US model of comedy though. Yeah they fail to get the girl occasionally (though Frasier is wildly prolific at actually getting the girl tbh), and it's a comedy of errors, but they're still incredibly successful, wealthy, and not losers in society. They couldn't be more far removed from the Mark Corrigans and Jeremies of the world. They're also - as the guy in the vid says - always the smartest person in the room. Witty and eloquent. Never see that in a comparably successful UK comedy.
Forgot to mention if you do every visit the UK least rain occurs during last week's of July too the 1st weeks of August. Also we have around 190 days of rain because we sounded by seas. Then we're only 70 miles from the sea lol.
I loved your final comments. You love your shit, we love our shit. Be we also love each others shit... Being from Yorkshire, I need your optimism and sheen on stuff.. Top folk.. Good people man... Peace out
Don't get too gloomy about our weather guys. Here is the London/New York rainfall comparison. London has about 1.57 times less rainfall than New York, (London’s 50.85mm vs New York’s average of 80.02mm). What's more different is the unpredictability in the UK - four seasons in one day stuff.
I'm not British, but Alex Hexagon is and he has a great video called 'The British Class System Explained' that goes in-depth into how the British society works.
As a Kiwi, the Americans who ventured to our land were lovely. The yank who I met in Spain and took pity on because he barely spoke a word of Spanish (even though he was brought up in Cali and Miami) was also ok. Lived in the UK for four years - keep your voice down, stand on the correct side of the escalator, do not in any circumstance attempt a British accent.
This morning, the sun was blasting, 20min later, high winds, thunder, lighting, and horizontal rain/ hailstones, 30 min after that, and the sun was back out, and the ground dry. 😂😂😂 typical British weather 🌦🌧🌨🌩🌬🌪⛈️🌞
The problem is, to highlight the differences, he focussed on the extremes. Spencer, I (and I bet everyone else here) would not want you to "take any shit" on your visit. I also wouldn't take any over here, and I wouldn't if I was in the US. The other side of the argument is I won't be a prick to someone just because something goes wrong thats beyond their control. I "know" enough about you 2 guys that you'd do fine here without having to change your attitude. Neither you or I fit the extremes of our stereotypes.
As a working class girl from the north east, I've felt the weight of the class system for pretty much my entire life. But I feel like there's a lot of northern pride in being working class. At least here in Middlesbrough. Idgaf what happens down south. It almost feels like a different world to me. They probably say the same about the north 😂
Smoggies are good people, there is a north south divide / northerners mostly know they’ve been shat on, where’s southern working class believe they’re better off than they are - if you’ve got to work, you’re working class.
@@corpseflowerbabymany north and south see it. Always funny at football - ya dirty northern b£&stards - while often having a northern manager and players.
@@corpseflowerbaby I think people from outside London & the south tend we have it good. You can only call yourself working class & wear it as some badge of honour if your from up north. If you think all people from down here are rich bankers then there is a divide. We’re not.
The restaurant scene took me right back to my childhood. I'm the product of an English mum and an American dad being brought up in Britain in the late 60's and 70's. And, when we were out having a family meal and something wasn't to my dad's liking - the food, service etc, he would complain, while me and my brother just sat there cringing as the old man when to town on some hapless waiter. My dad was dead right, but that was something you simply didn't do in Britain... complain! 😄
I'm from N Ireland but my ex gf's from Kent and we lived up in Sheffield for a year. Her - kinda posh - Kent dad would complain obnoxiously to the waiter (once sending back his food saying "bring it back when it's presented properly") when we went out for meals, and my Irish ass has never cringed so hard. So it does exist in England, maybe more among the southerners though.
@@superflyguy9911 Yes, but at the same time we've got a limit in the north, a good rightful limit - there does come a point where we say 'hang on a minute', we wont have the piss taken
I'm a Brit. My favorite US comedy main character is Al Bundy (Married With Childeren), a downtrodden loser, whose family don't appreciate him, and life craps on from a great height. Funny that, isn't it?
The British have always expected each class to take responsibility for it's position & role. The people of the working class here have never been outright subservient peasants. They have a awkward streak that makes them intolerant of badly behaved gentry. We had a Peasants Revolt, over taxes, in the 14th century, & value our power to make the upper classes dependant on our co=operation. Remember, the American Revolution was started by Britain's in the Colonies. We had fought & beaten, & executed a King, & then refused to aid a military dictatorship, bringing back a Monarchy, but now under Parliaments control. Remember also that Britons invented much of the modern world, through the agricultural, industrial, & scientific revolutions. Even most sports & pastimes came first out of Britain.
We have the largest tax burden since the 1960s yet our country and institutions are crumbling around us, the biggest wealth transfer from the have-nots to the ultra wealthy is taking place right before our eyes, and our living standards have plummeted whilst corporations make record profits and we have done NOTHING. The British public, working and (what's left of the) middle classes have become apathetic, brain-washed. poorly educated and selfish, fighting over LGBT or gender issues or whatever the next outrage cooked up by the media to divide and distract us, while the rich get richer and laugh at our stupidity.
As for governments, when they go bad, Americans say "get rid of the government", in the UK, we say "get a better government". I think both countries peopl recognise that our politics is corrupt, but we want to fix it, as government done right is a good thing (environment protections,. state wellfare, fire/health/police services) etc. As for police, they serve us. In America, you seem to serve them!
