the classic distinction from a legendary director is that American comedy takes a normal situation and makes it crazy. The Brits on the other hand take a ridiculous situation and play it straight.
It's funny because I've noticed that when I watch British tv shows and sit coms, I can deeply relate to them. When I'm watching American shows or sitcoms, it's almost meant to just cheer me up.
This is probably the most true, I can sit and watch British comedy for hours and get really into it and laugh out loud at the complex nuances and jokes, some of which actually aren’t immediately obvious and you don’t notice them on your first watch. They often have a wider plot/relations between the characters which means you need to watch them from the beginning to really understand get the jokes and why they are funny, often referencing past events etc. But if I’m feeling tired or stressed etc. I’ll just chuck something Friends/Brooklyn99/The Office on to see a character doing really dumb outlandish stuff for a quick chuckle that doesn’t require me to pay much attention. I mean, most of the time in American comedies, the punchline (which is really over the top) is then followed by the character who said the joke, explaining why that was funny. You also don’t really need to know the plot or anything, the characters don’t overly have personalities in the sense that they’ll frequently do stuff widely out of character. In that sense, you can watch any episode without having seen another episode and still find it kinda funny, because it’s not the characters themselves that are funny, it’s the stupid stuff they do.. To me, British comedy is something you’d sit and watch as a family on a Sunday afternoon and really enjoy it. American comedy is something you’d stick on in the background on a Friday night when it’s just you and your friend and you can’t be arsed to do anything or you’re trying to work out what you’re gonna do. It’s made to be binge watched and get a quick laugh without having to pay attention, the canned laughter will tell you when something funny is happening..
@@user-ot4wm2fh8g British comedy is for boring people that laugh at things that they think are funny but really isn’t that funny, It’s like hearing a joke then the person has to explain to you why it’s funny but by the time they’re done explaining it it’s just sorta like hmm ok that wouldn’t have been that funny even if I had gotten it right away it’s just be more of the same as like hm funny I guess then you just move on to something that’s actually funny like watching wood rot or paint dry.
@@Macx204 weirdly that’s more how I’d describe us comedy. British comedy is full of low key shade and snarky comments with deeper meaning. Whereas Us comedy (thinking things like the Office, friends, Brooklyn 99 here) tend to make really over the top silly statements like (haha poop!) and then explain the joke. They’re just lighthearted silly shows to watched when you’re bored or feeling down. The characters are all hyper exaggerated and do/say completely unnatural actions/jokes. So it’s great if you’re feeling ill or bored because you’ll just laugh at Michael Scott saying ‘that’s what she said’ for the 1000th time or Jake Peralta explaining why what he said was funny. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a joke explained in a British comedy. What sort of comedies are you referencing here?
When Americans do comedy you can tell that they're actors in a normal situation, you know that that character could never exist. Even if they did they would never act that way. When the british do comedy, we see normal people, and can imagine ourselves in their bizzare situation. The audience can see themselves and makes the joke more realistic and often making us cringe. There are of course exceptions. But I belive this is a general rule.
That doesn't explain Monty Python. Brits can laugh at themselves, and are great character studies. Look at Laugh-In. What a ridiculous and unfunny show that was.
and you are siotis my lad, slightly assholic this is an illogical rhyme but frankly my dear i don't give a dime look like i am running out of time fuck this shit i'm out
+Siotis but then claiming that British and American comedies are different is in itself a blanket statement. The argument as a whole must take into account generalizations, if you can't, you can't have the argument in the first place.
The british arent necessarily sad as such, we just find happiness in much simpler things. Like others suffering. And getting deodorant sets for christmas, we all act happy for them.
You know what Brits also love getting for Christmas? Fucking clothing, more so for shit you aren't going to wear, ever. You pretend to be super happy about it, have a look, over extend that looking period to give the sense that you actually love the gift but at the same time you're saying in the back of your head, what is this shit, how don't they know I'm never going to wear this. Thank you, grandma. Stick it in the drawer or cupboard and never let it see daylight again.
I’m Dutch and as a young kid I enjoyed the American comedy more, partially because it’s pushed more, but now as a teenager i absolutely love British comedy
That sums up the one of the key differences - British humour is more cerebral. There's nothing wrong with taking in American humour on certain days or when you're in certain mood for it to uplift yourself.
I fully understand that development. I predict that when you are a senior citizen you're gonnalaugh most at the kind of comedy you liked when you were a child.
alex ped In the UK there’s no such thing as everyone has a chance of running the country/becoming prime minister. Teachers in public schools never say ‘you could be prime minster’ because to even be considered to be apart of parliament you would of had to attend the best private schools, best universities in the country etc. Whereas in the US if I’m not mistaken they say anyone can be president no matter your background.
@@WILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLU ever watched fawlty towers or blackadder? You don't know catastrophy/self deprecating style humour till you've watched one of those.
Personally, my favourite kind of comedy is expectation subversion. British comedy writing, and British comedians, are really, really good at this. American writing/comedians. I think less so. And I think part of that is to do with the filmmaking. In British TV/film, a lot of the time the humour is from what's not being said - the facial expressions, the actions, the editing etc. In American humour, it's more often about the dialogue. And even when the joke IS the action, more often than not there's music playing to emphasise it. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, on both sides. But for me I think that's the difference - British humour isn't afraid of the pauses, and giving something a moment to be funny. In US comedy, it's more like they're saying "HERE'S THE JOKE, LAUGH NOW". Again, I know this is a generalisation, and both have exceptions to the rule, but for me, that's the best way of separating them...
I agree. Imo American humour is usually about the characters being so dumb or oblivious through their speech they make normal situations insane or stupid. Whilst with British humour the characters are a lot more realistic and dark, but the circumstances they end up in are awkward or absurd and it’s the circumstance itself that’s the comedy.
Louis CK comedy is very unamerican by that measure. A good example is his bit where the family dog eats dark chocolate, which is poisonous to dogs. To save the dog, Louis violently forces her to ingest hydrogenperoxide to force her to puke. The dog is naturally unaware that Louis saved her life and instead hates Louis ever since. Another example is Horace and Pete in its entirety.
Red Dwarf and Father Ted. I would say British laugh outwitting stupidity or simple stupidity, but Americans laugh at physical stupidity, the things people do, not what they say
@@wolfedlemon5762 IASIP is an exception, i dont find many US Comedy shows funny but that one definitely is, it isn't afraid to go there. Just like good UK comdies aren't.
Stephen Fry's analogy of the guitar-smashing scene in "Animal House" to illustrate the difference between American and British humor is absolutely perfect. I can't possibly think of a better example to describe it.
I think the reason Monty Python is so beloved by both Americans and the UK is because it combines the best of both: the super-subtle and the overdone. It's pathetic, but also enjoyable. It's pessimistic, but in an uninhibited, careless way that doesn't totally remove the joy.
I think that it also shows the difference can be overplayed. We English like to talk about how our comedy is superior, but we watch shitloads of American comedy. And if Americans can't "get" our humour, then why do so many of our shows do well over there?
it's interesting to look at the differences between The Thick of It (British) and Veep (American) which spawned from The Thick of It. I think this is an example where the American style has stayed fairly similar to the source. the pessimism and honest-to-god failure never stops really, while it keeps that uninhibited spirit you mentioned.
This is a bit broad and it doesn't apply to every comedy out there, but American comedies tend to be a bit more over the top and less believable than British ones. Thats not a good or bad thing imo, it just depends on your sense of humour
...So having a bunch of Cardinals burst in to tell you all about the Spanish Inquisition and how no one expects them, destroying the earth to make way for a new hyperspace bypass, fighting off an alien invasion while completely hammered, inventing lying, and going full Rambo in idyllic British village against a bunch of old people is believable and not over the top? I think both countries do absurdism and satire. The difference is the British tend to play their absurdity 100% seriously whereas Americans tend to look at you with a wink and a nod about the absurdity of the situation.
I think the best way to describe it is that American comedy takes something and makes it over the top in order to get laughs, whereas the british will take something entirely abnormal and make it seem like a common occurrence. This is why american comedies seem more over the top when British comedies have more over the top concepts
@@checkm8964 Exactly. There is a distinction. Absurdity and randomness is the whole point in Monty Python. In American comedy, absurdity is generally less intentional. It's more of a side effect of raising the stakes of the comedic situation. I'm not saying that it's worse, just that there's a difference. And there are of course exceptions to this rule on both sides.
bruh i just watched a short about a crack fox, and then some old Greg dude, then an obese guy explode after consuming a "wafer thin" wafer. Neither are believable
Difference between US and Brit comedy is simple. US is obvious, Brit is subtle. Both are good, can be great. And there are many exceptions to this generalization.
I would say that Brits can be just as obvious as the Americans are, take an episode of Top Gear, where they’re blowing up a house and making a car into a boat. Vice versa, for example there’s a ton of subtle Kubrick cinematography jokes in Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety
i'll be honest, i've never laughed at an american comedy the way i've laughed at british ones. i've let out singular chuckles but never really belly laughed until i pissed myself like with uk comedy
Catubrannos There you go. Kudos. They only killed a few thousand I think, over their what, five hundred(?) year history. Nothing compared to the Protestant Witch Hunts. We really went nuts in the US with that. As did Central Europe. Oh, and Queen Elizabeth went apeshit on her own people. She invented the myth in order to make her own actions look less bad by comparison. If you were guilty of conspiring with Catholics you'd be hung, disembowel, lit on fire and then dragged through the streets. She did this to Shakespeare's relatives. Which is why he never romanticized Protestantism in his works.
I expected the Spanish Inquisition once, and it was the worst day ever. Completely ruined the Inquisition. Now I've gotta wait until I forget about it so I can not expect one so that they'll-.. Ah!? **one hears the sound of the Spanish Inquisition entering with a crash**
TheSirAshton90 inbetweeners US was so bad because they completely copied the Uk version which doesn’t work because Americans don’t find English comedy funny.
I find that british shows tend to have fewer episodes and may decide. You know what we made five episodes we can leave them with that, in two years they can have another three. I personally find that great because I can see that the writers have less pressure to make something as there is less "filler".
I think the optimistic American, realistic British mind set can also been seen in the x factor auditions. I've seen the following so many times. The American sings and when given criticism replies; the judges know nothing, I'm amazing. The British contestant sings and thanks the judges for their criticism. I think both states of mind have their pros and cons but only one is that of a wanker.
America is the most low-context culture in the world, and this has shaped their entertainment and made them the biggest soft power country in the world. A high context culture is a culture where a lot of the communication happens between the lines, where you have to understand what is being communicated through the context in which it is said. Examples of very high context cultures are Japan, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. But if someone from Kenya and Japan is communicating, both being high context cultures, they will have a harder time understanding each other than if someone from the US were to communicate with a Kenyan or Japanese. Two high context cultures do not share _the same context._ They both will speak between the lines, but in completely different ways, making understanding each other very difficult. The US is a country made up of cultures colliding. People from all over the world came together to create the American culture. So in order to understand each other, everyone had to communicated in more basic, more simple and straight-forwards ways. Leaving little between the lines. This is the key of success when it comes to mass entertainment. A movie made in America, is a simple movie everyone will understand all over the world. While a movie made in Hong Kong, is a movie even people in India might find confusing. That is the key in American humour. Everyone gets the joke. There are higher context American comedy, but they often come from subcultures in America, which have developed their own context independent of the wider American ones. Therefore, picking out the few examples there is of American comedy which defies the American stereotype, proves nothing. When you mentioned in this video Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development, you taking _outliers_ and presenting them as evidence of the entirety of American comedy. That just doesn't work. Within the wider American comedy, there is a subculture of Jewish comedy, which is far more high-context than normal American comedy. Like British humour, Jewish-American humour also widely uses irony, in which the audience has to read between the lines to understand the jokes. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development both comes from Jewish-American comedy, and has Jewish creators and writers. They are outliers going against the American trend, and does not represent typical American culture, but rather subcultures within America. The truth is, American humour is just simpler, more straight forward, and less refined. It's low-context. And it has to be, if it wants to conquer the world. American humour can be enjoyed in high-context cultures without problem, while British comedy rarely succeeds the same way. British comedy is enjoyed by a sort of cult following in America, it's a kind of a subculture, of "know-it-alls" who have more "capable brains" to digest this difficult irony. The general masses of people do not get the jokes. Not just in America, but even in high context cultures like Japan, American comedy is far more successful in gross numbers than British comedy. The only places British comedy achieves airing time on television comparable to American comedy, is in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, Ireland, the Nordic countries, and the Netherlands. Beyond those countries, British comedy just becomes too weird to become mass entertainment. Just look at the adaptations of British comedy into American, and you'll find the difference. Shameless, Cosby/One Foot in the Grave, the Inbetweeners, the Office or even Top Gear. Maybe Shameless is the best version here, because the American adaption of Shameless is a very, very decent series. It has far better potential to reach audience across the world, than the British original. It's funny, easy to understand, well produced, has great actors, sympathetic characters who you can feel for and follow beyond the mere comedy. In many ways the American adaption is just better than the original. But any true comedy buffs will tell you they preferred the British version, it's just _funnier._ But! It's only funnier _if you get it._
@Nabium: Good -- thanks. It would be interesting to then reframe this as a question about whether the humor is in the material . . . or in the capacity of the person experiencing it. What additional insights might that provide (?)
@Nabium: It gets complicated. For example, it's probably demonstrable that the ability to experience high-context humor impedes one's ability to experience low-context humor. But the reverse is not quite true . . .
@@QED_ Isn't it the other way around? If the jokes are dependent on context, then you have to have some understanding of the context in order to get the joke. So therefore the reverse is true: the ability to experience low-context humour impedes one's ability to experience high-context humour. That's why they say that humour is the last thing you learn, when you learn a new language. To understand puns, idioms, humour based on dialects, humour based on cultural references - you need more than just a basic knowledge of a language. I agree with what you said in one way though, people who prefer deeper and less superficial jokes, won't get much out of Big Bang or American Pie. Sure. But, they will still understand the jokes. But people of low context cultures will by default have issues understanding humour from more complicated cultures, unless they have higher than average abilities. And not just logical intelligence, also the ability to understand other people, and willingness understanding of other cultures. Usually people need to be a bit more liberal minded. Not saying they need to be libs or lefties, just liberal minded. Americans who are fans of the Peep Show, Stephen Fry, Monty Python, - and they exist in great heaps now thanks to the internet - have to be open minded and intelligent. While "deeper-than-average" American humour like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sarah Silverman or Rick and Morty is just as accessible for the average Englishman as it is for the average American. Doesn't mean the Englishman is more intelligent than the American, no, it's just about exposure to irony and not being literal minded - which is often the premise of context British humour works out from. The ability of experiencing high-context humour is completely relevant to the context. You might have a very well developed sense of humour and get all the jokes of British humour, but then when switching to Hong Kong movies, it doesn't automatically translate that you would understand that humour. Because the context is a different context. Hong Kong humour is high-context, but not in an ironic way like British and Jewish-American. Hong Kong humour might be very visual, and good Hong Kong comedy are works of art comparable to Charlie Chaplin, which is easily translatable, but even more it's based on social constructs. Similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm. And those social constructs are far different, far more complicated and implied than any European and American culture, and the jokes will be lost for even the most intelligent Englishman. So therefore there are no ability to understand high-context humour. There's an ability to understand British humour, an ability to understand Cantonese humour, an ability to understand French humour, an ability to understand Iranian humour. But those do not translate to each other. So therefore there's no ability to understand high-context culture, that is completely dependent on the culture in question. The only humour we all can gather around, is the American one.
@Nabium: As I said, it's tricky. The ability to experience high-context humor seems to DISABLE the experience of low-context humor. I think we can more-or-less agree on that. But it doesn't seem quite right to say that the ability to experience low-context humor "disables" the experience of high-context humor. Yes, in BOTH cases . . . there's only an ability to experience one kind of humor. But in only ONE case is one disabling the other . . . because we probably don't want to say that a capacity (high context humor) is dis-abled if it's never been en-abled in the first place. So that is a difference. There's probably a developmental dimension here that has to be introduced to properly frame this . . .
