British humour

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British humour is notable due to its intellectual depth, usage of British slang, wit, and self-effacing culture, and its considerable breadth. As the lists below indicate, British humour is by no means limited to just one or two forms.

Aspects, such as slang terms and English personal references have a reputation for being puzzling to non-British speakers of English —but certain Commonwealth nations (such as Australia, Canada and South Africa) tend to find it more familiar. Nonetheless, many UK comedy TV shows which use it as a basis have been internationally popular, and have been a strong avenue for the export and representation of British culture to an international audience.

Contents

[edit] Historical roots

Some deep roots for British humour are:

  • the historical reaction to the intolerance of Puritanism (thus the acceptance of saucy and smutty humour), although ribald humour existed much earlier. An example is the Miller's tale in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1380s-1390s).
  • the tradition of absurd and nonsense poetry made immensely popular by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll (thus the development of an eccentric form of 'home-brewed surrealism' that leads us to the Goons, Monty Python, Ivor Cutler, etc.)
  • the traditional Christmas pantomime, with its mix of social role reversals
  • the richness of the English language giving great scope for wordplay
  • and most important of all - British culture (with all its regional variations). It is interesting to note that Britain has so far been unable to produce an equivalent for the hugely successful American comedy series "Friends" ("Coupling" being one attempt that immediately springs to mind), whilst it seems to be equally difficult to successfully adapt British hit comedy series for American audiences (with the possible exception of "Till Death Do Us Part" and its American counterpart "All In the Family".)
  • The broad farces so popular in British humour during much of the 20th century, owed a great deal to the influence of the French comic theatre, and are typified by the series of Whitehall farces starring Brian Rix and gave birth to not only such obvious offspring as Benny Hill and the "Carry On" films, but have also had an influence on everything from "Monty Python" to "Porridge", "Open All Hours", "The Young Ones", etc. The most obvious difference between French farce and British farce is precisely that - British farce, in the main, has tended to be far more "obvious" and unsophisticated than French offerings in this genre.

The changes in British culture are naturally mirrored by changes in what passes for humour.

[edit] General features

Some general features characteristic of British humour are:

What stands out from this list is the importance of "verbal humour" as a key element. This is not to say that British humour has no place for visuals, but to take a classic example, Benny Hill, whose work was very visual indeed, was extremely popular in his day, but has long since failed to arouse much interest with British audiences. In the US and France, however, he is still widely regarded as a comic genius.

Compare this with typical "classics" of UK humour, such as the "Parrot Sketch" from "Monty Python", which are usually notable for the fact that fans can "repeat them word-for-word".

[edit] Themes

a seaside postcard by Donald McGill 1954
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a seaside postcard by Donald McGill 1954

Some themes (with examples) that underpinned late twentieth-century British humour were:

[edit] Smut and innuendo

Smut and innuendo with sexual and scatological themes, typified by:

[edit] Disrespect to members of the establishment

Disrespect to members of the establishment and authority, typified by:

[edit] The absurd

John Cleese as the Minister of Silly Walks in Monty Python, 1970
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John Cleese as the Minister of Silly Walks in Monty Python, 1970

The absurd, typified by:

[edit] The Manic

[edit] The humour inherent in everyday life

The Royle family 1990s
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The Royle family 1990s

The humour, not necessarily apparent to the participants, inherent in everyday life (ish), as seen in:

[edit] The 'war' between parents/teachers and children

The 'war' between parents/teachers and their children, typified by:

[edit] The British class system

Dad's Army played on the British class system as a source of comedy, 1968 to 1977
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Dad's Army played on the British class system as a source of comedy, 1968 to 1977

The British class system, especially pompous or dim-witted members of the upper/middle classes or embarrassingly blatant social climbers, typified by:

[edit] The lovable rogue

Steptoe and Son 1960s
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Steptoe and Son 1960s

The lovable rogue, often from the impoverished working class, trying to 'beat the system' and better himself, typified by:

Blackadder 1980s
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Blackadder 1980s

[edit] The embarrassment of social ineptitude

The embarrassment of social ineptitude, typified by:

[edit] Making fun of foreigners

Making fun of foreigners, sometimes bordering on racism and especially common in television sitcoms and films of the 1970s, typified by:

Little Britain 2004
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Little Britain 2004

[edit] Bullying and harsh sarcasm

Harsh sarcasm and bullying, though with the bully usually coming off worse than the victim - typified by:

[edit] Parodies of Stereotypes

Making fun of British stereotypes, typified by:

[edit] Tolerance of, and affection for, the eccentric

Tolerance of, and affection for, the eccentric, especially when allied to inventiveness

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Sutton, David. A chorus of raspberries: British film comedy 1929-1939. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, (2000) ISBN 0-85989-603-X

[edit] External links

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