On one of your talking points at the end, regarding globalisation and the potential impact upon individual cultural identities etc - If you haven't seen them already, I recommend checking out 2 music videos by Rammstein that are relevant here: First the song, probably go for the official MV of "Amerika", and after that the official MV for "Angst". It'd be cool to see you actually react to them but even just watch them for yourselves, especially considering there's so many years between the 2 songs. Plus, not only are they relevent to the discussion, there's also the fact that a British person is recommending 2 Americans some music by a German band during a conversation about inter-connectivety, cultutal identity and globalisation!! I find this fact amusing
Class system in UK can be translated to "Wealth System" in USA. Since all have heard of Ricky Gervais and Adele a quick check on their background tells you they did not start with money. Yet today they can buy and have anything they want. That also applies to the remaining members of The Beatles. Class will generally secure a better education and therefore better informed. In a "Wealth System" money buys you the same privileges that class would. The problem in USA is that wealth is normally acquired by the most selfish in society. Money does not always go to the sort of people you would want influencing society "Kardashians" being perfect examples.
In the UK, we can do whatever you want. Just look at These top 25 rags-to-riches entrepreneurs: Sir Philip Green, Mike Ashley, and Sir Richard Branson top list of those who started with small sums but built business empires
@@stormwildthing5321 I wasn't being confrontational (though as a Yorkshireman, Manchester is on the wrong side of the Pennines) - that's just how I finish that particular expression.
This video is very accurate but I feel it focuses much more on the mannerisms of southern british people. Us in the North of England and the Scots and Irish as well are all a bit more assertive and less willing to deal with people's bullshit, if your being a bit of a knob, for example, we're more likely to say you know, your speaking abit out of turn, come on, and you need to pack it in a bit whereas in my experience, southerners seem to be more willing generally for the sake of politeness, persist and I don't really understand why this i, we simply dislike an atmosphere. I'm not trying to show southerners in a bad light it's just what I've experienced with them. Again if i wanted to shit on southerners I'd shit on them quite openly I wouldn't be all snide and veiled about it, Again I don't know if this is true of all southerners, might just be the more middle class ones I've dealt with and the lower class is more assertive, i believe this is probably the case.
My partner is in the top 5% of earners in the UK but we class ourselves as working class still, my mums family was higher class but as the other side was working class and so is my partners for some reason we take the lower caste in the system. End of the day, we’ve been deprived poor, relied on benefits and had nothing but we’ve worked our way up so I’d say we will always be working class at heart as we started with nothing. I think that is the typical British attitude
My only comment would be - us Brits *could* live the American dream quite easily - but - we (like a significant amount of other first world countries) - value the work / life balance. It's arguable that America's "work hard and you can achieve" idealism - is true, but the hard work part is very much to the detriment of anything else in your life. America is very much work to live, not live to work. The majority of us, are happy enough to earn enough to pay bills, but also have a social life / family time.
As someone who was born in the UK but grew up in NZ, this list of attitudes is broadly true. By the time I got back here in 2004 I didn't encounter ( or at least didn't recognise?) old fashioned ideas of hereditary privilege. As a hotel worker in NZ I did encounter the worst kind of American.( For example, my hotel once hosted a US Young Millionaires Club. The entitlement among some of the family members was insane. They had all kinds of activities they could take part in every day. One was quad bike riding along farm tracks. A teenager had a pebble launched from beneath a tire and strike his cheek. He was wearing goggles and a helmet and had been given first aid at the scene by the organisers of the tour. (A minor bruise cleaned and a band aid) To be fair, the kid had no problem with what happened. His mother, however FREAKED OUT!!!Over about 25 minutes she insisted that it was my fault her precious baby had been hurt, that everyone in NZ would be sued into bankruptcy. I repeatedly explained that I was not involved, I did not work for any of the companies who had planned or run the tour, that I was a food and beverage supervisor in a random hotel they were staying at, and while I was happy to help her out with almost anything F&B related, it was in no way my job to care to care about her sprog's minor injury. (I put it more politely than that.) This led to more venomous shrieking and threats of litigation. I explained that in NZ, suing someone for personal injury was NOT A THING and if somebody was genuinely injured (and needed time off work or to have genuine recovery expenses covered) she was welcome to submit a claim to the Accident Compensation Corporation. (A government department.) I also informed her that the chances of her son qualifying for compensation for a trivial minor injury that only required a band aid to treat were essentially zero. This took the wind out of her sails and she shut up long enough for me to escape. I did hear later that she insisted to various managers that all kinds of hotel staff be immediately fired. The managers looked into her complaints, found them to be without any merit and explained that workers had rights, among them not to be harassed by angry Karens. (this was in the late 90s, before Karens were a thing but she got the clear message that we would throw her entire family out if she didn't calm down) She didn't make any more trouble but clearly didn't have fun for the rest of her stay. On the other hand, most NZers love Americans! We acknowledge that you are 66 times larger and more militarily powerful than us and most of us recognise the debt we owe for you (eventually) joining in WWII. I actually had an older cousin who was killed before I was born while serving with the NZ Army in Vietnam. Our whole 3rd Division served as an amphibious force in cooperation with the US Marines in the Pacific in WWII. We mostly don't even correct you when you falsely claim that the Wright Brothers invented heavier than air powered flight. (Shout out to Richard Pearse!)
You said UK & US are 2 sides of the same coin. I'd say Australia is the edge of the coin. The US & UK are the big brothers of Australia & New Zealand is our little brother.