It's impossible to understand this unless you also look at the differences in TV drama in the two countries. The Office is a textbook example of 'Kitchen Sink Realism', a genre that although often grim, excels in telling stories about ordinary and 'real' life. That form of drama is everywhere in British comedy, with its protagonists typically broke, its setting always grimy, and its dialogue relatively natural. 15 Storeys High and The Royle Family are two outstanding examples of this type of show. Something like 'Modern Family' is the polar opposite of this, and is totally unlike British comedy. Everything looks much more luxurious, from the expensive houses and cars, to the soft camera lens (as opposed to the harsh British camera lens), to the beautiful people, to the snappy dialogue. It's a great show, but these core elements are fundamentally different. Everything is elevated, like classic American TV drama. There are 'in-between' shows, like Married With Children for example, or Roseanne. There the focus is on the harshness of ordinary, cash strapped working life, but the pacing is again different to British comedy, where long silences and meandering, pointless conversations are the norm - not a novelty. Again this seems like a drama influence. And maybe it's a product of commercial realities as well. Traditional British comedy drama demands investment, that's where the 'smarter' thing comes from. The jokes aren't going to come thick and fast, and most of them won't even look like jokes for people who just tuned in. On US TV where the range of choice is huge, it was much riskier to demand that investment from viewers who could easily flick over. Hence rapid, snappy dialogue and laugh tracks. The cool thing is that the digitisation of entertainment has made national boundaries almost irrelevant in terms of what people watch nowadays. And as well as that, people watch on their own schedule as opposed to flicking through their TV channels. That has meant that different drama styles are much more accessible now as well. Audiences for some foreign 'style' grow as people have the opportunity to watch it, creating a market for homegrown shows that would have really struggled 20 years ago.
I always felt American comedy was more easy, mundanely sarcastic and prominently scripted, in order to to appeal to a very general audience looking for instant gratification, hence the unnaturally fast-paced comedy rhythm.
I agree, in the UK the office genuinely looked just like a UK office, miserable, dark, boring, hopeless, negativity everywhere, stress emerging as people doing strange things. Ricky deliberately chose crap lighting to BE real, the US stick ex miss Americas and beautiful models with extra lighting and pure white teeth in to appeal to the masses, yet that ISN'T the masses, thus how can it be real? In the UK the only time we laugh at unrealistic is when it's crazy madness, Python, Goodies, Reeves and Mortimer, Garth Marenghi's dark place, if it ain't realistic it had better be just silly! In the US a lot of the time it's neither.
Teethgrinder 83 It was cutting edge, the reason CH4 is my go to for new comedy.They really genuinely believe in the artist and just trust them with a script and air time, they just run with it. Look at Utopia by Dennis Kelly how good was that? Not comedy but the writing was phenomenal!
Once heard, that in classic American comedy people laugh about someone stupid who is screwed over because he is stupid while in british comedy someone not stupid gets screwed over nonetheless
In America if you're a failure you're only allowed to blame yourself. In Britain, and possibly Europe, people seem far more cynical towards a system that has ultimately caused their failure as much as their own life choices. I think the general mentality of optimism or harsh realism affects each country's comedic styles, respectively.
3pimpzilla Meanwhile, we're sending a bunch of children to live in cages, have the worst history of school shootings in the world and our national budget is in the worst shape it's been on since World War II.
Lmao I knew this comment section was gonna get heated by the end. Let's be honest, not everyone can become President in the US, but *anyone* can. You don't have to have some heavenly right to rule, you just have to be motived enough to want to make a change. America was unique in its founding, and many countries have now followed suit in promoting individual liberties (despite the UK infringing upon some serious rights atm), which include the right to decide how you're government is run; including taking a part in running it. And it's true, Americans are told we can be President since we're young--at least I was. And it really makes you feel like you can be the difference you want to see. Anyway, I'm rambling. But from what I can tell, even in these divided times, I still believe that the US is a special place, and it makes me feel special to be a part of it.
Tori That shows what you know... Right now, both parties are looking for women candidates because both parties want to be first to put a woman in the white house. In that respect both parties want to be progressive. The only problem my party has is finding a woman who is actually smart and still willing to be a republican! Lol. Tricky thing that. I think in general women tend to be more liberal politically and so it leaves us at the shallow end of the pool, Palin not excluded.
British TV comedies are usually written by one or at most two scriptwriters: this necessarily results in short series runs of six-seven episodes. American TV comedies are written by committees. While this generates more ideas and means they can do a twenty-to-thirty episode series, this also makes it feel more like something impersonal coming off a production line - mass-produced rather than bespoke.
Mr Bojangles Believable doesn’t make it better. If you’re looking for a more subtle type of humour, then watch the UK Office. If you’re looking for over-the-top humour, watch the US Office. These two shows were trying to accomplish different things. Personally, I don’t find anything funny in the mundane reality of the real world, so I enjoy something that’s so absurd it’s going to make me laugh more. But I’m not going to say because I find the US Office more funny that it’s better, it was INTENDED to be more comedic and lighthearted, as was the UK Office was intended to be more hopeless and pitiful.
American comedy has its gems just as Brits do.. the only thing that irks me is that they have to milk something until it's dead. Whereas Brits can leave something as a classic and not kill it off with 20 unnecessary seasons. How many US office seasons were there compared with the Brit version. They were both good.. not really comparable though, they're unique in their own ways. Holly wood does the same thing. The Hangover was a great film.. did we need 2 more sequels. Or American Pie movie was a surprise hit.. therefore 4 more needed to be made apparently.
James Todd tbh the US version Is barely unrealistic. It’s and exaggeration to be sure. But in most cases with film a slight exaggeration is always better than the boring Truth.
I feel like RUclips copyright infringement is talked about a ton but many don't know the intricacies of it. Let me give you a brief rundown of how the copyright system and appealing works. Let's say you post a video. A program scans your video and catches you have copyright visuals or audio and gives the video a flag. A flag can mean your video is either: A) take down OR B) not taken down, but a company gets to show ads instead of you and collect all the profits Of my 24 videos, I would say maybe 20-21 were initially flagged as containing copyrighted content. For all but 1, the company decided to simply show their own ads and collect the profit. 1 video was taken down completely (my Simpsons video essay, which I felt was a somewhat warranted decision to flag. That has a lot of Simpsons clips). A flag means the video gets marked for copyright in your video manager and it tells you which portion of the video warrants the flag (for example, my video on opening shots was flagged for the introduction, the approximately 30 seconds or so was taken straight from 2001: A Space Odyssey). Whether the video was taken down completely, or the company decides to run their own ads, there is an ability to submit an appeal. A request for appeal involves selecting why you think your video should not be flagged (options include "This is my own content," "this content is not actually copyrighted in the first place," etc. Video essayers always choose the "this is fair use under copyright law" option). Then, we have to describe why we think the flagged clip falls under fair use. Here is my explanation for this very video: "The short clip I use of The Office is fair use under copyright law. The purpose of using the clip is to educate the viewer on key differences between American and British comedy. Previously in the video, I show a clip of Stephen Fry stating that British comedians want to play the failure. To expand on this idea, I show a short clip of David Brent playing the guitar. The clip is 21 seconds long, and I talk over 10 seconds of the clip. Due to its educational purpose and its extremely short length, the use of this clip does not replace the complete viewing of the original scene and the use of the clip in this video is fair use." This is where I think people don't understand fair use. There are many video essays I watch on RUclips that I feel could, in a court of law, not qualify as fair use. Two examples: A) A video contains copyrighted background music. If you don't make any educational commentary about the music in the background, that music is copyrighted, and you're using it for longer than a "sample" of the song, it may or may not be fair use. Many video essays, including mine, have songs in background. I put in a couple minutes of the song under my narration as I talk. If I don't own the music, and I don't make an educational commentary on the music, it's not obviously fair use anymore. B) You use a lot of a movie. If you talk about one movie, and you use 10 minutes of clips of that movie, it becomes necessary to appeal. 10 minutes is a long time. I'm not saying you're completely guilty if you do either of these things, but what I am saying is that fair use does not become obvious anymore. That's why you need to submit appeals, and I think appeals are a necessary evil to stop people from posting movie clips willy nilly. This first round of appealing weeds out the scammers and leaves the people willing to request an appeal and defend their work. The problem is that this slows down the artist, and it really is a shame. I have had to submit appeals for 17 videos. For 4 of my videos, I did not try to appeal because I felt like I truly did use too much of a certain clip (my opening shots video, again, has a very long and "non-fair use" clip). So for 4 videos, they show whatever they want, and I get to keep the video up. After submitting your request, you wait. They have 30 days to get back to you or else, by default, you win the appeal and get to show your own ads. That's a long time to wait, but I understand. They have to make a human read your appeal instead of robots scanning for content, so it takes time and resources. Every company I've petitioned got back to me within a week. So let's say they reject your appeal. Now what? Well, if it was an appeal to get your own ads, you can do another appeal. But now, if they reject you again, your video goes down and you get a copyright strike. To me, that is not worth the risk. So for this video on British vs. American Comedy, I decided to not appeal again. I don't try for the double appeal because I'd rather have no ads than lose my video. So what if they took your video down and then reject your first appeal? Then that's bad luck for you. Personally, I have had little problem with copyright infringement. I use my best judgment before appealing, I state my case, and so far, I've never had a problem. I am one of the lucky ones, though. Hope this was at least a little bit helpful. I think most people only hear from the RUclipsrs who are getting screwed by copyright laws, so maybe another perspective is worth your time. But it really isn't fair when a RUclipsr gets sued for thousands of dollars and has to appear in court. We have no money, and do movie companies really believe we are causing thousands of dollars worth of damage? If anything, our video essays make people want to go out and see these movies! We're advertising how great these movies are! Sheesh.
American humour is more kid friendly. That’s why the office US got over 20 million viewers because more people could watch it. British humour is more dark
I think british humor has more of the surprise element. The joke comes when you least expect it. British people seem to have that very natural way of making fun of things.
I worked in an American office and there is a lot of brighter colors and such. Part of making workers work harder and feel more energized or some such by surrounding them with certain colors.
The British Office is more original and for the first season is a straight-up better show. The US Office diverges (and to me becomes the superior beast after a few seasons). Neither show is particularly realistic, but the characters in the US Office are about as close as I've seen in a TV comedy. The British Office features realistic templates and makes them as cringe-worthy as possible for the sake of the humour, but the basis of the characters is very realistic. However the US office takes those character templates and slowly rounds them out to be more like real humans. It also makes everybody out to be more likeable...but this is part of the brilliance of the US Office. It's portraying unlikeable people as loveable is part of it's message of the unknown brilliance of everybody's everyday lives. Overall I prefer the US Office, but love both shows. The British Office is probably funnier, but the US Office is a better drama and to me is much more rewatchable.
Better than I expected, kudos. Two things I'd mention as an outsider who grew up watching both varieties from Canada are that people in the UK seem to have a broader grasp of absurdity/surrealism, whereas in the US, that kind of material tends to be pitched at the "college/stoner crowd"; and that, for a lot of the UK classic material, it's just assumed that you'll get most of the historical/literary references, which makes the material seem more sophisticated than it actually is. In that way, Frasier was very British-seeming: The plots weren't particularly clever--not that they were bad--but the snooty dialogue made it seem classy.
British humour reflects the British society, the reason why the flash obnoxious guy who is always trying to win is destined to fail in British television and cinema is because in British culture we don't like people who boast, showing off is almost one of the worst social conventions you could do, everyone will judge you. Therefore the hero in most British films and television is the average guy, the everyman but more than that, the guy that wins usually is aware of his character faults and isn't trying to be a hero or the good guy. That's the reason why Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses is destined to keep failing and why Norman Stanley Fletcher from Porridge will always win at the end of every episode, because he wasn't trying to win in the first place.
Much agreed. English humor tends to be a lot more arid, and the wit, as far as I can tell, tends to come from both cutting sarcasm and self-deprecating self-awareness. American comedy, in a lot of cases but not all (we have some incredible standup comedians, for instance), just kind of makes me uncomfortable, while the discomfort and disquiet trademark to English humor are something I can identify with.
P Mason, well technically we all speak English. The Amish call everyone Englishmen no matter if your American, British, Irish, Scottish, or Australian. I am a fan of old regular English not this drag made by the blacks to sound cool.
One of the big differences is exportability. The two best forms of US comedy are political satire and cartoons (it's no mistake that spongebob was in the video, there's also South Park, Family Guy, Simpsons, Futurama, Pixar, etc, etc.). The cartoons are appreciated around the world, the satire though? Not so much, it needs a certain cultural context... British comedy gives us Blackadder, Monty Python, The Office, Whose Line is it Anyway, Fawlty Towers, etc. All of which play to universal human nature and have broad appeal - almost all cultures can appreciate the absurd. We have some *brilliant* satire too (e.g. Yes Minister), but again, that stuff doesn't export so well. I'll leave you with an expansion on what Stephen Fry said... Both the US and the UK could make a comedy featuring a man at a restaurant where the waiter keeps making mistakes. The difference is that in the US the customer would be the protagonist, whereas in the UK it would be the waiter.
One of the biggest tv exports since 1990 = Mr Bean. Just not in the US 'Some filmmakers argue that American and British tastes are closer than we realize. When the director Frank Oz showed his latest comedy, "Death at a Funeral," which was shot in Britain with a British cast, he was surprised to find little difference between test-audience reactions in Kansas City, Missouri, and London. "The score was exactly the same," Oz said, "but the British crowd was not as boisterous. They laughed in all the same places. They just didn't laugh as hard or as long." www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/arts/28iht-bean.1.7283833.html
I'd say the same for animated cinema, beating much of what comes out of hollywood, although they are not invincible to endless rehashes either (Toy Story 4 and Ice Age 6 The Kidnapping, set for 2019) and may be becoming generic too (a random collection of comedic animals seems to be all too common). Nothing wrong with KOTH, although I can see why it feel a bit slow and boring for some. The Simpsons has probably dragged on for too long. Plenty of old shows from the early-mid 90s are repeated on tv, I'll watch if there is little else on. I haven't seen any of the newer Simpsons seasons although I wonder if it has had to update it's humour, for better or worse. I think there was a new Beavis and Butthead, never seen. South Park has done quite well and remained relevant by mocking the real world. Never heard of Duckman
What's the exported American satire? I can only think of a few films but no comedy TV series. Catch 22 (book, not film) is one of the best (THE best, imo) satirical books of all time though.
After watching American shows like the office (ik theres a British one relax), brooklyn 99, community etc and comparing them with British ones like the IT crowd and Monty Python, it seems to me that American comedy focuses more on absurd characters in realistic situations while British comedy focuses on absurd situations with realistic characters. There are obviously exceptions to both and both are equally funny but it's just something I noticed.
I think that British humour is generally more witty and understated. American humour is always more flashy and upbeat but I find it grabbing me by the lapels and shouting "hahaha did you get it buddy?!" a lot more. Which gets tiresome.
@@dynamo1796 I feel the exacts same way about british comedy.... i think sometimes they're trying to be too witty and the joke completely falls apart and just becomes lame😂
Don't be so hard on yourself. You guys have some decent comedians: Michael Mittermeier, Helge Schneider, Otto Waalkes, Eckart von Hirschhausen... Chaostheater Oropax are hilarious (if somewhat crude). There are some funny German comedies of the "silly" type out there. If you compare films like "Der Schuh des Manitu" and "(T)Raumschiff Surprise" to international parody films, they hold up pretty well. I was positively surprised by how much "Fack ju Göhte" made me laugh. And there have also been a couple of really great dark comedies/tragicomedies over the years. "Knocking on Heaven's Door" is absolutely hilarious while not at all playing down the more serious themes. (It's also pretty much the only Til Schweiger flick I can be bothered to rewatch.) And "Zwei Weihnachtsmänner" is just delightfully mean! What I would say is that German humour doesn't really have a "trademark." As in, German humour is not recognisably German the way English humour is recognisably English.
I've heard that Germans like a laugh just like anyone. The difference is that Germans laugh ONCE THE WORK IS DONE. (I borrowed that from Henning Wehn.)
maybe he wasn't talking about the movies. But that would make even less sense, as the series was less about comedy, and more about being a regular crime/drama series.
Have you ever seen 21 Jump Street? Shit is just making fun of the genre in which they exist. If you don't find being "meta" funny, that's fine, but a lot of people like entertainment that is self aware.
Both the UK and the US office are brilliant in different ways, but that British humour doesn't always translate. Take the aborted remake of Peep Show in the US (but that was always doomed- how can you recreate a show that's already perfect?!).
This comment section is just people trying to brag about how pessimistic they are. BOTH forms of comedy are great, and BOTH have their place and role in the entertainment industry. You can PREFER one, but that doesn't mean you insult the other.
The inbetweeners is an example that the difference is in the realistic category like there is no really over the top editing in the British version but there is far too much in the American version
I think the biggest difference between American humor and British humor is the tendency for british humor to set characters up in conflict with their own actions. Look at the difference between Jerry Lewis and Rowan Atkinson. The physical humor from both is absurd, but Mr. Bean as a character is very quiet, whereas Lewis is loud and obnoxious. It's this contradiction that provides a lot of the humor. Or as is so often the case in British comedy, the stupider the thing being said is, the more deadpan the delivery. Monty Python often works simply by giving audiences absurd situations but having the actors perform them deadpan. Or they'll attack a serious, ostensibly complex situation, in an entirely goofy way (taxing people standing in streams, or penguin research, for example). American humor is more born out of tension created between characters, rather than within the characters themselves.
I agree but both of them work very very well. Comedy is all about making you laugh. Lewis is great at being zany and out there while Bean is great at being quiet
The "absurd, but quiet," vs. "loud & obnoxious" is true and hit home when I thought of John Cleese doing his Minister of Silly Walks bit in Monty Python. His body goes wild, but he's quiet and his face is always perfectly deadpan!
There is also a very specific odd couple formula perfected in a lot of british comedy based on the dynamic of where the one character is light hearted and attempts to be funny the whole time, but comes across as silly but loveable, and the other one trying to be dead serious and then inadvertently ending up being hilarious. An infinite source of self-deprecating humor. I'm thinking of Basil and Manuel, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, Black Adder and Lieutenant George, Mark Corrigan & Jeremy etc. Also, just for interest sake the character of Mr Bean was based largely on the character of Mr Hulot created by french comedian Jacques Tati. Mr Hulot's Holiday is an absolute classic of comedy and well worth checking out for those who haven't seen it. :)
I'm Aussie. We have also worked in England & the USA. Our take is that the Brits' invent comedic irony out of bad situations' whereas Americans shows are largely seen through a small prism of 'over the top gags' that only relate to reality on a puerile level & via Hollywood & NYC where certain ethnicity arrived from E Europe & depicted the USA through their newly arrived prism which only bore a passing resemblance to historical realities.
@@letsseeif the only American comedy I find funny tbh is South Park and American Dad. I'd say that I'm surprised that American Dad still hasn't suffered from Family Guy Syndrome yet but then again, AD doesnt constantly have "hey, remember that time when....." overused garbage thrown in a bajillion times in every episode so I guess its not a surprise really
I'm English, and I believe that many great comedy programmes have come out of the US. Some of my favourites are Seinfeld, Scrubs, The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. I always thought Cheers and Frasier were over-rated. I've spent quite a lot of time in the US, and I think Americans are just as capable of understanding irony, satire, and other more subtle aspects of humour as British people. However, many American comedies (not the ones I've just listed as favourites) patronise their viewers. They often feel the need to spell out and explain a joke, just in case you didn't get it. American comedies often feel the need to preach (e.g., about 'fairness', 'family values', 'respect', 'compassion', 'morality' etc.) or have some kind of heart-warming message within them. I think we British tend to find that stuff patronising and too sickly sweet. British comedy can be sentimental, but typically deals with it in a more subtle fashion. I think our comedy also has a greater tendency to be vicious and dark. Pathos is central to a lot of British humour ...when things are so incredibly sad, they become extremely funny. I rarely see that in American comedy, and I'm not sure if Americans understand why we laugh at such things. This ties in with the British tendency to laugh at ourselves -- the 'look at us, aren't we crap!' attitude. I think Americans do that far less. Maybe this is because a greater stress is placed on 'winning' and 'success' in American society. I think the differences between the British and American versions of The Office illustrate these points well. They're both spoof fly-on-the-wall documentaries set on in office, but apart from that, they have little in common. But I like them both. Because of our differing histories, societies and cultures, it can be difficult for Americans to understand our humour fully, and for the same reasons, I accept that American humour must sometimes pass me by too.
As a loyal fan of British comedy for years, I have noticed that when watching american series or movies, there is always that element of 'heart' and humanity in them that is missing from British equivalents. They're warmer and more heart-warming and that doesn't just go for comedy. There's been many american remakes of British tv series over the years and my earliest example that I was exposed to was Queer as Folk. While the 2 'versions' start off very similar, after a few episodes the american one stops trying to copy the british original and just takes off to become its own thing and the two couldn't be more different by the end! The american one feels very much more heartwarming and you truly connect with the characters, understanding and sympathising with them deeply on a personal level. Whereas with the British version you still feel like you're walking alongside the characters and observing what's happening with them from the side. While the American version made feel like I've experienced the characters' lives together with them, the British version made me feel like I've had a sneak peak into their lives 'from above', as in - I was more removed and distant from them. I was just observing. The entire series felt like a work of art in itself, in the way the story is presented, like something carefully crafted to make it look good as a ready art piece. I feel like that still holds true for me for most British vs American series I watch.
Don't really agree completely, if you watch "The Inbetweeners" we can relate to them intrinsically, they make us go back to our teenage lives where we would struggle with embarrassing parents or continual disappoinments in pursuing the opposite sex, it doesn't have to be warm and optimistic for us to relate and see ourselves in them.
@@theartofthefart523 Haven't seen it but can understand what you're referring to. It's just about the different ways that people relate to the characters on screen. And mind you, in case you got the wrong impression - I'm a devout lover of British film&TV series!
Honestly, I find both comedy styles great. Coming from the UK I obviously love the ironic/sarcastic kind of humour we have here but I find American comedy just as good. I recently bought Arrested Development on dvd and it is probably one of the best shows I've watched in ages. The positivity of American humour, while funny, also brings a warm smile to your face. I guess some British people find American humour "cheesy" with the happy endings and too-good-to-be-true characters, but that's why I love it. It brings a spark of joy into my otherwise depressing humour. :)
Yea it had a feel good factor, but Miranda herself was far from perfect. She was a clumsy underdog who we watched overcome a lot of mistakes and downfalls to get to where she was and we were thrilled to see her make it in the end, while having a laugh at her more embarrassing moments because we could relate to them. For example, I laugh at American humour because the character's situations are so unexpected and I watch it unfold in front of me, whereas I laugh at Miranda because I know what's coming and it's the whole ironic "oh god, not again!" scenario. The American and British humour takes different turns, but both lead to equally funny conclusions!
Thanks, it's enjoyable to think about this. I thoroughly enjoy both American and British humor myself. And it's true that American shows more often feature almost 'perfect' characters who end up in strange situations. It seems we don't think that we Americans are a naturally awkward people, but the British own it.
Personally I feel like Arrested Development just sets itself a part from any American comedy sitcom I’ve seen. Every character is hopeless, awkward, unsuccessful, and yeah it has its nice cute moments but overall it’s feels a lot more “British” idk. The visuals is very much American, but such a show like Arrested Devlopment just caters to our humour so well compared to stereotypical cheesy shows like Friends.
Situational Awareness! No, I’m British and I love American humour, my personal favourite films are 21 and 22 Jumpstreet and my favourite TV show is The Office (US). I don’t see the variation in comedy from the 2 different nations because to me it’s simply does the film make a good film?
British people are not pessimistic, we are cynical. It allows us to be more positive about pessimistic subjects. Americans look at every problem and then try to find the 'Self Help book' for it.
***** My mum used to work in the main shop on the island we live on, and at one point there was an English woman getting angry that the island didn't have the LOCAL newspaper of the county she came from, even she was from England, and were were in Scotland, and it would have been at least 600 miles appart.
***** I hate change, I will admit to that, but I still love the separation between cultures, and wouldn't want them all to be same everywhere in the world!
I always thought, the sandals an socks thing was a typical German trademark, and from what I gather, many Germans expect, that people speak German, too, which is even more ridiculous, regarding the relevance of the language and its role in the past in quite a lot of European countries.
Totally agreed. American shows I watch when doing something like eating dinner because it’s easy to turn my brain off to. British humour I am there, feeling these characters emotions while sometimes cringing while uncontrollably laughing at every joke
@gilgabish Most english speaking countries including US say that when mocking that something isn't difficult. Or "it isn't brain surgery". I tend to enjoy mixing things up by throwing out a "it isn't rocket surgery" instead. Now there's a joke I can count on.
@@raphaels33 Calm down, child lol Saying that you don't want realism is basically admitting that you can't see the humour in life, which in turn makes you seem pretty mono-dimensional. The British series The Royle Family would be completely lost on you, I expect. There's so much subtle humour in it. US comedy always has to be over the top and in your face, it seems - it kind of implies that Americans aren't perceptive enough for subtle humour.
@@Pirosbor subtlety is just one aspect of humor, which is pretty "mono-dimensional" if you ask me. Subtle jokes can also limit the scope of the audience, as being too subtle may only be interpreted correctly by people in a specific culture. I'm not saying anything against British humor, I find both British and American humor funny; different but funny
Mmmh, having watched both types of comedy and being from none of both places, I can see a different difference, if that makes any sense. The difference I've seen has to do more about how the delivery is done, and just maybe, that can somehow affect what is written. US comedy is more, I don't know, blunt?, overdone?, obvious?, loud? one-line-ish? On the other hand, British comedy seems more subtle, understated, backhanded, self-deprecating and even sometimes too "context-necessitating"; it's got, to my perception, more "Ahaa!" moments packed in. On the other, third hand, perhaps I'm wrong. After all, I've mainly only seen guys like Fallon, Kimmel, Conan, Letterman and some such, as well as SNL, and felt like they were trying too hard, in turn ruining it for me. I did, however, enjoy Ferguson and find Oliver particularly witty, and they're British. Is there a connection? Is perhaps the sample too small? Are perhaps my US samples, bad crop? Those are questions I cannot yet answer. Anyway, that's my take as an outsider.
The Simpsons was smart and subtle when it was written by John Swartzwelder. And quite wry and satirical. From the English, sorry British cannon? Um, I'll limit myself to six to save time, cos you posted six days ago: Oscar Wilde, Fawlty Towers, Have I Got News For You, Peep Show, 'Bremner, Bird and Fortune', The Office, Dylan Moran - granted hes Irish, Stewart Lee, Help! with Whitehouse and Langham, and Would I Lie To You. Thats ten, and actually Jeremy Clarkson, Hammond and May are very clever dispite the more obvious humour, yknow, for the American audience XD That was a nice little challenge, now its your turn: find a mention of the word 'shoehorn' on this webpage. Seemingly impossible, yes?
I enjoy both British and American comedy and hate when people compare the two because we both have amazing comedy material. When it comes to American talk shows, however, we are pretty piss poor. I agree that our main late night shows and big network comedies are shitty, but that's because they're all about the $$$ and they're trying to appeal to the largest audience possible. There are plenty of quality American comedy movies and shows, but they may not be the most popular. Just remember that America has an enormous population, so the bigger the audience you try to appeal to the more watered down your content is going to be.
Python is the best place to start. I've always thought dynamic languages are better at teaching programming concepts without getting bogged down on syntax.
Programming in python. Takes a break and goes to watch some comedy on RUclips. Reads oblique reference to python in comments. Goes back to programming. Takes a break and watches some more videos. Finds another python reference. Goes back to programming. I'm stuck in an internet loop.
Being from the UK I really enjoy UK comedy shows like The Inbetweeners, The Office and Blackadder. They all have a typical ironic and sarcastic humour and often relate to real life. I haven't really seen that much US comedy but there are some great US comedians with a great sense of humour. Despite my allegiance to UK comedy shows I do prefer the panel shows. 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie to You? and Mock the Week are the shows that really make me laugh and I think best reflect the typical UK sense of humour.
Eh I love mock the week. Untill you realise half of the cast are reading off of a script. Why do you think the guest look at their desk when giving out the right answer?
British humour is biographical. It's always quite realistic, and based on real people. We like to laugh at real life. We find it funny, because it reminds us of ourselves, or people we know. Whereas American comedy is more fantasy. They like ridiculous characters. Curb your Enthusiasm is British in style. But the characters are still a bit too ridiculous to be truly British. A British version would be a little more realistic
And many people find a cynical view of reality entertaining...Poking at something that is real is therapeutic. I would agree, Curb your enthusiasm is as close to British comedy I can think of in the States. Also Comedy in Britain has a history of being associated with politics and is mixed with satire almost always. For example, the monty python skits are in many ways a push back from from the previous generation where everything had to make sense and be structured in x, y, and z. Something that was silly and made no sense irritated many of the older generation of the time. which in turn made it every more funny. Sort of like comedy version of punk rock. This, British people like, makes them feel a sense of release. What we consider entertainment is very different.
No obviously not, I said 'Also comedy in Britain...' It was an additional comment about British comedy and Monty Python's historical context due to, in part its country of origin.
I'm an absolute fan of British comedy. When I first watched The Office (UK), I couldn't really bear the humour. I felt a huge wave of second-hand embarrassment, but after a while I really got into it and I absolutely adore it now. As someone has already said, British comedy, I feel like, is more about laughing at yourself, not taking yourself all to serious. That's what I love about British comedy. It's down to earth and everyone's having a laugh at themselves. I love to joke about myself and I think that being able to mock about yourself is one of the greatest attributes that one can have. That's also why I love Ricky Gervais. I do absolutely love American comedy as well, as long as it's the 1970s SNL skits.
Vozhan comedy is 100% subjective. But I think to understand the British humor better you need to be a part of their society. However American humor is very simple and easy to understand, personally I think British humor is better as the funny part isn’t always so obvious
I think what your looking for it that us British are very very sarcastic, and we can take the piss out of other people and ourselves and still laugh. I once heard about this man went into an American pub and a man ordered a drink, when it came he picked it up and dropped it on the floor, spilling it everywhere. The only British man in the pub pointed at the man an shouted WAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY What an idiot haha. Then an American woman turned to him and said "that poor man just spilled beer all down his shirt and glass went everywhere, he could be hurt". I think this proves that Americans, whilst very funny at times like to stick together by sticking up for strangers and being jolly. However British people like to stick together by taking the piss and pointing out people's flaws, much like siblings would against each other.
Top gear, the inbetweeners, Catherine Tate, little Britain, Mr bean, black adder, month Python, etc No offence but the uk is funnier (My opinion though)
But a brilliant kind of goofy: Simpsons (seasons 1 - 8), Curb Your Enthusiasm, South Park. Some very very good stuff. Plus Monty Python was downright absurd and goofy. Not a clear-cut debate.
@@bigman25plus25 mmmm the simpsons season 4-8 yes. Then turns ridiculously American goofy. South Park is the only US show I like as a Englishman, mainly because its extremely clever. The rest are so hard to watch for me though
I think one thing I noticed about British comedy is normal, dry reactions to absurd things being a staple, and American comedy often involves absurd reactions to normal, dry things.
American comedy seems more extravagant. In a country so big you need to do alot to stand out. Here in the UK it's the little things we enjoy and is the little things we enjoy. The example I always like to use is the Inbetweeners. In the scene where Jay crashes the bike and just falls through the door I was pissing myself in America I could see it needing to be more extravagant than that like explosions (Maybe not that far, but you get the point)
James I disagree. Here in America, we in fact don't really like all the "explosions" in films. We make look like we do but we really don't. Truth is, many of us Americans don't really roll with what you may know of when it comes to America and we like smart comedy but of course we still enjoy the somewhat extravagant things to an extent.
Last I recall this conversation wasn't about the size of land, but comedy. Oh, and may I remind you that this big country came to be from a countries mistakes? So technically it's England's fault.
American comedy is basically feel good comedy. British comedy is like the weather, a bit drab and melancholy but comforting in the sense that we're all experiencing the same thing.
I think it is like every difference between us.Before I had visited USA I had very definite stereotypes of how Americans will be. I did indeed meet one of two of my stereotypes. I met the have a nice dayers, I met the sense of irony bypassers and the do you know the Queen brigade, but they were the minority. Most of the Americans I met were just like us to be honest. When I made a joke on a bus in Vegas I got a mass laugh. A couple got off the bus after 1 block. A lady with a mid western accent said who the hell rides the bus for just one block? So I said perhaps they are from LA, in my best Hugh Grant voice. I met well informed, intelligent people with broad minds and well thought out opinions. American humour is very similar to UK humour, we find the same things funny, but there were US standups that did a series of snappy one liners (EG Steven Wright) but then there were also the George Carlin and Bill Burr monologue comics. You cannot generalise about UK US humour, we are both very diverse populations, with a diverse range of tastes.
Thank you, I don’t watch much British comedy, but I don’t watch much American comedy either. Why can’t we just accept each other’s views on stuff and get along.