Can you please, please take note that Karen was one of the most popular working class girls name in the sixties in the UK. There were three of us in my class at school in 1971! Everywhere I've worked I've been called by my initials as there are so many Karen's and we are all lovely. When you come to the UK you will find the majority of us are friendly to newcomers and helpful if you get stuck. ❤xx
This American is going to find it funny if he thinks anyone puts up with any shit I see people getting knocked out every day for being rude I wish this American good luck
Probably the best example of the British working class attitude is the relationship between Jim and Anthony in The Royle Family. He constantly belittles his ambitions and tells him why he can't do things. There's this attitude in working class communities of looking down on anyone trying to better themselves. While there are plenty of working class success stories that everyone enjoys, we almost enjoy just as much when it all goes wrong and they lose all their money (look at someone like Kerry Katona). But in day-to-day life, I feel like a lot of people resent anyone doing well for themselves, like you're somehow a traitor to your community, and try to relentlessly take the piss out of any ambition that people might have. I've heard black American comedians talk about similar attitudes in their communities too, particularly with regards to education. Chris Rock's famous N-word bit, where he talks about how they "love to not know the answer to your question" and will pride themselves in a lack of education. Or Bill Hicks' "What you reading for?" bit. But I think a scene like Good Will Hunting's construction site scene could only happen in America. In the UK, his friends would be taking the piss and calling him Rain Man or something. I feel like the class system is as much about your peers pulling you down as it is the upper classes shutting you out.
British comedy...We have some great comedy writers and the best write many shows...they write the whole thing!! They write 6 good shows a year in preference to 100 thrown together to please advertisers. USA a show does okay, in come the "one liners" and cheap laughs follow. IF the "One liners" were capable of writing the whole show they would do it. Look at WILTY full of off the cuff one liners. A sitcom is more than just stringing those together. How many individual "Friends" episodes do you remember? How many episodes of "IT Crowd" or "Fawlty Towers" stand alone and distinct from others.
Coming to England there's only one real rule we all like visitors to abide by. Don't be a dik. Lol. And October you'll be lucky to see sun so buy an umbrella.
I think 2 reason why Americans don't hold onto the past as much as the brits is 1) because the USA doesn't have a long past and historical traditions, 2) because most of the buildings were made from wood and have rotted away. After the "great fire of London" it was decided that they should rebuild in brick or stone rather than timber. And then there's all the castles which were built to withstand a battering from trebuchets hurling massive rocks at them and later with cannons. ✌❤🇬🇧
The successful optimist wasn't always the main character in US sitcoms. Archie Bunker in All in the Family, and Bob Newhart were both more akin to British comedy characters.
You guys come from a good place. My boss in Oxford is from SC. I’ve spent time in Greenville & Spartanburg, the latter is a fantastic small town. One guy in the Carolina Ale house described it as a northern city in the south - quite integrated. Although the private civil war museum had distinctly ol’ boy racist feel. Greenville Defo more friendly than Boston. Give us a shout in October. I’ll drive you from London to Oxford and back in a day.
Americans class depends on your Bank accounts. British class is blood line. Over here you could be richer than the King but we're then classed as New money. Where their families have had their money since around 1066 for an example.
You know what's annoying? It's when people, mainly the US and becoming more common here in the UK who say "a optimistic" or "a aspiration" or "a attitude" or "a interesting" etc. - it's AN optimistic, AN aspiration, AN attitude and AN interesting! GET YOUR INDEFINITE ARTICLES RIGHT! Here's a clue - words beginning with a vowel sound use AN and words beginning with a consonantal sound use A. SIMPLE!
British humour is very influenced by our historic military humour/squaddie humour, it's dark and shocking sometimes, but if you didn't laugh - you'd cry.
They was a lot of truth in what he said... but I have 2 points to pick at. 1 in my personal experience I('ve worked allover England on council estates and also on multi million pound houses) The working class have a lot more politeness and togetherness more honest but tell you how it is people.. than the upper class.. the upper class are rude think think there better than you.. haven't got time for anybody lower than people.. The other point is like to pull is the royal family again it differentiates with class the upper class are more for them than the working class 90% of people in the lower class either aren't bothered who cares about them or believes it's disgusting how they go about things.. paedophiles.. murderers etc... I must state they are not my words just what you hear growing up in lower class areas
You won't be seen as working class... you'll almost certainly be seen immediately as American, and most reasonable ppl will make allowance accordingly. You'll be fine.
You're most definitely getting rain in Britain in October. Don't waste a trip coming in October. If you want to have a good trip, come in mid June/July
if you go to London you are not seeing what Britain is about. Go some where like Norfolk, Cornwall if you like the rain. lake district, also wet. True Britain is not city life.
What you were saying about being true to yourself.... You need to be yourself You can't be no one else !!! Thirty years ago today Oasis released their debut single 'Supersonic' 🎉 👏
I feel like you both get a lot of aggro about being American. Most Brits do like Americans so don’t be worried about being yourself when you come over here. People are more vocal online but that doesn’t mean anyone will be like that in your face. I’d be interested to see what your experience actually is like
I did enjoy your reactions though much better than must as you added a good amount of opinions compared to many. The class structure is a strange thing in modern days as it is definitely less than previously but not enough for the amount it is ignored in British discourse.
I honestly don't like this dudes video. It feels like he saw the Stephen Fry interview, and decided to try and spin the concepts out into a longer video. He basically repeats all Stephen's points.
My experience of Canadians is that you sit bang in between Brits and Americans. You have some traits from your historical links with Britain, but then have picked some stuff up from your noisy neighbours.
I am actually a Brit and you’re right, i think for the most we do think of Canadians like that. I was just interested what the contrast between the two looks like from an American POV.
Perception of many who don’t move off the reservation, but I know builders, plumbers, accountants, from council estates who got relatively wealthy - but yeah, for many footballers and dealers are the only rich folk they see. Grow in an area with doctors, barristers etc, you’ll probably have different aspirations. Possibly why lots of immigrants value education more than most English working class.
You guys come from a good place. My boss in Oxford is from SC. I’ve spent time in Greenville & Spartanburg, the latter is a fantastic small town. One guy in the Carolina Ale house described it as a northern city in the south - quite integrated. Although the private civil war museum had distinctly ol’ boy racist feel. Greenville Defo more friendly than Boston. Give us a shout in October. I’ll drive you from London to Oxford and back in a day.