This guy gets it. I believe it also has to do a lot with our upbringing such as a group of poor people from varying countries will be able to laugh at a joke more well off individuals wont find amusing Our sense of humor much like our personalties are moulded by our surroundings
I see what you mean, but when people refer to UK vs US humour, I think it refers more to the humour the media portrays, not the sense of humour your average Brit or American possesses. I agree, that different humour types have very little to do with nationality, but there as a very big different between the types of humour in American TV and British TV. American comedy is generally more light hearted and outlandish than British comedy, with the latter being more grounded and and subtle. This doesn't at all summarise what the general population finds funny, but what the media *thinks* we find funny. And I believe those working American media greatly undermine the humour tastes and adaptability of their viewing audience. In the UK you see so many popular American shows being broadcast on major networks because they know that we in the UK enjoy American media, and because we've been subjected to it for so long, we're used to it and we're able to adapt. Americans aren't subject to much international media most of the time, everything is sort of based in America there. I'm sure Americans are just as capable as Brits as adapting to and appreciating different forms of humour, unfortunately, those who work in American broadcasting disagree :/
I agree overall. A lot of people think of British humor as all posh (and that exists) and American humor as being more crude (which also exists) but that certainly cannot be used as a generalization because there are too many contradictions in both cases.
In my eyes (MY opinion): British humor: more 'realistic' (believable situations), subtle, longer build-up towards a joke or situation. American humor: over the top (unbelievable situations), right in your face, straight to the joke or situation. I enjoy both a lot, but I prefer British humor by far.
I think we need to take your point about British humour being realistic and expand upon it. I feel like it often takes realistic situations and makes them absurd. Monty Python was often silly and over the top but it was usually following a very normal situation and one you wouldn't expect (such as the Spanish Inquisition). One of my peeves with the argument is that one is necessarily funnier than the other. I love the I.T crowd for example but taking it to America and simply putting in an American cast didn't work, that's why the U.S version of The Office became much more successful as the series went on was because they made it its own thing. Heck, I am British and my favourite show of all time is The Simpsons. During its peak years, nothing came close to how funny, smart, witty or just down right emotional it could be.
I do think British comedy is a bit more subtle, and self deprecating. Also I think we do tend to push boundaries a bit more. British comedy doesn't really shy away from sensitive subjects that really should've be funny like religion, prejudice death even things like child abuse, rape and domestic violence are perfectly acceptable in British comedy. Another thing I noticed recently because my kids watch alot of Disney and Nickelodeon TV. Because of restrictions they're unable to access alot of it on their devices without my input. Most of the American kids shows my preteens enjoy are rated 12 because the show's are usually about high school kids and occasionally refence bras or use terms like "second base" More recently we watched things like Wallace and gromit, yonderland. They're rated U. Meaning they're suitable for children of all ages without even the need for parental guidance, like most Pixar and DreamWorks films recomend. Honestly some of the blatant innuendos in Britain childrens comedy probably would even get passed the censorship of American adult comedy.
I'm from Ireland, I watch British comedy to laugh and think and cringe and American comedy to laugh and not think too much and feel good. It's not an absolute as there are definitely comedies in UK that are just amazing but silly (Reeves & Mortimer) and American comedies that are cringe and intelligent.
@@andyzhao7822 Shaun of the dead had a happy ending!? (SPOILERS INNOCENT BYSTANDERS THAT HAVEN'T SEEN ONE OF THE BEST ZOMBIE MOVIES EVER) Shaun and Liz are back together the zombie outbreak is done. David the landlord, Ed (sort of) and Shaun's mum are all dead. That other girl that was leading the other posse lived and so did David's girlfriend (she hid up in a tree ate David's leg until the zombies were gone. It's a deleted scene sorta thing that's on the dvd .) I'd say that was pretty bittersweet.
I thought it would be more simple than that... Every American in a comedy thinks they are the hero of their own story wanting to be 'top dog'. A confidence that trumps them seeing their own failures which we the audience get to be in on. In Louis he is a smart, intelligent, and marginally successful guy who is really good at making people laugh on a stage, but he can't translate that confidence into success in his own personal life. He knows it but doesn't acknowledge it, we know it and get to acknowledge it and revel in his failures and successes. The British style is the person is that doesn't fit into the norm, the awkwardness they feel, and the absurdity of being singled out for doing something just socially taboo. Such as Ricky in the office. He could be quite charming and hilarious if his 'style' of comedy didn't shove him into doing things that were completely socially awkward or upsetting social norms. TBH I see Michael Scott post season 2 as a very emotionally complex character. The first two seasons (season one especially) he comes off as an egotistical shit that thinks his shit doesn't smell. But after season 2 we see Michael is more aware of his flaws, as much as we the audience and the rest of the office are, and he takes some steps to try and fix that. Towards the end of the show we see people have accepted Michael because as much as he is an odd duck that seeks attention and glory, he has a generosity of spirit and feeling that means he can surprise you with how much of a friend he can be when you need it. Jim, Pam, and others get very close to him because of this. We feel sympathy for him because we see his struggle to overcome his own flaws and build off of that. Being unique but welcoming is the best way to fit in. Finding a way to express your individuality while also not upsetting anyone. It's a distinctly American cultural thing that is hard to express. Whereas in the UK being anything outside of the social norm puts you immediately into a weird social limbo. The Office (UK) focuses a lot on how Brent trying to be funny in his own way socially isolates him from everyone around him. Whereas if he fit the mold more easily, he would be dearly loved. Another example is found in the actual hero of both series, Jim and Tim, and how they both exemplify what their boss wants to be, but cannot duplicate it without seeming to try too hard. But that is a bit much for now.
I like this comment section, it’s respectful, I’m from the UK and love both, I’m obviously more familiar with British humour but I find American humour hilarious as well. Of course it’s all varied but I like it all.
Where Jim Corden is from his (local part of) English culture is inundated with American references, whereas Conan's wit is Celtic, which feels British, even to English people. Bill Burr also feels a little British to me, for this reason. The Irish have been the single biggest outside influence on English comedy, imo.
@@thenotsodemocraticrepublic7731 What is your problem? Nobody complains about the offensive that is the American neocolonialism using "globalization" to spread its culture of MTV as a cancer destroying other cultures and national identities.
lilly-ann loopbert no I agree with Guise. Of course I'm American but I watched a couple of episodes of the British Office after I finished the American one and I didn't really laugh. I like the British Inbetweeners but not really the Brits office.
the classic distinction from a legendary director is that American comedy takes a normal situation and makes it crazy. The Brits on the other hand take a ridiculous situation and play it straight.
@Rosida Andriyana I dont agree. Example, in nivrana the band the show i feel that the crazyness comes naturaly.
@@winup9417 we are talking about comedy you piece of crap.
SUPER ROOKIE toxic af. He wasn’t being disrespectful, so why are you?
Win Up that’s Canadian comedy
Rosida Andriyana Minds*, and you clearly haven’t traveled much.
I used to describe American comedy as the main character says the joke while in British comedy the main character is the joke
Adam Maggs Great way of putting it. Works for most I can think of. I think here in the U.K. we don’t like the wise guy telling all the jokes.
Yup, that’s it.
That is such a perfect explanation....
Michael Scott is both lol
Are you 'aving a laff?
It's funny because I've noticed that when I watch British tv shows and sit coms, I can deeply relate to them. When I'm watching American shows or sitcoms, it's almost meant to just cheer me up.
This is probably the most true, I can sit and watch British comedy for hours and get really into it and laugh out loud at the complex nuances and jokes, some of which actually aren’t immediately obvious and you don’t notice them on your first watch. They often have a wider plot/relations between the characters which means you need to watch them from the beginning to really understand get the jokes and why they are funny, often referencing past events etc.
But if I’m feeling tired or stressed etc. I’ll just chuck something Friends/Brooklyn99/The Office on to see a character doing really dumb outlandish stuff for a quick chuckle that doesn’t require me to pay much attention. I mean, most of the time in American comedies, the punchline (which is really over the top) is then followed by the character who said the joke, explaining why that was funny. You also don’t really need to know the plot or anything, the characters don’t overly have personalities in the sense that they’ll frequently do stuff widely out of character. In that sense, you can watch any episode without having seen another episode and still find it kinda funny, because it’s not the characters themselves that are funny, it’s the stupid stuff they do..
To me, British comedy is something you’d sit and watch as a family on a Sunday afternoon and really enjoy it. American comedy is something you’d stick on in the background on a Friday night when it’s just you and your friend and you can’t be arsed to do anything or you’re trying to work out what you’re gonna do. It’s made to be binge watched and get a quick laugh without having to pay attention, the canned laughter will tell you when something funny is happening..
@@user-ot4wm2fh8g British comedy is for boring people that laugh at things that they think are funny but really isn’t that funny, It’s like hearing a joke then the person has to explain to you why it’s funny but by the time they’re done explaining it it’s just sorta like hmm ok that wouldn’t have been that funny even if I had gotten it right away it’s just be more of the same as like hm funny I guess then you just move on to something that’s actually funny like watching wood rot or paint dry.
@@Macx204 weirdly that’s more how I’d describe us comedy. British comedy is full of low key shade and snarky comments with deeper meaning. Whereas Us comedy (thinking things like the Office, friends, Brooklyn 99 here) tend to make really over the top silly statements like (haha poop!) and then explain the joke. They’re just lighthearted silly shows to watched when you’re bored or feeling down. The characters are all hyper exaggerated and do/say completely unnatural actions/jokes. So it’s great if you’re feeling ill or bored because you’ll just laugh at Michael Scott saying ‘that’s what she said’ for the 1000th time or Jake Peralta explaining why what he said was funny.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a joke explained in a British comedy. What sort of comedies are you referencing here?
“When you’re happy, you enjoy the music. When you’re sad, you understand the lyrics.”
@@user-ot4wm2fh8g this is SPOT ON.
When Americans do comedy you can tell that they're actors in a normal situation, you know that that character could never exist. Even if they did they would never act that way. When the british do comedy, we see normal people, and can imagine ourselves in their bizzare situation. The audience can see themselves and makes the joke more realistic and often making us cringe.
There are of course exceptions. But I belive this is a general rule.
That doesn't explain Monty Python. Brits can laugh at themselves, and are great character studies. Look at Laugh-In. What a ridiculous and unfunny show that was.
"Always look on the bright side of death"
THIS!!!!!! 👌
Perfectly explained, couldn't agree more
Hardly any of my favorite British (or UK) comedy shows are at all realistic. They're all full of cartoon characters, too.
Could RUclips please stop translating video titles
DaBezz Britse vs Amerikaanse humor: wat is het verschil?
So I'm not the only one who gets that obviously Google translated to my mother tongue titles shit
"British vs Comedia Americana: ¿Cuál es la diferencia?"
It doesn't even translate the whole thing.
@@self1sch click your RUclips profile picture on the right top corner of the page. You will find "Language" in the drop-down menu ;)
Same man
British comedy is usually a bit depressing, that's why it's funny.
Not much point sending pics of the PM, he's getting replaced on Wednesday.
+Jackald I want to literally like your comment 1000 times.
True, my favourite comedian is Stewart Lee and that's because he's depressing as fuck and I relate.
+Gore Bag Exactly. You don't get to be the 41st best standup by having floppy hair and doing observational material.
Saxa-san Well. All comedy is subjective. That's the whole point of it
Maybe British comedy is ironic while American comedy is either euphoric or parodic
Yeah that's kinda true actually
maybe blanket statements are idiotic?
and you are siotis my lad, slightly assholic
this is an illogical rhyme
but frankly my dear i don't give a dime
look like i am running out of time
fuck this shit i'm out
+Siotis but then claiming that British and American comedies are different is in itself a blanket statement. The argument as a whole must take into account generalizations, if you can't, you can't have the argument in the first place.
Filipe Amaral No its not lol
British comedy: i am in a great pain
American comedy: wuba luba dub dub
Lan iyi dedin onu
Turkish comedy:Amına koyim
*dub dub aCtUaLy
dub dub*
Genuis
We both have our good and bad sides to comedy... However, both countries are to blame for James Corden's existence.
Hahahaha ! So sadly true, but at least he's in the USA now so we can be thankful for that at least.
Same can be said for Piers Morgab
@@Beepboop-uw4cg
Yeah, but Piers isn't funny - he's just an obnoxious git. I don't think anyone wants to lay claim to him.
Corden is the worst of both worlds.
i don’t give a fuck what he’s doing nowadays, but him on gavin and stacy was iconic and a classic
The british arent necessarily sad as such, we just find happiness in much simpler things. Like others suffering. And getting deodorant sets for christmas, we all act happy for them.
Yeah, you gotta love the lynx (axe in the US) boxes in Tesco advertised as a perfect gift!
I'm a right guard man, love stocking up at Christmas, but this year I want the Abraham and Rosita Walking Dead funko pops figures.
TheOriginaMurrinator haha bought two the other day for family
I got deo for christmas, my dreams are fulfilled.
You know what Brits also love getting for Christmas? Fucking clothing, more so for shit you aren't going to wear, ever. You pretend to be super happy about it, have a look, over extend that looking period to give the sense that you actually love the gift but at the same time you're saying in the back of your head, what is this shit, how don't they know I'm never going to wear this. Thank you, grandma. Stick it in the drawer or cupboard and never let it see daylight again.
American humor: one u
British humour: an extra u
@Stephanie Logan laughing out loud
The fact that you added a u in British humour is so great that it earned a like.
That's almost clever enough to be Brit humor, almost
American humor: no u
British humour: yes me
Hi Babish
I’m Dutch and as a young kid I enjoyed the American comedy more, partially because it’s pushed more, but now as a teenager i absolutely love British comedy
You are maturing well! ;-)
That sums up the one of the key differences - British humour is more cerebral. There's nothing wrong with taking in American humour on certain days or when you're in certain mood for it to uplift yourself.
I fully understand that development. I predict that when you are a senior citizen you're gonnalaugh most at the kind of comedy you liked when you were a child.
Goes to show how childish their comedy is
@@CalSprigley its funny watching you guys trying to convince each other that british humor is actually funny.lol
Well not to overly simplify it but it makes sense that British kids are not told they can be president of USA.
alex ped In the UK there’s no such thing as everyone has a chance of running the country/becoming prime minister. Teachers in public schools never say ‘you could be prime minster’ because to even be considered to be apart of parliament you would of had to attend the best private schools, best universities in the country etc. Whereas in the US if I’m not mistaken they say anyone can be president no matter your background.
r/whoosh
@@George97841 We've had deputy prime ministers and plenty of MPs who attended comprehensive schools.
elly cotton I think he understood but he just wanted to make a point anyway
@@George97841 A public school is not a state school in Britain.
The British have self irony.
4:55
Colby Hair they're just starting. It's the staple for a lot of British comedy
I love British humor. A lot more cynical and dry haha.
Incorrect use of irony, typical yank.
@@grease6314 it is a term, not necessarily dictionary official in english but exists e.g. in finnish
The way I see it, British humour is laughing at themselves, U.S humour is laughing at others.
Sums it up pretty well in Britain we just take the p*ss out of each other.
@@keithscott9219 apart from tic tac head, he's usually the butt of many jokes
@@keithscott9219 that's why we have the best banter
Not really. Self deprecating humor is big in the us
@@WILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLU ever watched fawlty towers or blackadder? You don't know catastrophy/self deprecating style humour till you've watched one of those.
Personally, my favourite kind of comedy is expectation subversion. British comedy writing, and British comedians, are really, really good at this. American writing/comedians. I think less so. And I think part of that is to do with the filmmaking.
In British TV/film, a lot of the time the humour is from what's not being said - the facial expressions, the actions, the editing etc. In American humour, it's more often about the dialogue. And even when the joke IS the action, more often than not there's music playing to emphasise it.
Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, on both sides. But for me I think that's the difference - British humour isn't afraid of the pauses, and giving something a moment to be funny. In US comedy, it's more like they're saying "HERE'S THE JOKE, LAUGH NOW".
Again, I know this is a generalisation, and both have exceptions to the rule, but for me, that's the best way of separating them...
I agree. Imo American humour is usually about the characters being so dumb or oblivious through their speech they make normal situations insane or stupid. Whilst with British humour the characters are a lot more realistic and dark, but the circumstances they end up in are awkward or absurd and it’s the circumstance itself that’s the comedy.
Yep. And Americans have too many laugh tracks. It’s vaguely patronising lol
One of the exceptions might be The (classic) Simpsons
This may not always be the case, but I think that British tend to laugh at misery, whereas Americans laugh at stupidity
that's pretty accurate. You might have hit the nail on the head.
Louis CK comedy is very unamerican by that measure. A good example is his bit where the family dog eats dark chocolate, which is poisonous to dogs. To save the dog, Louis violently forces her to ingest hydrogenperoxide to force her to puke. The dog is naturally unaware that Louis saved her life and instead hates Louis ever since. Another example is Horace and Pete in its entirety.
Well monty pyhton is the pinnacle of stupidity.
Red Dwarf and Father Ted. I would say British laugh outwitting stupidity or simple stupidity, but Americans laugh at physical stupidity, the things people do, not what they say
Americans must laugh a lot.
British comedy: yeah suicide
American comedy: *PaRkOuR*
brilliant.
Don’t forget about frank in Its always sunny in Philadelphia!
“Suicide is badass!”
@@wolfedlemon5762 IASIP is an exception, i dont find many US Comedy shows funny but that one definitely is, it isn't afraid to go there. Just like good UK comdies aren't.
Eric Lee everyone does, hence why they are the ones that stick around the longest.
I prefer American humor lol so funny
I really didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition at the end there..
nobody does
Yeah of course not because NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!
You ruined it.
HAHA THIS MADE ME LOL SO MUCH
Swapnil Jain It's not as bad as forcing you to sit in the comfy chair.
Stephen Fry's analogy of the guitar-smashing scene in "Animal House" to illustrate the difference between American and British humor is absolutely perfect. I can't possibly think of a better example to describe it.
I think the reason Monty Python is so beloved by both Americans and the UK is because it combines the best of both: the super-subtle and the overdone. It's pathetic, but also enjoyable. It's pessimistic, but in an uninhibited, careless way that doesn't totally remove the joy.
pessimistic but uninhibited is actually a very good way of putting it. i've been trying to clarify that for so long...
I think that it also shows the difference can be overplayed. We English like to talk about how our comedy is superior, but we watch shitloads of American comedy. And if Americans can't "get" our humour, then why do so many of our shows do well over there?
I guess you could say "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" exemplifies this best.
Well said bud
it's interesting to look at the differences between The Thick of It (British) and Veep (American) which spawned from The Thick of It. I think this is an example where the American style has stayed fairly similar to the source. the pessimism and honest-to-god failure never stops really, while it keeps that uninhibited spirit you mentioned.
This is a bit broad and it doesn't apply to every comedy out there, but American comedies tend to be a bit more over the top and less believable than British ones. Thats not a good or bad thing imo, it just depends on your sense of humour
...So having a bunch of Cardinals burst in to tell you all about the Spanish Inquisition and how no one expects them, destroying the earth to make way for a new hyperspace bypass, fighting off an alien invasion while completely hammered, inventing lying, and going full Rambo in idyllic British village against a bunch of old people is believable and not over the top?
I think both countries do absurdism and satire. The difference is the British tend to play their absurdity 100% seriously whereas Americans tend to look at you with a wink and a nod about the absurdity of the situation.
Oh yes, because Monty Python’s Flying Circus is not random at all, right...
I think the best way to describe it is that American comedy takes something and makes it over the top in order to get laughs, whereas the british will take something entirely abnormal and make it seem like a common occurrence. This is why american comedies seem more over the top when British comedies have more over the top concepts
@@checkm8964 Exactly. There is a distinction. Absurdity and randomness is the whole point in Monty Python. In American comedy, absurdity is generally less intentional. It's more of a side effect of raising the stakes of the comedic situation. I'm not saying that it's worse, just that there's a difference. And there are of course exceptions to this rule on both sides.
bruh i just watched a short about a crack fox, and then some old Greg dude, then an obese guy explode after consuming a "wafer thin" wafer. Neither are believable
Difference between US and Brit comedy is simple. US is obvious, Brit is subtle. Both are good, can be great. And there are many exceptions to this generalization.
barryschwarz That’s not the difference
@@BijinMCMXC Do tell?
barryschwarz Stephen Fry said it best
I would say that Brits can be just as obvious as the Americans are, take an episode of Top Gear, where they’re blowing up a house and making a car into a boat. Vice versa, for example there’s a ton of subtle Kubrick cinematography jokes in Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety
@@BijinMCMXC Do tell.
i'll be honest, i've never laughed at an american comedy the way i've laughed at british ones. i've let out singular chuckles but never really belly laughed until i pissed myself like with uk comedy
Opposite in America 🤷♂️
@@fruitybaboon2526 wym
@@shadybeashooketh1911 for me I laugh at American comedy but never really at British
@@fruitybaboon2526 which american comedies do you recommend
@@fruitybaboon2526 have you got any recommendations?
Shit I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Sorry
Weird Fact: The Spanish Inquisition was largely a British/Protestant myth.
Take that home with ya.
+John NoNameGibbon people thinking this is the reason nobody ever expects them
Hugo Fontes And then you're fucked!
Catubrannos There you go. Kudos.
They only killed a few thousand I think, over their what, five hundred(?) year history. Nothing compared to the Protestant Witch Hunts. We really went nuts in the US with that. As did Central Europe.
Oh, and Queen Elizabeth went apeshit on her own people. She invented the myth in order to make her own actions look less bad by comparison. If you were guilty of conspiring with Catholics you'd be hung, disembowel, lit on fire and then dragged through the streets. She did this to Shakespeare's relatives. Which is why he never romanticized Protestantism in his works.
The Spanish Inquisition gets me every single time. I never expect it.
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition
Nobody expects them
The same for Joe
I expected the Spanish Inquisition once, and it was the worst day ever. Completely ruined the Inquisition. Now I've gotta wait until I forget about it so I can not expect one so that they'll-..
Ah!?
**one hears the sound of the Spanish Inquisition entering with a crash**
@Arthur Thesillyking Among the chief weaponry...
inbetweeners UK Vs US nothing more to say.
TheSirAshton90 inbetweeners US was so bad because they completely copied the Uk version which doesn’t work because Americans don’t find English comedy funny.
And they removed most of the language which added to the British version
Let's not even mention the IT Crowd remake...
The Office US vs Uk nothing more to say.
@@shineinouzen7412 evidence up and down this comment thread suggests there's a lot more to say regarding that debate.
I find that british shows tend to have fewer episodes and may decide. You know what we made five episodes we can leave them with that, in two years they can have another three. I personally find that great because I can see that the writers have less pressure to make something as there is less "filler".
Summary: Optimistic American dream vs. Dark British reality...
I think the optimistic American, realistic British mind set can also been seen in the x factor auditions. I've seen the following so many times.
The American sings and when given criticism replies; the judges know nothing, I'm amazing.
The British contestant sings and thanks the judges for their criticism.
I think both states of mind have their pros and cons but only one is that of a wanker.
you're british !
Goggle products
You spent so much time on that, and it is so dry that few will ever understand the humor.
Hence the American Dream
that was some american exceptionalism bullshit
America is the most low-context culture in the world, and this has shaped their entertainment and made them the biggest soft power country in the world.
A high context culture is a culture where a lot of the communication happens between the lines, where you have to understand what is being communicated through the context in which it is said. Examples of very high context cultures are Japan, Saudi Arabia and Kenya.
But if someone from Kenya and Japan is communicating, both being high context cultures, they will have a harder time understanding each other than if someone from the US were to communicate with a Kenyan or Japanese. Two high context cultures do not share _the same context._ They both will speak between the lines, but in completely different ways, making understanding each other very difficult.
The US is a country made up of cultures colliding. People from all over the world came together to create the American culture. So in order to understand each other, everyone had to communicated in more basic, more simple and straight-forwards ways. Leaving little between the lines.
This is the key of success when it comes to mass entertainment. A movie made in America, is a simple movie everyone will understand all over the world. While a movie made in Hong Kong, is a movie even people in India might find confusing.
That is the key in American humour. Everyone gets the joke. There are higher context American comedy, but they often come from subcultures in America, which have developed their own context independent of the wider American ones.
Therefore, picking out the few examples there is of American comedy which defies the American stereotype, proves nothing. When you mentioned in this video Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development, you taking _outliers_ and presenting them as evidence of the entirety of American comedy. That just doesn't work.
Within the wider American comedy, there is a subculture of Jewish comedy, which is far more high-context than normal American comedy. Like British humour, Jewish-American humour also widely uses irony, in which the audience has to read between the lines to understand the jokes. Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development both comes from Jewish-American comedy, and has Jewish creators and writers. They are outliers going against the American trend, and does not represent typical American culture, but rather subcultures within America.
The truth is, American humour is just simpler, more straight forward, and less refined. It's low-context. And it has to be, if it wants to conquer the world. American humour can be enjoyed in high-context cultures without problem, while British comedy rarely succeeds the same way.
British comedy is enjoyed by a sort of cult following in America, it's a kind of a subculture, of "know-it-alls" who have more "capable brains" to digest this difficult irony. The general masses of people do not get the jokes. Not just in America, but even in high context cultures like Japan, American comedy is far more successful in gross numbers than British comedy. The only places British comedy achieves airing time on television comparable to American comedy, is in New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, Ireland, the Nordic countries, and the Netherlands. Beyond those countries, British comedy just becomes too weird to become mass entertainment.
Just look at the adaptations of British comedy into American, and you'll find the difference. Shameless, Cosby/One Foot in the Grave, the Inbetweeners, the Office or even Top Gear. Maybe Shameless is the best version here, because the American adaption of Shameless is a very, very decent series. It has far better potential to reach audience across the world, than the British original. It's funny, easy to understand, well produced, has great actors, sympathetic characters who you can feel for and follow beyond the mere comedy. In many ways the American adaption is just better than the original. But any true comedy buffs will tell you they preferred the British version, it's just _funnier._ But! It's only funnier _if you get it._
@Nabium: Good -- thanks. It would be interesting to then reframe this as a question about whether the humor is in the material . . . or in the capacity of the person experiencing it. What additional insights might that provide (?)
@@QED_ I donno, but I'd say both. What do you think?
@Nabium: It gets complicated. For example, it's probably demonstrable that the ability to experience high-context humor impedes one's ability to experience low-context humor. But the reverse is not quite true . . .
@@QED_ Isn't it the other way around? If the jokes are dependent on context, then you have to have some understanding of the context in order to get the joke. So therefore the reverse is true: the ability to experience low-context humour impedes one's ability to experience high-context humour.
That's why they say that humour is the last thing you learn, when you learn a new language. To understand puns, idioms, humour based on dialects, humour based on cultural references - you need more than just a basic knowledge of a language.
I agree with what you said in one way though, people who prefer deeper and less superficial jokes, won't get much out of Big Bang or American Pie. Sure. But, they will still understand the jokes. But people of low context cultures will by default have issues understanding humour from more complicated cultures, unless they have higher than average abilities. And not just logical intelligence, also the ability to understand other people, and willingness understanding of other cultures. Usually people need to be a bit more liberal minded. Not saying they need to be libs or lefties, just liberal minded.
Americans who are fans of the Peep Show, Stephen Fry, Monty Python, - and they exist in great heaps now thanks to the internet - have to be open minded and intelligent. While "deeper-than-average" American humour like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sarah Silverman or Rick and Morty is just as accessible for the average Englishman as it is for the average American. Doesn't mean the Englishman is more intelligent than the American, no, it's just about exposure to irony and not being literal minded - which is often the premise of context British humour works out from.
The ability of experiencing high-context humour is completely relevant to the context. You might have a very well developed sense of humour and get all the jokes of British humour, but then when switching to Hong Kong movies, it doesn't automatically translate that you would understand that humour. Because the context is a different context. Hong Kong humour is high-context, but not in an ironic way like British and Jewish-American. Hong Kong humour might be very visual, and good Hong Kong comedy are works of art comparable to Charlie Chaplin, which is easily translatable, but even more it's based on social constructs. Similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm. And those social constructs are far different, far more complicated and implied than any European and American culture, and the jokes will be lost for even the most intelligent Englishman.
So therefore there are no ability to understand high-context humour. There's an ability to understand British humour, an ability to understand Cantonese humour, an ability to understand French humour, an ability to understand Iranian humour. But those do not translate to each other. So therefore there's no ability to understand high-context culture, that is completely dependent on the culture in question.
The only humour we all can gather around, is the American one.
@Nabium: As I said, it's tricky. The ability to experience high-context humor seems to DISABLE the experience of low-context humor. I think we can more-or-less agree on that. But it doesn't seem quite right to say that the ability to experience low-context humor "disables" the experience of high-context humor. Yes, in BOTH cases . . . there's only an ability to experience one kind of humor. But in only ONE case is one disabling the other . . . because we probably don't want to say that a capacity (high context humor) is dis-abled if it's never been en-abled in the first place. So that is a difference. There's probably a developmental dimension here that has to be introduced to properly frame this . . .
I like to put the comedy into two categories: American Idealism and British Realism
Best categorisation I've seen. Kudos from an Englishman.
Sure realism
👍👍👍
British nhialism
I like to critique anglo centric categorization whenever I see it!
Mark Twain actually wrote a whole essay about the difference.
He also wrote a droll essay about the French and their pride in patrilineage.
In the UK we love being miserable which is why we love taking the piss, or bringing down the other guy.
Russell Speak gotta love bringing someone down
Wow so funny!
Finally some brit who have spoken truth.
exactly mate so stfu you mong.
Russell Speak I think It's your shitty weather.
I am British and I prefer British humour mainly because I enjoy watching people fail miserably so i feel grateful it wasn't me
Lol superbly put, Molly
laugh at others so you feel better about yourself thats the way it works other here
take a look at this, I've edited and intertwined the same sketch of the office UK and US: ruclips.net/video/bb-nwOs83DU/видео.html quite impressive!
Same (in a way lol)
I relate a lot as I am British too. Taking the piss out of people around us to make them feel miserable but not too miserable is really funny
It's impossible to understand this unless you also look at the differences in TV drama in the two countries. The Office is a textbook example of 'Kitchen Sink Realism', a genre that although often grim, excels in telling stories about ordinary and 'real' life. That form of drama is everywhere in British comedy, with its protagonists typically broke, its setting always grimy, and its dialogue relatively natural. 15 Storeys High and The Royle Family are two outstanding examples of this type of show.
Something like 'Modern Family' is the polar opposite of this, and is totally unlike British comedy. Everything looks much more luxurious, from the expensive houses and cars, to the soft camera lens (as opposed to the harsh British camera lens), to the beautiful people, to the snappy dialogue. It's a great show, but these core elements are fundamentally different. Everything is elevated, like classic American TV drama.
There are 'in-between' shows, like Married With Children for example, or Roseanne. There the focus is on the harshness of ordinary, cash strapped working life, but the pacing is again different to British comedy, where long silences and meandering, pointless conversations are the norm - not a novelty.
Again this seems like a drama influence. And maybe it's a product of commercial realities as well. Traditional British comedy drama demands investment, that's where the 'smarter' thing comes from. The jokes aren't going to come thick and fast, and most of them won't even look like jokes for people who just tuned in. On US TV where the range of choice is huge, it was much riskier to demand that investment from viewers who could easily flick over. Hence rapid, snappy dialogue and laugh tracks.
The cool thing is that the digitisation of entertainment has made national boundaries almost irrelevant in terms of what people watch nowadays. And as well as that, people watch on their own schedule as opposed to flicking through their TV channels. That has meant that different drama styles are much more accessible now as well. Audiences for some foreign 'style' grow as people have the opportunity to watch it, creating a market for homegrown shows that would have really struggled 20 years ago.
hi. just wanted to say: good point! it's rare to find good points in the comment section on youtube but you did it! (Y) "thank you!" - michael scott.
I always felt American comedy was more easy, mundanely sarcastic and prominently scripted, in order to to appeal to a very general audience looking for instant gratification, hence the unnaturally fast-paced comedy rhythm.
I agree, in the UK the office genuinely looked just like a UK office, miserable, dark, boring, hopeless, negativity everywhere, stress emerging as people doing strange things. Ricky deliberately chose crap lighting to BE real, the US stick ex miss Americas and beautiful models with extra lighting and pure white teeth in to appeal to the masses, yet that ISN'T the masses, thus how can it be real? In the UK the only time we laugh at unrealistic is when it's crazy madness, Python, Goodies, Reeves and Mortimer, Garth Marenghi's dark place, if it ain't realistic it had better be just silly! In the US a lot of the time it's neither.
+dan taylor your getting a like for mentioning Garth meranghi 😆👍
Teethgrinder 83 It was cutting edge, the reason CH4 is my go to for new comedy.They really genuinely believe in the artist and just trust them with a script and air time, they just run with it. Look at Utopia by Dennis Kelly how good was that? Not comedy but the writing was phenomenal!