Nah - take sports as an example. You move up off the council estate into sports. You do well. The fact that you came from a council estate will constantly be brought up in every interview you do, in a "look how far you have come" sort of way. Then when you mess up, miss a goal, fail to save a goal etc - "fans" will be screaming at you to go back to the council estate "where you belong".
yeah the way I would describe it is a customer complaining to a suffering waiter about a fly in the soup, the cusomer is American comedy and the waitr is British comedy
A good filler video to do is another Snooker video, Try 'Ronnie O'Sullivan Calls a 147 off the First Black'... I know it's not Snooker Monday but still.
You will find people different all over the Uk, this seems a little stereotypical, as you say Spencer in certain areas , they dont take shit.......best of friends , worst of enemies
How do the yanks react to working class people who win lottery or suddenly come into money? I'm English, years ago i was talking to a guy in my local pub, about winning the lottery, he said you couldn't come in here anymore if you won, I said why not? He couldn't give me a intelligent answer, i said obviously it would change my life somewhat, but it wouldn't change me because i'm not that sort of person anyway, you know the sort, drop their mate's & think they better than everyone,
Interesting that his view of class is based, like his images, are based in the 50s. USA has an even bigger divide than the UK nowadays. This guy has presented a very poor understanding of culture
No - when I was a kid in the 70s I’d see British news snd practically everyone (men) going to work in the city of London (financial area) was wearing a bowler and carried a brolly - was a uniform.
13:31 incorrect the working class and upper class have always got on and have many interests in common, it's some people in the middle class that hates the upper class because they want so desperately to be them and they look down on the working class as they don't want to be them.
Forgot to mention if you do every visit the UK least rain occurs during last week's of July too the 1st weeks of August. Also we have around 190 days of rain because we sounded by seas. Then we're only 70 miles from the sea lol.
The Pub Landlord (Al Murray) summed it up, "If Americans can't explain something the say it's Aliens, at least the British will admit when they're pissed"
I'd say the biggest difference is work life balance. I work a 4 day week, Monday to Thursday. Before I took the job I asked did they do any overtime on a Friday, the boss man said and I quote.."who the fuck wants to do overtime" lol
Literally one of the most common positive responses to “you alright mate?” in Britain, is “can’t complain”… that’s the best we can hope for - that we don’t have to complain. We’re always wanting to complain and expect the worst and when that doesn’t happen, we’re content. We Brits are just fine with being content, not much extreme emotionally.
Usually finished with, "Well I can, but no one will listen".
“Not too bad bert” 🙈🤣
I am 73 so I usually reply “still here “
Yep. Ireland here and "notsa bad" or not too bad is the standard here as well. We even have an extension to the "can't complain" response. "Aright, buddy?" "Can't complain. And if I did? Sure who'd listen!" followed by defeated laughter.
To add to the "blue blood" thing, I'm friends with the direct descendants of the people who owned New Jersey. The whole fucking state. It's why it was renamed to New Jersey, because of them. Two cities in that state are named after them.
You walk into their incredible 900-1000 year old ancestral family home, you see stuff that is of historical antiquity, you see the family crest, they have a feudal lordship title and to this day the heir will be a "Sir". A bunch of them are historically successful/important. Having parts of the world named after your family, your specific ancestors. Some of their ancestors are buried in Westminster Abbey, the same place as kings and queens of England. They looked after Charles II in exile, it's how they got gifted the colony by his successor.
No matter how rich you are, how successful you are, that is upper class. It stems from a family history us lower or middle class people just don't have. Nothing to do with money, albeit the correlations are strong.
A great example would be the BBC comedy Red Dwarf.
In the original UK version the main character is an overweight loser with no prospects.
He was played by Craig Charles who is a short slightly overweight comedian.
In the states they tried to remake the show, but, totally missed the point by casting Craig Bierko who is 6 feet tall fit and handsome at the time.
He even said in an interview that he never understood why he was cast as Lister.😉 'edited for crappy typing'
Totally agree.. listening to Brits perspective of us.. in our positive way ..Really helps us appreciate what being an "American" is .❤👏👏👏👏👏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
You gave us Karens and we gave you James Cordon (sorry about that) I think that makes us equal 😄 We've all got things that are not so great, and we've all got things that we should be proud of, the best thing we can do is learn from eachother, embrace and share the positive stuff and laugh at our failings.
Murphy’s law. I’m originally Irish.
Frazer and Niles were losers, but unaware of it.
I put British humour down to a rich 7% who have ruled for centuries , but downplay it as entertainers and 93% who have been shit on as much as most of the colonised, who instinctively get it won’t change.
Even the successful 60s bands, come from the blues / the story of dealing with losing.
Exception are business winners / like Alan Sugar, but their type are not love here.
Ireland (possibly Scotland) has less loser humour, more - let’s take a whimsical, bizarre look at what life deals us.
Both countries are brill. Love your reactions - you bring so much. Thanks.
Try
- Alan Partridge meets Martin Brennan.
- I lost my teeth for 8 hours
- is that racist, Tommy tiernan.
@@spruce381 I've seen Frasier and Niles mentioned before in this conversation: they still fit the US model of comedy though. Yeah they fail to get the girl occasionally (though Frasier is wildly prolific at actually getting the girl tbh), and it's a comedy of errors, but they're still incredibly successful, wealthy, and not losers in society. They couldn't be more far removed from the Mark Corrigans and Jeremies of the world. They're also - as the guy in the vid says - always the smartest person in the room. Witty and eloquent. Never see that in a comparably successful UK comedy.
@@garethm3242 you’re right 👍🏻
Forgot to mention if you do every visit the UK least rain occurs during last week's of July too the 1st weeks of August. Also we have around 190 days of rain because we sounded by seas. Then we're only 70 miles from the sea lol.
'Sarcasm is a love language' Excellent!
You should watch '70's series "To the manor born", to learn about British classes.
Plan for rain be pleasently suprised with sun. Spot on mate
I loved your final comments. You love your shit, we love our shit. Be we also love each others shit... Being from Yorkshire, I need your optimism and sheen on stuff.. Top folk.. Good people man... Peace out
Don't get too gloomy about our weather guys. Here is the London/New York rainfall comparison. London has about 1.57 times less rainfall than New York, (London’s 50.85mm vs New York’s average of 80.02mm). What's more different is the unpredictability in the UK - four seasons in one day stuff.
Island weather.
A very typical British response to "How are you?" is "Not too bad." Meaning things aren't great, but I'm surprised they're not worse.
I'm not British, but Alex Hexagon is and he has a great video called 'The British Class System Explained' that goes in-depth into how the British society works.
As a Brit, I can confirm this is accurate
"sarcasm is a love language" YES Daniel!spot on bruv👌🏼👏🤷♂️😂💜
As a Kiwi, the Americans who ventured to our land were lovely. The yank who I met in Spain and took pity on because he barely spoke a word of Spanish (even though he was brought up in Cali and Miami) was also ok. Lived in the UK for four years - keep your voice down, stand on the correct side of the escalator, do not in any circumstance attempt a British accent.
This morning, the sun was blasting, 20min later, high winds, thunder, lighting, and horizontal rain/ hailstones, 30 min after that, and the sun was back out, and the ground dry. 😂😂😂 typical British weather 🌦🌧🌨🌩🌬🌪⛈️🌞
Shameless, Stella Street, R.C. Nesbitt (you may need subtitles) O'ribble . The Thick of it. Dad's Army.
The problem is, to highlight the differences, he focussed on the extremes. Spencer, I (and I bet everyone else here) would not want you to "take any shit" on your visit. I also wouldn't take any over here, and I wouldn't if I was in the US.
The other side of the argument is I won't be a prick to someone just because something goes wrong thats beyond their control. I "know" enough about you 2 guys that you'd do fine here without having to change your attitude. Neither you or I fit the extremes of our stereotypes.
As a working class girl from the north east, I've felt the weight of the class system for pretty much my entire life. But I feel like there's a lot of northern pride in being working class. At least here in Middlesbrough. Idgaf what happens down south. It almost feels like a different world to me. They probably say the same about the north 😂
We don’t
@@adamaalto-mccarthy6984 Do you think it's only northerners that see the great north/south divide? I'm genuinely curious
Smoggies are good people, there is a north south divide / northerners mostly know they’ve been shat on, where’s southern working class believe they’re better off than they are - if you’ve got to work, you’re working class.
@@corpseflowerbabymany north and south see it.
Always funny at football - ya dirty northern b£&stards - while often having a northern manager and players.
@@corpseflowerbaby I think people from outside London & the south tend we have it good. You can only call yourself working class & wear it as some badge of honour if your from up north. If you think all people from down here are rich bankers then there is a divide. We’re not.
Have you discovered Red Dwarf yet?!!❤❤❤
The restaurant scene took me right back to my childhood. I'm the product of an English mum and an American dad being brought up in Britain in the late 60's and 70's. And, when we were out having a family meal and something wasn't to my dad's liking - the food, service etc, he would complain, while me and my brother just sat there cringing as the old man when to town on some hapless waiter. My dad was dead right, but that was something you simply didn't do in Britain... complain! 😄
I'm from N Ireland but my ex gf's from Kent and we lived up in Sheffield for a year. Her - kinda posh - Kent dad would complain obnoxiously to the waiter (once sending back his food saying "bring it back when it's presented properly") when we went out for meals, and my Irish ass has never cringed so hard. So it does exist in England, maybe more among the southerners though.
You’re right. I’m from the north of England, the complaining stuff is the preserve of the Home Counties poshoids.
@@superflyguy9911 Yes, but at the same time we've got a limit in the north, a good rightful limit - there does come a point where we say 'hang on a minute', we wont have the piss taken
I'm a Brit. My favorite US comedy main character is Al Bundy (Married With Childeren), a downtrodden loser, whose family don't appreciate him, and life craps on from a great height. Funny that, isn't it?
The British have always expected each class to take responsibility for it's position & role.
The people of the working class here have never been outright subservient peasants.
They have a awkward streak that makes them intolerant of badly behaved gentry. We had a Peasants Revolt, over taxes, in the 14th century, & value our power to make the upper classes dependant on our co=operation. Remember, the American Revolution was started by Britain's in the Colonies. We had fought & beaten, & executed a King, & then refused to aid a military dictatorship, bringing back a Monarchy, but now under Parliaments control. Remember also that Britons invented much of the modern world, through the agricultural, industrial, & scientific revolutions. Even most sports & pastimes came first out of Britain.
We have the largest tax burden since the 1960s yet our country and institutions are crumbling around us, the biggest wealth transfer from the have-nots to the ultra wealthy is taking place right before our eyes, and our living standards have plummeted whilst corporations make record profits and we have done NOTHING. The British public, working and (what's left of the) middle classes have become apathetic, brain-washed. poorly educated and selfish, fighting over LGBT or gender issues or whatever the next outrage cooked up by the media to divide and distract us, while the rich get richer and laugh at our stupidity.
As for governments, when they go bad, Americans say "get rid of the government", in the UK, we say "get a better government".
I think both countries peopl recognise that our politics is corrupt, but we want to fix it, as government done right is a good thing (environment protections,. state wellfare, fire/health/police services) etc.
As for police, they serve us. In America, you seem to serve them!
Things always go tits up for Larry David in my favourite US comedy Curb your Enthusiasm 😊
Yes more please!