Us: uses idioms and metaphors
Uk: irony and sarcasm
Case closed
Sarcasm is our religion and I will not let people tell me otherwise
Sarcasm belongs to the us I’m sorry😭
@@tzizzle lmao wrong.
+
@@tzizzle Just stop. Americans never catch on to sarcasm. It's a widely known fact.
Once heard, that in classic American comedy people laugh about someone stupid who is screwed over because he is stupid while in british comedy someone not stupid gets screwed over nonetheless
I don't know if that's true, I mean look at David Brent - his whole character depends on his own stupidity.
he's more ignorant than stupid
still more stupid than most
In America if you're a failure you're only allowed to blame yourself. In Britain, and possibly Europe, people seem far more cynical towards a system that has ultimately caused their failure as much as their own life choices. I think the general mentality of optimism or harsh realism affects each country's comedic styles, respectively.
+Jordan McIntosh Webb I don't know if you're American or European but I would've said the opposite!
"Americans are told they can become president, and they can."*
*Terms and conditions apply
Don't be a woman!
Isn't the UK government in the middle of holding a baby hostage and forcing it to die right now?
3pimpzilla Meanwhile, we're sending a bunch of children to live in cages, have the worst history of school shootings in the world and our national budget is in the worst shape it's been on since World War II.
Lmao I knew this comment section was gonna get heated by the end. Let's be honest, not everyone can become President in the US, but *anyone* can. You don't have to have some heavenly right to rule, you just have to be motived enough to want to make a change. America was unique in its founding, and many countries have now followed suit in promoting individual liberties (despite the UK infringing upon some serious rights atm), which include the right to decide how you're government is run; including taking a part in running it. And it's true, Americans are told we can be President since we're young--at least I was. And it really makes you feel like you can be the difference you want to see. Anyway, I'm rambling. But from what I can tell, even in these divided times, I still believe that the US is a special place, and it makes me feel special to be a part of it.
Tori That shows what you know... Right now, both parties are looking for women candidates because both parties want to be first to put a woman in the white house. In that respect both parties want to be progressive. The only problem my party has is finding a woman who is actually smart and still willing to be a republican! Lol. Tricky thing that. I think in general women tend to be more liberal politically and so it leaves us at the shallow end of the pool, Palin not excluded.
British comedy = some funny some shit
American comedy = some funny some shit
I'm British and have an IQ of 6000
True, but most of the US humor is just cheap.
just litle bit too obvious
Mada Faka so british comedy is expensive.
Mrbrain bob No, it's just not made for brain-dead people.
Gargantuan Waste Man pahsjjfjkhdhsh WHAT?Alright if you're British get out of here.
British TV comedies are usually written by one or at most two scriptwriters: this necessarily results in short series runs of six-seven episodes. American TV comedies are written by committees. While this generates more ideas and means they can do a twenty-to-thirty episode series, this also makes it feel more like something impersonal coming off a production line - mass-produced rather than bespoke.
The office UK could be a genuine workplace. US is over the top
Thats why the british one is so much better, it's believable.
Mr Bojangles Believable doesn’t make it better. If you’re looking for a more subtle type of humour, then watch the UK Office. If you’re looking for over-the-top humour, watch the US Office. These two shows were trying to accomplish different things. Personally, I don’t find anything funny in the mundane reality of the real world, so I enjoy something that’s so absurd it’s going to make me laugh more. But I’m not going to say because I find the US Office more funny that it’s better, it was INTENDED to be more comedic and lighthearted, as was the UK Office was intended to be more hopeless and pitiful.
American comedy has its gems just as Brits do.. the only thing that irks me is that they have to milk something until it's dead. Whereas Brits can leave something as a classic and not kill it off with 20 unnecessary seasons.
How many US office seasons were there compared with the Brit version.
They were both good.. not really comparable though, they're unique in their own ways.
Holly wood does the same thing.
The Hangover was a great film.. did we need 2 more sequels. Or American Pie movie was a surprise hit.. therefore 4 more needed to be made apparently.
Reggie Cornwalls yes it is considering the uk one is the original
James Todd tbh the US version Is barely unrealistic. It’s and exaggeration to be sure. But in most cases with film a slight exaggeration is always better than the boring Truth.
well thats a bullshit copyright claim. this is clearly fair use
You're telling me
Now You See It cant you appeal it or are you just waiting for them to respond
I feel like RUclips copyright infringement is talked about a ton but many don't know the intricacies of it. Let me give you a brief rundown of how the copyright system and appealing works.
Let's say you post a video. A program scans your video and catches you have copyright visuals or audio and gives the video a flag. A flag can mean your video is either:
A) take down OR
B) not taken down, but a company gets to show ads instead of you and collect all the profits
Of my 24 videos, I would say maybe 20-21 were initially flagged as containing copyrighted content. For all but 1, the company decided to simply show their own ads and collect the profit. 1 video was taken down completely (my Simpsons video essay, which I felt was a somewhat warranted decision to flag. That has a lot of Simpsons clips). A flag means the video gets marked for copyright in your video manager and it tells you which portion of the video warrants the flag (for example, my video on opening shots was flagged for the introduction, the approximately 30 seconds or so was taken straight from 2001: A Space Odyssey).
Whether the video was taken down completely, or the company decides to run their own ads, there is an ability to submit an appeal. A request for appeal involves selecting why you think your video should not be flagged (options include "This is my own content," "this content is not actually copyrighted in the first place," etc. Video essayers always choose the "this is fair use under copyright law" option). Then, we have to describe why we think the flagged clip falls under fair use. Here is my explanation for this very video:
"The short clip I use of The Office is fair use under copyright law. The purpose of using the clip is to educate the viewer on key differences between American and British comedy. Previously in the video, I show a clip of Stephen Fry stating that British comedians want to play the failure. To expand on this idea, I show a short clip of David Brent playing the guitar. The clip is 21 seconds long, and I talk over 10 seconds of the clip. Due to its educational purpose and its extremely short length, the use of this clip does not replace the complete viewing of the original scene and the use of the clip in this video is fair use."
This is where I think people don't understand fair use. There are many video essays I watch on RUclips that I feel could, in a court of law, not qualify as fair use. Two examples:
A) A video contains copyrighted background music. If you don't make any educational commentary about the music in the background, that music is copyrighted, and you're using it for longer than a "sample" of the song, it may or may not be fair use. Many video essays, including mine, have songs in background. I put in a couple minutes of the song under my narration as I talk. If I don't own the music, and I don't make an educational commentary on the music, it's not obviously fair use anymore.
B) You use a lot of a movie. If you talk about one movie, and you use 10 minutes of clips of that movie, it becomes necessary to appeal. 10 minutes is a long time.
I'm not saying you're completely guilty if you do either of these things, but what I am saying is that fair use does not become obvious anymore. That's why you need to submit appeals, and I think appeals are a necessary evil to stop people from posting movie clips willy nilly. This first round of appealing weeds out the scammers and leaves the people willing to request an appeal and defend their work. The problem is that this slows down the artist, and it really is a shame.
I have had to submit appeals for 17 videos. For 4 of my videos, I did not try to appeal because I felt like I truly did use too much of a certain clip (my opening shots video, again, has a very long and "non-fair use" clip). So for 4 videos, they show whatever they want, and I get to keep the video up.
After submitting your request, you wait.
They have 30 days to get back to you or else, by default, you win the appeal and get to show your own ads. That's a long time to wait, but I understand. They have to make a human read your appeal instead of robots scanning for content, so it takes time and resources. Every company I've petitioned got back to me within a week.
So let's say they reject your appeal. Now what? Well, if it was an appeal to get your own ads, you can do another appeal. But now, if they reject you again, your video goes down and you get a copyright strike. To me, that is not worth the risk. So for this video on British vs. American Comedy, I decided to not appeal again. I don't try for the double appeal because I'd rather have no ads than lose my video.
So what if they took your video down and then reject your first appeal? Then that's bad luck for you.
Personally, I have had little problem with copyright infringement. I use my best judgment before appealing, I state my case, and so far, I've never had a problem. I am one of the lucky ones, though.
Hope this was at least a little bit helpful. I think most people only hear from the RUclipsrs who are getting screwed by copyright laws, so maybe another perspective is worth your time.
But it really isn't fair when a RUclipsr gets sued for thousands of dollars and has to appear in court. We have no money, and do movie companies really believe we are causing thousands of dollars worth of damage? If anything, our video essays make people want to go out and see these movies! We're advertising how great these movies are! Sheesh.
Now You See It that makes sense. appreciate you took the time to fully reply
So how does a channel like Cinema Sins use so much of one particular movie?
I think this is the difference.
American humor is about winner and a loser.
British comedy is about situations where everyone is a loser.
Manzanito :3 great one
Manzanito :3 in the long run
we are all dead
... hahaha
American humor wants you to laugh with someone. British humor wants you to laugh at someone.
American humour is more kid friendly. That’s why the office US got over 20 million viewers because more people could watch it. British humour is more dark
Yeah i came to laugh not be sad.
*fiercely pretends its always sunny, shameless, curb your enthusiasm, and several other dark American comedies don't exist*
Marsellus Wallace lmao shameless is British in the first place. The American one is a remake.
@@AdnanKhan-lr9ei Doesn't change that the American version is still dark
Yeah. But that’s the way us Brits like it :)
The difference is British comedies generally tend to be more realistic
tell that to Monty Python
tifaucz "Generally tend to be". i.e. not all of them are
You're mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elder berries
*your
I fart in your general direction
I think british humor has more of the surprise element. The joke comes when you least expect it. British people seem to have that very natural way of making fun of things.
Well to be fair, we spend 95% of the time taking the piss out of each other, so we're a bit too skilled at doing it.
Yeldur
I get it. You're not the only people on earth who do it. Growing up in Brazil wasn't much different. It's good; keeps us spirited.
rafasounds2010
I'm glad we're not the only ones, makes me think we're weird!
Nothing is more fun than 'banter with the lads'
Yes, and fear. Fear and surprise. And ruthless efficiency.
I'll stop now.
The Office is more believable and grey, the American office is warmer with likeable but less believable characters.
canturgan not true
Beamer Believer That's my view, you're welcome to have your own.
canturgan the opposite of what you said.
I worked in an American office and there is a lot of brighter colors and such. Part of making workers work harder and feel more energized or some such by surrounding them with certain colors.
The British Office is more original and for the first season is a straight-up better show. The US Office diverges (and to me becomes the superior beast after a few seasons).
Neither show is particularly realistic, but the characters in the US Office are about as close as I've seen in a TV comedy. The British Office features realistic templates and makes them as cringe-worthy as possible for the sake of the humour, but the basis of the characters is very realistic. However the US office takes those character templates and slowly rounds them out to be more like real humans. It also makes everybody out to be more likeable...but this is part of the brilliance of the US Office. It's portraying unlikeable people as loveable is part of it's message of the unknown brilliance of everybody's everyday lives.
Overall I prefer the US Office, but love both shows. The British Office is probably funnier, but the US Office is a better drama and to me is much more rewatchable.
Better than I expected, kudos. Two things I'd mention as an outsider who grew up watching both varieties from Canada are that people in the UK seem to have a broader grasp of absurdity/surrealism, whereas in the US, that kind of material tends to be pitched at the "college/stoner crowd"; and that, for a lot of the UK classic material, it's just assumed that you'll get most of the historical/literary references, which makes the material seem more sophisticated than it actually is. In that way, Frasier was very British-seeming: The plots weren't particularly clever--not that they were bad--but the snooty dialogue made it seem classy.
Am British. Frasier is probably the best sitcom of all time. Some of the episodes were absolute masterpieces.
British humour reflects the British society, the reason why the flash obnoxious guy who is always trying to win is destined to fail in British television and cinema is because in British culture we don't like people who boast, showing off is almost one of the worst social conventions you could do, everyone will judge you. Therefore the hero in most British films and television is the average guy, the everyman but more than that, the guy that wins usually is aware of his character faults and isn't trying to be a hero or the good guy. That's the reason why Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses is destined to keep failing and why Norman Stanley Fletcher from Porridge will always win at the end of every episode, because he wasn't trying to win in the first place.
American humour is more like.. This is my joke, this is funny.
English humour is less positive: This is uncomfortable, laugh or don't
Perfect
Zulamun perfect
Much agreed. English humor tends to be a lot more arid, and the wit, as far as I can tell, tends to come from both cutting sarcasm and self-deprecating self-awareness. American comedy, in a lot of cases but not all (we have some incredible standup comedians, for instance), just kind of makes me uncomfortable, while the discomfort and disquiet trademark to English humor are something I can identify with.
Zulamun well we’re all in term English, I would prefer you say British.
P Mason, well technically we all speak English. The Amish call everyone Englishmen no matter if your American, British, Irish, Scottish, or Australian. I am a fan of old regular English not this drag made by the blacks to sound cool.
One of the big differences is exportability. The two best forms of US comedy are political satire and cartoons (it's no mistake that spongebob was in the video, there's also South Park, Family Guy, Simpsons, Futurama, Pixar, etc, etc.). The cartoons are appreciated around the world, the satire though? Not so much, it needs a certain cultural context...
British comedy gives us Blackadder, Monty Python, The Office, Whose Line is it Anyway, Fawlty Towers, etc. All of which play to universal human nature and have broad appeal - almost all cultures can appreciate the absurd. We have some *brilliant* satire too (e.g. Yes Minister), but again, that stuff doesn't export so well.
I'll leave you with an expansion on what Stephen Fry said... Both the US and the UK could make a comedy featuring a man at a restaurant where the waiter keeps making mistakes. The difference is that in the US the customer would be the protagonist, whereas in the UK it would be the waiter.
One of the biggest tv exports since 1990 = Mr Bean. Just not in the US
'Some filmmakers argue that American and British tastes are closer than we realize. When the director Frank Oz showed his latest comedy, "Death at a Funeral," which was shot in Britain with a British cast, he was surprised to find little difference between test-audience reactions in Kansas City, Missouri, and London. "The score was exactly the same," Oz said, "but the British crowd was not as boisterous. They laughed in all the same places. They just didn't laugh as hard or as long."
www.nytimes.com/2007/08/28/arts/28iht-bean.1.7283833.html
I'd say the same for animated cinema, beating much of what comes out of hollywood, although they are not invincible to endless rehashes either (Toy Story 4 and Ice Age 6 The Kidnapping, set for 2019) and may be becoming generic too (a random collection of comedic animals seems to be all too common). Nothing wrong with KOTH, although I can see why it feel a bit slow and boring for some. The Simpsons has probably dragged on for too long. Plenty of old shows from the early-mid 90s are repeated on tv, I'll watch if there is little else on. I haven't seen any of the newer Simpsons seasons although I wonder if it has had to update it's humour, for better or worse. I think there was a new Beavis and Butthead, never seen. South Park has done quite well and remained relevant by mocking the real world. Never heard of Duckman
Agreed! Eloquently said.
What's the exported American satire? I can only think of a few films but no comedy TV series. Catch 22 (book, not film) is one of the best (THE best, imo) satirical books of all time though.
John Saunders You called King of the Hill overrated yet placed Family Guy as a comedy that "excels"? You sure you didn't mix it up?
After watching American shows like the office (ik theres a British one relax), brooklyn 99, community etc and comparing them with British ones like the IT crowd and Monty Python, it seems to me that American comedy focuses more on absurd characters in realistic situations while British comedy focuses on absurd situations with realistic characters. There are obviously exceptions to both and both are equally funny but it's just something I noticed.
This rings true to me
I think that British humour is generally more witty and understated. American humour is always more flashy and upbeat but I find it grabbing me by the lapels and shouting "hahaha did you get it buddy?!" a lot more. Which gets tiresome.
@@dynamo1796 I feel the exacts same way about british comedy.... i think sometimes they're trying to be too witty and the joke completely falls apart and just becomes lame😂
@@justno984 sometimes I think that in and of itself can be a joke in British comedies.
That's the most eloquently and precise way of differentiating the two, I've read so far. Nice.
The best humor is german humor... because we don´t have any! >:(
"It's German humor, mate. It's no laughing matter..."
Don't be so hard on yourself. You guys have some decent comedians: Michael Mittermeier, Helge Schneider, Otto Waalkes, Eckart von Hirschhausen... Chaostheater Oropax are hilarious (if somewhat crude).
There are some funny German comedies of the "silly" type out there. If you compare films like "Der Schuh des Manitu" and "(T)Raumschiff Surprise" to international parody films, they hold up pretty well. I was positively surprised by how much "Fack ju Göhte" made me laugh.