🙂
On one of your talking points at the end, regarding globalisation and the potential impact upon individual cultural identities etc - If you haven't seen them already, I recommend checking out 2 music videos by Rammstein that are relevant here: First the song, probably go for the official MV of "Amerika", and after that the official MV for "Angst". It'd be cool to see you actually react to them but even just watch them for yourselves, especially considering there's so many years between the 2 songs.
Plus, not only are they relevent to the discussion, there's also the fact that a British person is recommending 2 Americans some music by a German band during a conversation about inter-connectivety, cultutal identity and globalisation!! I find this fact amusing
That angst video is class... But they all are brilliant to be fair
An American in Newcastle - where I hear tell you are going - will have no problem with 'British reserve'. That does not exist in Newcastle.
Class system in UK can be translated to "Wealth System" in USA. Since all have heard of Ricky Gervais and Adele a quick check on their background tells you they did not start with money. Yet today they can buy and have anything they want. That also applies to the remaining members of The Beatles. Class will generally secure a better education and therefore better informed. In a "Wealth System" money buys you the same privileges that class would. The problem in USA is that wealth is normally acquired by the most selfish in society. Money does not always go to the sort of people you would want influencing society "Kardashians" being perfect examples.
Guys, red dwarf is another great British watch
You'll be fine mate.
In the UK, we can do whatever you want. Just look at These top 25 rags-to-riches entrepreneurs: Sir Philip Green, Mike Ashley, and Sir Richard Branson top list of those who started with small sums but built business empires
Alan Sugar too
It seems to rain more up north, try coming to Manchester, it rains about 299 days 😅
"You can stick that where the sun doesn't shine - and I'm not talking about Manchester!"
@@UKSkaface why?
@@stormwildthing5321 I wasn't being confrontational (though as a Yorkshireman, Manchester is on the wrong side of the Pennines) - that's just how I finish that particular expression.
This video is very accurate but I feel it focuses much more on the mannerisms of southern british people. Us in the North of England and the Scots and Irish as well are all a bit more assertive and less willing to deal with people's bullshit, if your being a bit of a knob, for example, we're more likely to say you know, your speaking abit out of turn, come on, and you need to pack it in a bit whereas in my experience, southerners seem to be more willing generally for the sake of politeness, persist and I don't really understand why this i, we simply dislike an atmosphere. I'm not trying to show southerners in a bad light it's just what I've experienced with them. Again if i wanted to shit on southerners I'd shit on them quite openly I wouldn't be all snide and veiled about it,
Again I don't know if this is true of all southerners, might just be the more middle class ones I've dealt with and the lower class is more assertive, i believe this is probably the case.
My partner is in the top 5% of earners in the UK but we class ourselves as working class still, my mums family was higher class but as the other side was working class and so is my partners for some reason we take the lower caste in the system.
End of the day, we’ve been deprived poor, relied on benefits and had nothing but we’ve worked our way up so I’d say we will always be working class at heart as we started with nothing.
I think that is the typical British attitude
My only comment would be - us Brits *could* live the American dream quite easily - but - we (like a significant amount of other first world countries) - value the work / life balance. It's arguable that America's "work hard and you can achieve" idealism - is true, but the hard work part is very much to the detriment of anything else in your life. America is very much work to live, not live to work. The majority of us, are happy enough to earn enough to pay bills, but also have a social life / family time.
When you come over, bring a cagoule - you may need to google what one of those is!
Waitrose? Pah - Booths is THE upper class supermarket.
We're like twins separated at birth. Same DNA. Different environmental factors
As someone who was born in the UK but grew up in NZ, this list of attitudes is broadly true. By the time I got back here in 2004 I didn't encounter ( or at least didn't recognise?) old fashioned ideas of hereditary privilege. As a hotel worker in NZ I did encounter the worst kind of American.( For example, my hotel once hosted a US Young Millionaires Club. The entitlement among some of the family members was insane. They had all kinds of activities they could take part in every day. One was quad bike riding along farm tracks. A teenager had a pebble launched from beneath a tire and strike his cheek. He was wearing goggles and a helmet and had been given first aid at the scene by the organisers of the tour. (A minor bruise cleaned and a band aid) To be fair, the kid had no problem with what happened. His mother, however FREAKED OUT!!!Over about 25 minutes she insisted that it was my fault her precious baby had been hurt, that everyone in NZ would be sued into bankruptcy. I repeatedly explained that I was not involved, I did not work for any of the companies who had planned or run the tour, that I was a food and beverage supervisor in a random hotel they were staying at, and while I was happy to help her out with almost anything F&B related, it was in no way my job to care to care about her sprog's minor injury. (I put it more politely than that.) This led to more venomous shrieking and threats of litigation. I explained that in NZ, suing someone for personal injury was NOT A THING and if somebody was genuinely injured (and needed time off work or to have genuine recovery expenses covered) she was welcome to submit a claim to the Accident Compensation Corporation. (A government department.) I also informed her that the chances of her son qualifying for compensation for a trivial minor injury that only required a band aid to treat were essentially zero. This took the wind out of her sails and she shut up long enough for me to escape. I did hear later that she insisted to various managers that all kinds of hotel staff be immediately fired. The managers looked into her complaints, found them to be without any merit and explained that workers had rights, among them not to be harassed by angry Karens. (this was in the late 90s, before Karens were a thing but she got the clear message that we would throw her entire family out if she didn't calm down) She didn't make any more trouble but clearly didn't have fun for the rest of her stay. On the other hand, most NZers love Americans! We acknowledge that you are 66 times larger and more militarily powerful than us and most of us recognise the debt we owe for you (eventually) joining in WWII. I actually had an older cousin who was killed before I was born while serving with the NZ Army in Vietnam. Our whole 3rd Division served as an amphibious force in cooperation with the US Marines in the Pacific in WWII. We mostly don't even correct you when you falsely claim that the Wright Brothers invented heavier than air powered flight. (Shout out to Richard Pearse!)
You said UK & US are 2 sides of the same coin. I'd say Australia is the edge of the coin. The US & UK are the big brothers of Australia & New Zealand is our little brother.
lol "Bring a jacket"!
Can you please, please take note that Karen was one of the most popular working class girls name in the sixties in the UK. There were three of us in my class at school in 1971! Everywhere I've worked I've been called by my initials as there are so many Karen's and we are all lovely. When you come to the UK you will find the majority of us are friendly to newcomers and helpful if you get stuck. ❤xx
As a rule, if you ask any Brit about the town/city they grew up or live in, they'll say it's a shithole.
This American is going to find it funny if he thinks anyone puts up with any shit I see people getting knocked out every day for being rude I wish this American good luck
You guys need to watch Black Books
Bit of advice, if you like a drink? you will be just fine in the UK.
Probably the best example of the British working class attitude is the relationship between Jim and Anthony in The Royle Family. He constantly belittles his ambitions and tells him why he can't do things. There's this attitude in working class communities of looking down on anyone trying to better themselves. While there are plenty of working class success stories that everyone enjoys, we almost enjoy just as much when it all goes wrong and they lose all their money (look at someone like Kerry Katona). But in day-to-day life, I feel like a lot of people resent anyone doing well for themselves, like you're somehow a traitor to your community, and try to relentlessly take the piss out of any ambition that people might have.
I've heard black American comedians talk about similar attitudes in their communities too, particularly with regards to education. Chris Rock's famous N-word bit, where he talks about how they "love to not know the answer to your question" and will pride themselves in a lack of education. Or Bill Hicks' "What you reading for?" bit. But I think a scene like Good Will Hunting's construction site scene could only happen in America. In the UK, his friends would be taking the piss and calling him Rain Man or something.
I feel like the class system is as much about your peers pulling you down as it is the upper classes shutting you out.
When you visit Britain, most people will welcome you.
We brits know how to deal with the Karens lol we take the PISS LOL
British comedy...We have some great comedy writers and the best write many shows...they write the whole thing!! They write 6 good shows a year in preference to 100 thrown together to please advertisers. USA a show does okay, in come the "one liners" and cheap laughs follow. IF the "One liners" were capable of writing the whole show they would do it. Look at WILTY full of off the cuff one liners. A sitcom is more than just stringing those together. How many individual "Friends" episodes do you remember? How many episodes of "IT Crowd" or "Fawlty Towers" stand alone and distinct from others.
Coming to England there's only one real rule we all like visitors to abide by. Don't be a dik. Lol. And October you'll be lucky to see sun so buy an umbrella.
Although being a dick is quite normal otherwise who would we have to take the piss out of n call a cu_t!
I think 2 reason why Americans don't hold onto the past as much as the brits is 1) because the USA doesn't have a long past and historical traditions, 2) because most of the buildings were made from wood and have rotted away.
After the "great fire of London" it was decided that they should rebuild in brick or stone rather than timber.
And then there's all the castles which were built to withstand a battering from trebuchets hurling massive rocks at them and later with cannons.
✌❤🇬🇧
The successful optimist wasn't always the main character in US sitcoms. Archie Bunker in All in the Family, and Bob Newhart were both more akin to British comedy characters.
You guys come from a good place. My boss in Oxford is from SC. I’ve spent time in Greenville & Spartanburg, the latter is a fantastic small town. One guy in the Carolina Ale house described it as a northern city in the south - quite integrated. Although the private civil war museum had distinctly ol’ boy racist feel. Greenville Defo more friendly than Boston.
Give us a shout in October. I’ll drive you from London to Oxford and back in a day.
Americans class depends on your Bank accounts. British class is blood line.
Over here you could be richer than the King but we're then classed as New money. Where their families have had their money since around 1066 for an example.
You know what's annoying? It's when people, mainly the US and becoming more common here in the UK who say "a optimistic" or "a aspiration" or "a attitude" or "a interesting" etc. - it's AN optimistic, AN aspiration, AN attitude and AN interesting! GET YOUR INDEFINITE ARTICLES RIGHT! Here's a clue - words beginning with a vowel sound use AN and words beginning with a consonantal sound use A. SIMPLE!
That’s a ‘very’ unique view. 😂. It’s either unique or it’s not - no levels to it - gear grinder.
British humour is very influenced by our historic military humour/squaddie humour, it's dark and shocking sometimes, but if you didn't laugh - you'd cry.
the weather in the east is much better. the west coast has most of the bad weather.
As the Thai's say: Same, same, but different. Pretty much somes up most countries people's.
bournstin is another good example of UK humour
October! Winter. Plus you will get cold, wet, frozen and sunburned.
They was a lot of truth in what he said... but I have 2 points to pick at.
1 in my personal experience I('ve worked allover England on council estates and also on multi million pound houses)
The working class have a lot more politeness and togetherness more honest but tell you how it is people..
than the upper class.. the upper class are rude think think there better than you.. haven't got time for anybody lower than people..
The other point is like to pull is the royal family again it differentiates with class the upper class are more for them than the working class
90% of people in the lower class either aren't bothered who cares about them or believes it's disgusting how they go about things.. paedophiles.. murderers etc... I must state they are not my words just what you hear growing up in lower class areas
You won't be seen as working class... you'll almost certainly be seen immediately as American, and most reasonable ppl will make allowance accordingly. You'll be fine.
Spencer - you might enjoy this YT vid - 'Mistakes American Tourist Make in England' by Wolters World
October weather? yikes don't forget a brolly anywhere you go
You're most definitely getting rain in Britain in October. Don't waste a trip coming in October. If you want to have a good trip, come in mid June/July
It’s gonna be s**t now you’ve said it’s gonna be good, cheers for rain on my birthday (July) again!! 🙄🤣🤣🤣
@Sharpey187 Least it'll be warm 😂😂
@@matthewjamison Well now it's obviously going to snow!