And there have also been a couple of really great dark comedies/tragicomedies over the years. "Knocking on Heaven's Door" is absolutely hilarious while not at all playing down the more serious themes. (It's also pretty much the only Til Schweiger flick I can be bothered to rewatch.) And "Zwei Weihnachtsmänner" is just delightfully mean!
What I would say is that German humour doesn't really have a "trademark." As in, German humour is not recognisably German the way English humour is recognisably English.
Germans usually laugh when they see a Fiat 500
I've heard that Germans like a laugh just like anyone. The difference is that Germans laugh ONCE THE WORK IS DONE. (I borrowed that from Henning Wehn.)
ShadeScarecrow
"its german humour mate, its no laughing matter"
Sovietwomble, csgo bullshittery.
Jusy happy we dont have Amy Schumer or however you spell it
Gavin Longbottom ok nevile
I’m British and think she’s hilarious. First completely unfiltered comedienne to break through.
Nick Mcmahon unfiltered ?
As in, she’s got no filters on what she says - nothing seems out of bounds.
In a reasonably funny film with goldie hawn as well.
Nick Mcmahon most comedians dont have filters she just talks about being a dlag
Warning: pretentious comments below
Thank you for this.
Uh, actually
All these snobs need to get off their high-horses
hahahahahah thanks for this
Thanks
Britain: “W*nking”
American: “Parkour”
Tbh I think it would be a lot weirder if a grown man was rolling around shouting wanking instead of parkour
@@nothomebutnotreally3782 no lie
Wait 21 Jump Street is intelligent comedy? Say what now?
I know I was like "wait what did he say".
maybe he wasn't talking about the movies. But that would make even less sense, as the series was less about comedy, and more about being a regular crime/drama series.
Have you ever seen 21 Jump Street? Shit is just making fun of the genre in which they exist. If you don't find being "meta" funny, that's fine, but a lot of people like entertainment that is self aware.
Wreckless Gerald yeah but its dumb
Mark Meason It is funny but its not intelligent
Both the UK and the US office are brilliant in different ways, but that British humour doesn't always translate. Take the aborted remake of Peep Show in the US (but that was always doomed- how can you recreate a show that's already perfect?!).
Jenny and The Betts they’re making an American all female version of peep show now LOL
Or the Inbetweeners remake
WAIT THERES A REMAKE OF PEEP SHOW WHAT
You can't recreate the peepshow
This comment section is just people trying to brag about how pessimistic they are.
BOTH forms of comedy are great, and BOTH have their place and role in the entertainment industry. You can PREFER one, but that doesn't mean you insult the other.
I agree
Um, if you don't find it funny, why be well-mannered about it?
Xymo Nau Well why wouldn’t you be?
Finally, someone who speaks English, you earn a like
@Cersei Lannister Charmer. Did you learn those manners from your mother?
The inbetweeners is an example that the difference is in the realistic category like there is no really over the top editing in the British version but there is far too much in the American version
I think the biggest difference between American humor and British humor is the tendency for british humor to set characters up in conflict with their own actions. Look at the difference between Jerry Lewis and Rowan Atkinson. The physical humor from both is absurd, but Mr. Bean as a character is very quiet, whereas Lewis is loud and obnoxious. It's this contradiction that provides a lot of the humor. Or as is so often the case in British comedy, the stupider the thing being said is, the more deadpan the delivery. Monty Python often works simply by giving audiences absurd situations but having the actors perform them deadpan. Or they'll attack a serious, ostensibly complex situation, in an entirely goofy way (taxing people standing in streams, or penguin research, for example). American humor is more born out of tension created between characters, rather than within the characters themselves.
I agree but both of them work very very well. Comedy is all about making you laugh. Lewis is great at being zany and out there while Bean is great at being quiet
The "absurd, but quiet," vs. "loud & obnoxious" is true and hit home when I thought of John Cleese doing his Minister of Silly Walks bit in Monty Python. His body goes wild, but he's quiet and his face is always perfectly deadpan!
There is also a very specific odd couple formula perfected in a lot of british comedy based on the dynamic of where the one character is light hearted and attempts to be funny the whole time, but comes across as silly but loveable, and the other one trying to be dead serious and then inadvertently ending up being hilarious. An infinite source of self-deprecating humor. I'm thinking of Basil and Manuel, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, Black Adder and Lieutenant George, Mark Corrigan & Jeremy etc.
Also, just for interest sake the character of Mr Bean was based largely on the character of Mr Hulot created by french comedian Jacques Tati. Mr Hulot's Holiday is an absolute classic of comedy and well worth checking out for those who haven't seen it. :)
Brittish humor often leves the "point" of the gag for the viewer to find out. US comedy mostly delivers it full on.
furripupau then explain Wiley coyote
The Brits can laugh at themselves.
I'm Aussie. We have also worked in England & the USA. Our take is that the Brits' invent comedic irony out of bad situations' whereas Americans shows are largely seen through a small prism of 'over the top gags' that only relate to reality on a puerile level & via Hollywood & NYC where certain ethnicity arrived from E Europe & depicted the USA through their newly arrived prism which only bore a passing resemblance to historical realities.
I think the younger American geenrations are starting to drift towards that. Look at certain elements of cynism in meme culture as an example.
American "comedy" seems to constantly revolve around laughing at other people and countries but get super offended when its thrown back at them
@@GenericUsername-qp1ww exactly! :-) Melbourne Aussie
@@letsseeif the only American comedy I find funny tbh is South Park and American Dad. I'd say that I'm surprised that American Dad still hasn't suffered from Family Guy Syndrome yet but then again, AD doesnt constantly have "hey, remember that time when....." overused garbage thrown in a bajillion times in every episode so I guess its not a surprise really
I'm English, and I believe that many great comedy programmes have come out of the US. Some of my favourites are Seinfeld, Scrubs, The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. I always thought Cheers and Frasier were over-rated.
I've spent quite a lot of time in the US, and I think Americans are just as capable of understanding irony, satire, and other more subtle aspects of humour as British people. However, many American comedies (not the ones I've just listed as favourites) patronise their viewers. They often feel the need to spell out and explain a joke, just in case you didn't get it.
American comedies often feel the need to preach (e.g., about 'fairness', 'family values', 'respect', 'compassion', 'morality' etc.) or have some kind of heart-warming message within them. I think we British tend to find that stuff patronising and too sickly sweet. British comedy can be sentimental, but typically deals with it in a more subtle fashion. I think our comedy also has a greater tendency to be vicious and dark.
Pathos is central to a lot of British humour ...when things are so incredibly sad, they become extremely funny. I rarely see that in American comedy, and I'm not sure if Americans understand why we laugh at such things. This ties in with the British tendency to laugh at ourselves -- the 'look at us, aren't we crap!' attitude. I think Americans do that far less. Maybe this is because a greater stress is placed on 'winning' and 'success' in American society.
I think the differences between the British and American versions of The Office illustrate these points well. They're both spoof fly-on-the-wall documentaries set on in office, but apart from that, they have little in common. But I like them both.
Because of our differing histories, societies and cultures, it can be difficult for Americans to understand our humour fully, and for the same reasons, I accept that American humour must sometimes pass me by too.
Jez Quayle thats because a lot of the US wouldnt be able to.
Hellbent what
3 words:Friday Night Dinner
Sofia is okay 3 words: I. Fucking. Love. That. Show.
Jez Quayle American shows like The Goldbergs and Black-ish are enjoyable up until towards the end, when as you said, they get preachy.
As a loyal fan of British comedy for years, I have noticed that when watching american series or movies, there is always that element of 'heart' and humanity in them that is missing from British equivalents. They're warmer and more heart-warming and that doesn't just go for comedy. There's been many american remakes of British tv series over the years and my earliest example that I was exposed to was Queer as Folk. While the 2 'versions' start off very similar, after a few episodes the american one stops trying to copy the british original and just takes off to become its own thing and the two couldn't be more different by the end! The american one feels very much more heartwarming and you truly connect with the characters, understanding and sympathising with them deeply on a personal level. Whereas with the British version you still feel like you're walking alongside the characters and observing what's happening with them from the side. While the American version made feel like I've experienced the characters' lives together with them, the British version made me feel like I've had a sneak peak into their lives 'from above', as in - I was more removed and distant from them. I was just observing. The entire series felt like a work of art in itself, in the way the story is presented, like something carefully crafted to make it look good as a ready art piece. I feel like that still holds true for me for most British vs American series I watch.
Damn.. just.. wow.. I agree.. WOOOOooooooww............ 😥
@@b0xE_ Hah, I'm happy to hear someone experiences things the same way. :)
Don't really agree completely, if you watch "The Inbetweeners" we can relate to them intrinsically, they make us go back to our teenage lives where we would struggle with embarrassing parents or continual disappoinments in pursuing the opposite sex, it doesn't have to be warm and optimistic for us to relate and see ourselves in them.
@@theartofthefart523 Haven't seen it but can understand what you're referring to. It's just about the different ways that people relate to the characters on screen. And mind you, in case you got the wrong impression - I'm a devout lover of British film&TV series!
So, you've never watched Seinfeld then.
Honestly, I find both comedy styles great. Coming from the UK I obviously love the ironic/sarcastic kind of humour we have here but I find American comedy just as good. I recently bought Arrested Development on dvd and it is probably one of the best shows I've watched in ages. The positivity of American humour, while funny, also brings a warm smile to your face. I guess some British people find American humour "cheesy" with the happy endings and too-good-to-be-true characters, but that's why I love it. It brings a spark of joy into my otherwise depressing humour. :)
But wait, you guys had 'Miranda.' Not feel-good, that?
Yea it had a feel good factor, but Miranda herself was far from perfect. She was a clumsy underdog who we watched overcome a lot of mistakes and downfalls to get to where she was and we were thrilled to see her make it in the end, while having a laugh at her more embarrassing moments because we could relate to them. For example, I laugh at American humour because the character's situations are so unexpected and I watch it unfold in front of me, whereas I laugh at Miranda because I know what's coming and it's the whole ironic "oh god, not again!" scenario. The American and British humour takes different turns, but both lead to equally funny conclusions!
Thanks, it's enjoyable to think about this. I thoroughly enjoy both American and British humor myself. And it's true that American shows more often feature almost 'perfect' characters who end up in strange situations. It seems we don't think that we Americans are a naturally awkward people, but the British own it.
Miranda is shite though
Personally I feel like Arrested Development just sets itself a part from any American comedy sitcom I’ve seen. Every character is hopeless, awkward, unsuccessful, and yeah it has its nice cute moments but overall it’s feels a lot more “British” idk. The visuals is very much American, but such a show like Arrested Devlopment just caters to our humour so well compared to stereotypical cheesy shows like Friends.
UK is very ironic/dry/sarcastic/witty
Layla Summers if uk humor was a person they’d be a rick and morty fan!
Situational Awareness! if uk comedy was a person they'd be a common brit.
Mr. Mexican Man no
Situational Awareness! Yes.
Situational Awareness! No, I’m British and I love American humour, my personal favourite films are 21 and 22 Jumpstreet and my favourite TV show is The Office (US). I don’t see the variation in comedy from the 2 different nations because to me it’s simply does the film make a good film?
British people are not pessimistic, we are cynical. It allows us to be more positive about pessimistic subjects. Americans look at every problem and then try to find the 'Self Help book' for it.
How dare you? I take offense to- actually no. I have seen English tourists, and I am for that reason, not patriotic. :p
***** My mum used to work in the main shop on the island we live on, and at one point there was an English woman getting angry that the island didn't have the LOCAL newspaper of the county she came from, even she was from England, and were were in Scotland, and it would have been at least 600 miles appart.
***** I hate change, I will admit to that, but I still love the separation between cultures, and wouldn't want them all to be same everywhere in the world!
More positive, open about them, and realistic, in a successful attempt at dealing with the subject. Spot on mate.
I always thought, the sandals an socks thing was a typical German trademark, and from what I gather, many Germans expect, that people speak German, too, which is even more ridiculous, regarding the relevance of the language and its role in the past in quite a lot of European countries.
American humour is too obvious, you know the punchline or what they’re going to say before they say it, British humour is the best in the world
Totally agreed. American shows I watch when doing something like eating dinner because it’s easy to turn my brain off to. British humour I am there, feeling these characters emotions while sometimes cringing while uncontrollably laughing at every joke
One of the best British jokes is the "it isn't exactly rocket science" which pretty much the whole joke is that you can see the punchline coming.
@@LarryOfCamalot never heard it
@gilgabish
Most english speaking countries including US say that when mocking that something isn't difficult. Or "it isn't brain surgery". I tend to enjoy mixing things up by throwing out a "it isn't rocket surgery" instead. Now there's a joke I can count on.
Well it depends on the person, I prefer American comedy and I'm british
British Comedy is more realistic and down to earth also more cringe funny and sarcastic
I dont fucking care about ''realistic'' I watching a comedy not a documentary dude.wtf?
@@raphaels33 Calm down, child lol
Saying that you don't want realism is basically admitting that you can't see the humour in life, which in turn makes you seem pretty mono-dimensional. The British series The Royle Family would be completely lost on you, I expect. There's so much subtle humour in it. US comedy always has to be over the top and in your face, it seems - it kind of implies that Americans aren't perceptive enough for subtle humour.
@DJHart Stfu u little Bitch, all he said was she/he is acting like a child, not their fault that you're brain don't fucking work
@@Pirosbor r/Iamverysmart
@@Pirosbor subtlety is just one aspect of humor, which is pretty "mono-dimensional" if you ask me. Subtle jokes can also limit the scope of the audience, as being too subtle may only be interpreted correctly by people in a specific culture. I'm not saying anything against British humor, I find both British and American humor funny; different but funny
Mmmh, having watched both types of comedy and being from none of both places, I can see a different difference, if that makes any sense.
The difference I've seen has to do more about how the delivery is done, and just maybe, that can somehow affect what is written. US comedy is more, I don't know, blunt?, overdone?, obvious?, loud? one-line-ish? On the other hand, British comedy seems more subtle, understated, backhanded, self-deprecating and even sometimes too "context-necessitating"; it's got, to my perception, more "Ahaa!" moments packed in.
On the other, third hand, perhaps I'm wrong. After all, I've mainly only seen guys like Fallon, Kimmel, Conan, Letterman and some such, as well as SNL, and felt like they were trying too hard, in turn ruining it for me. I did, however, enjoy Ferguson and find Oliver particularly witty, and they're British. Is there a connection? Is perhaps the sample too small? Are perhaps my US samples, bad crop? Those are questions I cannot yet answer. Anyway, that's my take as an outsider.
Find something as smart and subtle as "The Simpsons" in the canon of British humor.
ratonL oliver is american comedy
Wow, we should only listen to outsiders, that was bang on as far as I can see!
The Simpsons was smart and subtle when it was written by John Swartzwelder. And quite wry and satirical. From the English, sorry British cannon? Um, I'll limit myself to six to save time, cos you posted six days ago: Oscar Wilde, Fawlty Towers, Have I Got News For You, Peep Show, 'Bremner, Bird and Fortune', The Office, Dylan Moran - granted hes Irish, Stewart Lee, Help! with Whitehouse and Langham, and Would I Lie To You. Thats ten, and actually Jeremy Clarkson, Hammond and May are very clever dispite the more obvious humour, yknow, for the American audience XD That was a nice little challenge, now its your turn: find a mention of the word 'shoehorn' on this webpage. Seemingly impossible, yes?
I enjoy both British and American comedy and hate when people compare the two because we both have amazing comedy material. When it comes to American talk shows, however, we are pretty piss poor. I agree that our main late night shows and big network comedies are shitty, but that's because they're all about the $$$ and they're trying to appeal to the largest audience possible. There are plenty of quality American comedy movies and shows, but they may not be the most popular. Just remember that America has an enormous population, so the bigger the audience you try to appeal to the more watered down your content is going to be.
Started with Python, instant 'like'
Python is the best place to start. I've always thought dynamic languages are better at teaching programming concepts without getting bogged down on syntax.
Programming in python. Takes a break and goes to watch some comedy on RUclips. Reads oblique reference to python in comments. Goes back to programming. Takes a break and watches some more videos. Finds another python reference. Goes back to programming. I'm stuck in an internet loop.
The Power of Python ;)
The best python too imo. Michael Palin is a fucking legend.
+Now You See It goddamn i was watching your video to take a break from learning python and here you go dragging me back into it. back to my functions
6:22 I certainly wasn’t expecting that
Damn it. I didn't either
Being from the UK I really enjoy UK comedy shows like The Inbetweeners, The Office and Blackadder. They all have a typical ironic and sarcastic humour and often relate to real life.
I haven't really seen that much US comedy but there are some great US comedians with a great sense of humour.
Despite my allegiance to UK comedy shows I do prefer the panel shows. 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie to You? and Mock the Week are the shows that really make me laugh and I think best reflect the typical UK sense of humour.
James Hanson have u seen the US inbetweeners? They tried to recreate it but it turned out so shit 😂
Eh I love mock the week. Untill you realise half of the cast are reading off of a script. Why do you think the guest look at their desk when giving out the right answer?
beatboxer08 Maybe that is true, but I don't care about that part; it's still hilarious.
You all and I included are indefinitely, by the absolute definition of everything that is or ever will be in all of history. Ball gazers.
+Tyllerr d says the yank drowning in high fructose corn syrup while dying from diabetes and heiling their dreadfully shit leader
British humour is biographical. It's always quite realistic, and based on real people. We like to laugh at real life. We find it funny, because it reminds us of ourselves, or people we know.
Whereas American comedy is more fantasy. They like ridiculous characters.
Curb your Enthusiasm is British in style. But the characters are still a bit too ridiculous to be truly British. A British version would be a little more realistic
*Americans* may not watch tv for reality.
What do you mean no one watches TV for reality? Almost ALL TV these days IS reality.
And many people find a cynical view of reality entertaining...Poking at something that is real is therapeutic. I would agree, Curb your enthusiasm is as close to British comedy I can think of in the States. Also Comedy in Britain has a history of being associated with politics and is mixed with satire almost always. For example, the monty python skits are in many ways a push back from from the previous generation where everything had to make sense and be structured in x, y, and z. Something that was silly and made no sense irritated many of the older generation of the time. which in turn made it every more funny. Sort of like comedy version of punk rock. This, British people like, makes them feel a sense of release. What we consider entertainment is very different.
Monty Python was based on real people?
No obviously not, I said 'Also comedy in Britain...' It was an additional comment about British comedy and Monty Python's historical context due to, in part its country of origin.
...well...what if we as Americans are becoming sadder?
***** Collectively, you mean?
Hmmm, that's actually a great answer.
+Zach Higgins ")mindblown("
***** I wholeheartedly agree.
That's why you gotta make America great again!
Kathlyn P. Agreed
I'm an absolute fan of British comedy. When I first watched The Office (UK), I couldn't really bear the humour. I felt a huge wave of second-hand embarrassment, but after a while I really got into it and I absolutely adore it now. As someone has already said, British comedy, I feel like, is more about laughing at yourself, not taking yourself all to serious. That's what I love about British comedy. It's down to earth and everyone's having a laugh at themselves. I love to joke about myself and I think that being able to mock about yourself is one of the greatest attributes that one can have. That's also why I love Ricky Gervais. I do absolutely love American comedy as well, as long as it's the 1970s SNL skits.
I personally prefer British comedy
But if Norman Wisdom
Vozhan way too repetitive, British is much more innovative with humour
Vozhan fair enough we all find different stuff funny
Vozhan comedy is 100% subjective. But I think to understand the British humor better you need to be a part of their society. However American humor is very simple and easy to understand, personally I think British humor is better as the funny part isn’t always so obvious
Vozhan lol it’s because you haven’t seen inbetweeners (British version) you will crack up.
I think what your looking for it that us British are very very sarcastic, and we can take the piss out of other people and ourselves and still laugh. I once heard about this man went into an American pub and a man ordered a drink, when it came he picked it up and dropped it on the floor, spilling it everywhere. The only British man in the pub pointed at the man an shouted WAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY What an idiot haha. Then an American woman turned to him and said "that poor man just spilled beer all down his shirt and glass went everywhere, he could be hurt". I think this proves that Americans, whilst very funny at times like to stick together by sticking up for strangers and being jolly. However British people like to stick together by taking the piss and pointing out people's flaws, much like siblings would against each other.
And they yell too much in the United States. Even more disgusting.
When somebody spills their beer in Australia, we like to yell "TAXI!!!!!"
xx ARMY OF ME x one
Honestly, America has a very offensive sense of humor.
+Chikin Chikin, also childish and extremely loud.
Damn. All aboard the hate-on America for being hateful train.
Top gear, the inbetweeners, Catherine Tate, little Britain, Mr bean, black adder, month Python, etc
No offence but the uk is funnier
(My opinion though)
little britain was the shit
Mr bean was the shit
RED DWARF RED DWARF RED DWARF RED DWARF RED DWARF RED DWARF
Assassin Hit
Have u seen us inbetweeners
Shittest thing
seb by don't remind me
American Humor = Marvel
British Humor = DC
In my opinion, British comedy is more witty and American comedy is more goofy.
But a brilliant kind of goofy: Simpsons (seasons 1 - 8), Curb Your Enthusiasm, South Park. Some very very good stuff.
Plus Monty Python was downright absurd and goofy. Not a clear-cut debate.
@@bigman25plus25 mmmm the simpsons season 4-8 yes. Then turns ridiculously American goofy. South Park is the only US show I like as a Englishman, mainly because its extremely clever. The rest are so hard to watch for me though
I think one thing I noticed about British comedy is normal, dry reactions to absurd things being a staple, and American comedy often involves absurd reactions to normal, dry things.
American comedy seems more extravagant. In a country so big you need to do alot to stand out. Here in the UK it's the little things we enjoy and is the little things we enjoy. The example I always like to use is the Inbetweeners. In the scene where Jay crashes the bike and just falls through the door I was pissing myself in America I could see it needing to be more extravagant than that like explosions (Maybe not that far, but you get the point)
that scene where Jay comes off the bike is priceless. he just looks so pathetic but endearing at the same time
James I disagree. Here in America, we in fact don't really like all the "explosions" in films. We make look like we do but we really don't. Truth is, many of us Americans don't really roll with what you may know of when it comes to America and we like smart comedy but of course we still enjoy the somewhat extravagant things to an extent.
James "The small things." You literally had the largest empire of all time. You enjoy the little things such as 25% of Earth's land?
Last I recall this conversation wasn't about the size of land, but comedy. Oh, and may I remind you that this big country came to be from a countries mistakes? So technically it's England's fault.
LadyDominion He used the size of the USA so it only made sense. And what about Britain's msitakes?
American comedy is basically feel good comedy. British comedy is like the weather, a bit drab and melancholy but comforting in the sense that we're all experiencing the same thing.
I think it is like every difference between us.Before I had visited USA I had very definite stereotypes of how Americans will be. I did indeed meet one of two of my stereotypes. I met the have a nice dayers, I met the sense of irony bypassers and the do you know the Queen brigade, but they were the minority. Most of the Americans I met were just like us to be honest. When I made a joke on a bus in Vegas I got a mass laugh. A couple got off the bus after 1 block. A lady with a mid western accent said who the hell rides the bus for just one block? So I said perhaps they are from LA, in my best Hugh Grant voice.
I met well informed, intelligent people with broad minds and well thought out opinions. American humour is very similar to UK humour, we find the same things funny, but there were US standups that did a series of snappy one liners (EG Steven Wright) but then there were also the George Carlin and Bill Burr monologue comics. You cannot generalise about UK US humour, we are both very diverse populations, with a diverse range of tastes.
why doesn't this have more likes
Thank you, I don’t watch much British comedy, but I don’t watch much American comedy either. Why can’t we just accept each other’s views on stuff and get along.
This guy gets it. I believe it also has to do a lot with our upbringing such as a group of poor people from varying countries will be able to laugh at a joke more well off individuals wont find amusing
Our sense of humor much like our personalties are moulded by our surroundings
I see what you mean, but when people refer to UK vs US humour, I think it refers more to the humour the media portrays, not the sense of humour your average Brit or American possesses. I agree, that different humour types have very little to do with nationality, but there as a very big different between the types of humour in American TV and British TV.
American comedy is generally more light hearted and outlandish than British comedy, with the latter being more grounded and and subtle. This doesn't at all summarise what the general population finds funny, but what the media *thinks* we find funny. And I believe those working American media greatly undermine the humour tastes and adaptability of their viewing audience.
In the UK you see so many popular American shows being broadcast on major networks because they know that we in the UK enjoy American media, and because we've been subjected to it for so long, we're used to it and we're able to adapt. Americans aren't subject to much international media most of the time, everything is sort of based in America there. I'm sure Americans are just as capable as Brits as adapting to and appreciating different forms of humour, unfortunately, those who work in American broadcasting disagree :/
I agree overall. A lot of people think of British humor as all posh (and that exists) and American humor as being more crude (which also exists) but that certainly cannot be used as a generalization because there are too many contradictions in both cases.
Brittish people make fun of themselves, Americans make fun of eachother.
Marius VanDamme exactly
...Huh!, spot on.
Well put
Yep, you just proved zeekos point entirely.
@Marius VanDamme Tell that to germans, christians (catholics), jews, hungarians etc. Just watch Monty Python.
In my eyes (MY opinion):
British humor: more 'realistic' (believable situations), subtle, longer build-up towards a joke or situation.
American humor: over the top (unbelievable situations), right in your face, straight to the joke or situation.
I enjoy both a lot, but I prefer British humor by far.
*humour
Harvey Mccartney humor is correct
humour is correct in the UK, I believe while humor is American.
I think we need to take your point about British humour being realistic and expand upon it. I feel like it often takes realistic situations and makes them absurd. Monty Python was often silly and over the top but it was usually following a very normal situation and one you wouldn't expect (such as the Spanish Inquisition).
One of my peeves with the argument is that one is necessarily funnier than the other. I love the I.T crowd for example but taking it to America and simply putting in an American cast didn't work, that's why the U.S version of The Office became much more successful as the series went on was because they made it its own thing.
Heck, I am British and my favourite show of all time is The Simpsons. During its peak years, nothing came close to how funny, smart, witty or just down right emotional it could be.
Idk, how you described American Humor is exactly how I would describe The inbetweeners (UK version of course)
I do think British comedy is a bit more subtle, and self deprecating. Also I think we do tend to push boundaries a bit more. British comedy doesn't really shy away from sensitive subjects that really should've be funny like religion, prejudice death even things like child abuse, rape and domestic violence are perfectly acceptable in British comedy.
Another thing I noticed recently because my kids watch alot of Disney and Nickelodeon TV. Because of restrictions they're unable to access alot of it on their devices without my input. Most of the American kids shows my preteens enjoy are rated 12 because the show's are usually about high school kids and occasionally refence bras or use terms like "second base"
More recently we watched things like Wallace and gromit, yonderland. They're rated U. Meaning they're suitable for children of all ages without even the need for parental guidance, like most Pixar and DreamWorks films recomend.
Honestly some of the blatant innuendos in Britain childrens comedy probably would even get passed the censorship of American adult comedy.
I'm from Ireland, I watch British comedy to laugh and think and cringe and American comedy to laugh and not think too much and feel good. It's not an absolute as there are definitely comedies in UK that are just amazing but silly (Reeves & Mortimer) and American comedies that are cringe and intelligent.
I think in almost all American comedies the main character has a happy ending, but in English comedies they hardly ever do.
Have you ever seen Arrested Development or Its Always Sunny?
@@kindasorta123 did you see the word 'almost' in the comment above?
peep show
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz had very happy endings, while the World’s End had a bittersweet ending.
@@andyzhao7822 Shaun of the dead had a happy ending!? (SPOILERS INNOCENT BYSTANDERS THAT HAVEN'T SEEN ONE OF THE BEST ZOMBIE MOVIES EVER)
Shaun and Liz are back together the zombie outbreak is done. David the landlord, Ed (sort of) and Shaun's mum are all dead. That other girl that was leading the other posse lived and so did David's girlfriend (she hid up in a tree ate David's leg until the zombies were gone. It's a deleted scene sorta thing that's on the dvd .) I'd say that was pretty bittersweet.
I thought it would be more simple than that... Every American in a comedy thinks they are the hero of their own story wanting to be 'top dog'. A confidence that trumps them seeing their own failures which we the audience get to be in on. In Louis he is a smart, intelligent, and marginally successful guy who is really good at making people laugh on a stage, but he can't translate that confidence into success in his own personal life. He knows it but doesn't acknowledge it, we know it and get to acknowledge it and revel in his failures and successes.
The British style is the person is that doesn't fit into the norm, the awkwardness they feel, and the absurdity of being singled out for doing something just socially taboo. Such as Ricky in the office. He could be quite charming and hilarious if his 'style' of comedy didn't shove him into doing things that were completely socially awkward or upsetting social norms.
TBH I see Michael Scott post season 2 as a very emotionally complex character. The first two seasons (season one especially) he comes off as an egotistical shit that thinks his shit doesn't smell. But after season 2 we see Michael is more aware of his flaws, as much as we the audience and the rest of the office are, and he takes some steps to try and fix that. Towards the end of the show we see people have accepted Michael because as much as he is an odd duck that seeks attention and glory, he has a generosity of spirit and feeling that means he can surprise you with how much of a friend he can be when you need it. Jim, Pam, and others get very close to him because of this. We feel sympathy for him because we see his struggle to overcome his own flaws and build off of that. Being unique but welcoming is the best way to fit in. Finding a way to express your individuality while also not upsetting anyone. It's a distinctly American cultural thing that is hard to express.
Whereas in the UK being anything outside of the social norm puts you immediately into a weird social limbo. The Office (UK) focuses a lot on how Brent trying to be funny in his own way socially isolates him from everyone around him. Whereas if he fit the mold more easily, he would be dearly loved.
Another example is found in the actual hero of both series, Jim and Tim, and how they both exemplify what their boss wants to be, but cannot duplicate it without seeming to try too hard. But that is a bit much for now.
I like this comment section, it’s respectful, I’m from the UK and love both, I’m obviously more familiar with British humour but I find American humour hilarious as well. Of course it’s all varied but I like it all.
Surprised you didn't mention Fawlty Towers and the use of farce but cool video!
exactly
Frasier does farce brilliantly. I like two american comedies. Frasier and Malcolm in the middle
Frasier and Fawlty Towers are some of my favourite shows of all time.
The episode with the Germans coming in to stay was hilarious!
Never watched much Fawlty Towers, but what I _did_ watch was fucking gold.
This video left me with more questions than awnsers
Conan feels like British 🇬🇧
Jim Corden feels American 🇺🇸
Thats because Conan was heavily influenced by British comedy.
Corden was good but he’s become Americanised and even speaks with an Americanish accent
@@theopos9670 When was he good? Did you enjoy 'Horne and Corden'?
Andrew Devine gavin and Stacey
Where Jim Corden is from his (local part of) English culture is inundated with American references, whereas Conan's wit is Celtic, which feels British, even to English people. Bill Burr also feels a little British to me, for this reason. The Irish have been the single biggest outside influence on English comedy, imo.
A lot of successful American comedy came from an original British show. I think the combination of the two is what really hits!
English: cringe on purpose
American: cringe by accident
irarelyupload stop
Basically
Rosida Andriyana idiot
Best definition ever
I'd disagree, some American comedy is cringe on purpose, while some british comedy can be cringe on accident. Cringe is really not a regional thing
Hola.
_Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!_
Kra Z Kapin: *in a borderline offensive southern accent* STOP SPEAKING SPANGLESH!
@@thenotsodemocraticrepublic7731 What is your problem? Nobody complains about the offensive that is the American neocolonialism using "globalization" to spread its culture of MTV as a cancer destroying other cultures and national identities.
Bruh what are you talking about? He made a reference and now you’re getting really heated about it.
TIS BUT A SCRATCH
Eae
_nobody expects a Br portuguese comment !_
Don't get me started on the inbetweeners.
Edit: I was talking about the american Inbetweeners and SHIT I STARTED WW3 IN THE COMMENTS 😂
duhitz cerysxo joke of the century, the American inbetweeners
+jibeduya67 at least our office is 10 times better than the Brits office.
Giuse Meurer yeah it's really not better than the British version
You should be ashamed of yourself. It is not, not by a very long chalk.
lilly-ann loopbert no I agree with Guise. Of course I'm American but I watched a couple of episodes of the British Office after I finished the American one and I didn't really laugh. I like the British Inbetweeners but not really the Brits office.
Us Brits are the kings of humour through self-deprecation.
Sounds debilitating.
@@Renovartio but surprisingly liberating
@@Renovartio No its called truly accepting how it is. Somehow it makes you happier
@@Humannbeing you ain't king of nothing, Thats why no one buys your movies or watches your shows.
@@Renovartio you watch anime, when you mature and grow up and don’t watch cartoons you might understand it