There isn’t a university in Shitem.
if you go to London you are not seeing what Britain is about. Go some where like Norfolk, Cornwall if you like the rain. lake district, also wet. True Britain is not city life.
What you were saying about being true to yourself.... You need to be yourself
You can't be no one else !!!
Thirty years ago today Oasis released their debut single 'Supersonic' 🎉 👏
You should of used really good British comedy, shows like, only fools, porridge, dad's army, mock the week etc, 😅
These lads have watched some of those.
Luckily you’re visiting England and not Wales because I guarantee you’ll have rain, it’s been raining for the past two weeks !!! Ridiculous 😂😂
I feel like you both get a lot of aggro about being American. Most Brits do like Americans so don’t be worried about being yourself when you come over here. People are more vocal online but that doesn’t mean anyone will be like that in your face. I’d be interested to see what your experience actually is like
you forgot Liverpool bro get up here 😀
I think if you react to someone’s video the least you can do is let their Ad run through
I did enjoy your reactions though much better than must as you added a good amount of opinions compared to many.
The class structure is a strange thing in modern days as it is definitely less than previously but not enough for the amount it is ignored in British discourse.
The difference between British and American comedy is that in most cases British comedy is actually funny.
I honestly don't like this dudes video. It feels like he saw the Stephen Fry interview, and decided to try and spin the concepts out into a longer video. He basically repeats all Stephen's points.
Exactly I don't know what people he's talking about 😂
You should watch his video on the dystopian city of Milton Keynes, he basically just rehashed a load of bad jokes from the 80s.
FATHER TED IS NOT A UK COMEDY
I do not care. Just get to a) 90's big fat quiz / 2012 big fat quiz
those will both be awesome
love you btw
both of you
but still
just get those done
Are Canadians more like Brits or Americans!? Just wondering
My experience of Canadians is that you sit bang in between Brits and Americans. You have some traits from your historical links with Britain, but then have picked some stuff up from your noisy neighbours.
Brits think of you as more polite than Americans
I am actually a Brit and you’re right, i think for the most we do think of Canadians like that. I was just interested what the contrast between the two looks like from an American POV.
I think if you grow up in a council estate,the only way to improve and move up in the world is via music or sports
Perception of many who don’t move off the reservation, but I know builders, plumbers, accountants, from council estates who got relatively wealthy - but yeah, for many footballers and dealers are the only rich folk they see.
Grow in an area with doctors, barristers etc, you’ll probably have different aspirations.
Possibly why lots of immigrants value education more than most English working class.
You guys come from a good place. My boss in Oxford is from SC. I’ve spent time in Greenville & Spartanburg, the latter is a fantastic small town. One guy in the Carolina Ale house described it as a northern city in the south - quite integrated. Although the private civil war museum had distinctly ol’ boy racist feel. Greenville Defo more friendly than Boston.
Give us a shout in October. I’ll drive you from London to Oxford and back in a day.
Nah - take sports as an example. You move up off the council estate into sports. You do well. The fact that you came from a council estate will constantly be brought up in every interview you do, in a "look how far you have come" sort of way. Then when you mess up, miss a goal, fail to save a goal etc - "fans" will be screaming at you to go back to the council estate "where you belong".
You're more than welcome here, just don't be a proper tnuc. Cheers 🍻
yeah the way I would describe it is a customer complaining to a suffering waiter about a fly in the soup, the cusomer is American comedy and the waitr is British comedy
So me the points made in this video are valid. But, the majority of the comments are very left leaning.
You will be fine you will also be drunk 😂 come down to the cheddar home of the cheese and proper cider not apple juice you guys have lol
A good filler video to do is another Snooker video, Try 'Ronnie O'Sullivan Calls a 147 off the First Black'... I know it's not Snooker Monday but still.
You will find people different all over the Uk, this seems a little stereotypical, as you say Spencer in certain areas , they dont take shit.......best of friends , worst of enemies
How do the yanks react to working class people who win lottery or suddenly come into money? I'm English, years ago i was talking to a guy in my local pub, about winning the lottery, he said you couldn't come in here anymore if you won, I said why not? He couldn't give me a intelligent answer, i said obviously it would change my life somewhat, but it wouldn't change me because i'm not that sort of person anyway, you know the sort, drop their mate's & think they better than everyone,
that classism exists her in The US also
Interesting that his view of class is based, like his images, are based in the 50s. USA has an even bigger divide than the UK nowadays. This guy has presented a very poor understanding of culture
And his focus on religion in the UK is incoherent. This is as bad as perspective as viewing all americans as gun toting rednecks.
Does anyone in the UK wear a bowler hat anymore?
No - when I was a kid in the 70s I’d see British news snd practically everyone (men) going to work in the city of London (financial area) was wearing a bowler and carried a brolly - was a uniform.
@@spruce381Maybe 50 years old ago but not now
@@stephenclarke2060exactly what I said 1970a - gone by big bang in the city early Thatcher days.
The world is becoming a smaller place. We are all becoming more of same same same, except for accent's 😂
13:31 incorrect the working class and upper class have always got on and have many interests in common, it's some people in the middle class that hates the upper class because they want so desperately to be them and they look down on the working class as they don't want to be them.
I agree, there's good people & unfortunately bad people in all classes,
Great Billy Connolly riff about that.
When are people going to learn that all 195 are unique and no two are the same,
Forgot to mention if you do every visit the UK least rain occurs during last week's of July too the 1st weeks of August. Also we have around 190 days of rain because we sounded by seas. Then we're only 70 miles from the sea lol.