American Reacts to British Comedy vs. American Comedy

We had no idea that 'The Office' was a comedy. So we never saw an episode of it.
There is a tremendous amount of very positive humour over here. Much of it is not on TV.

Satire is specifically political humour, not all of the other types of humour which are listed in that Wikipedia article.

Little Britain you must react to that!!

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

When you watch something American like curb your enthusiasm, compared to a similar show in England like Lead Balloon in the UK, 2 shows about grumpy guys getting themselves into trouble, Larry David gets into arguments multiple times throughout each episode. Rick Spleen on the other hand supresses his irritation and his petulant behaviour results in uncomfortable yet humourous situtions that could happen to anyone.

I think these reflect examples of the different stereotypes in America and the UK which we can relate to.

I prefer the British comedy ... anyone can relate to it ... it is taken from real life happenings. American humour is more "Slap Stick" and comes across as stupid to me ....

I wrote a dissertation on the difference between American and British television, and when discussing comedy I said a key difference was American humour is based on ego and self love, British humour is self deprecating and appreciation of the underdog.

Also, in regards to some American comedies being witty and intelligent, I bet for 90% of those the inspiration for the writer came from enjoying British comedy.

For me the scene in The Office (UK) where David Brent is doing that dance sums up the fundamental difference between UK and US humour. Most of us Brits enjoy the uncomfortableness of it. Perhaps enjoy isn't the right word... We can relate to it... It feels real. It's because of moments like this that happen throughout the two series, that make the ending after the Christmas Specials feels so much more rewarding. When those small victories or glimpses of happiness come about we truly enjoy and cherish them. It's the whole, without the bitter the sweet isn’t as sweet thing. This is also why I think The Office (UK) is far superior to the US version. To me the US version is just another sitcom.

Allo Allo encompasses all elements of British humour: Satire, parody, slapstick, wordplay, self-deprecation, silly catchphrases, sarcasm, poking fun at foreigners, farce and lashings of innuendo.

I don't know who said this originally: In the USA life is serious, but full of hope; in the UK life is hopeless, but not serious

i love dinnerladies. give it a go, also vicar of dibley

The British love an underdog. Americans love a winner.

I think the simplest difference is that the British are willing to let the Bad guy win, we don't require everything to have a happy ending.

Well... Mr. Bean is complete opposite to what "British Humour" definition says.

The US version of The Office is one of my all time favourite shows. It’s brilliant and so funny. The British version was kind of groundbreaking for its concept but the comedy was more cringe worthy, I never seemed to laugh at it whilst watching it but we would always talk about it the following day in work and laugh then.

Prefer the US office to be fair.

Jimmy Carr would be funny for you to react to. 😂

The comedy series 'Bottom', captures the essence of British comedy; Its laughing at stupidity that at its root is based in some form of tragedy.

Tyler watch One foot in the grave! We love to moan 😀

I saw an interview with some British comedians who'd worked in America, and they felt Americans didn't want people to laugh at them (Americans). At their jokes, sure, but they didn't want to be the butt of the joke. There's also a fairly common idea in the UK that Americans don't want to be hated or feared - so if the bad guy just has to drive a fast car and shoot a lot, they'll do it, but when it comes to properly sinister baddies, they get a Brit in. (Think Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, Ralph Fiennes in Red Dragon, or even Alan Rickman in Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves.) I don't know if either is true, but they are believable to the UK population.

Also a surreal aspact in UK humour.

British comedy us better. Americans tell me Monty Python is dumb.

huh?

I love Americans but they are super literal.

We are half literal as Canadians but I find UK comedy hilarious.

thats Monty Python, the last clip

i tell you what real british humour is..... Peter Kay misheard lyrics. Watch that and if you dont cry laughing ill be annoyed🤪

i want a realistic ending, not a fairytale or its not funny. You have to be able to identify with it.

Ahh, the Spanish inquisition, classic Monty Python. Fantastic stuff.

You got to remember we are always like really drunk when watching comedy 🤣👍

I think we do have a very dry and often dark sense of humour. I remember many years ago a sitcom called “In loving memory” set in the 1920’s (I think) about a funeral director. A dark subject but at times extremely funny

You need to react to the British sitcom called Friday Night Dinner. It is the best British sitcom out there.

Honestly American humour makes me laugh very rarely because i feel it’s all about making fun of one particular person rather than society as a whole so I definitely prefer the risky British way

A great example of British humour is Blackadder. Very very pessimistic, and in the last episode set in WW1 (SPOILER) it ends with Blackadder and the main characters charging out of the trenches and just dying.

Not too true about no one respecting American humour! Here in the UK we have a great affinity for American humour, we get lots of repeats of Simpsons, Seinfeld, Modern Family, Friends, and loads of Classic American movies get shown on TV here. Most Brits can give you endless Simpsons quotes as well as lines from American movies.

There is a very zany aspect to British humour too (Spike Milligan, Python, Young Ones, Bottom...) and I love dark British humour. The League of Gentle is an excellent example of dark British humour.
We had a great history of classic 60's-80's sitcoms, but they seem to have died out now... in fact British humour as a whole seems to have died out.

You need to review the monty python flying circus or any of there films they are brilliant or on a diffrent type of comedy the chuckle brothers haha

Everything British they chose were not really the best . Or even good . Only fools and horses anything like that is funny .

Kath and Kim failed in the state s

The American Sit-Coms are far funnier than the UK ones. The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Brooklyn99, Home Improvement, Taxi, Still Standing, Last Man Standing, Spin City & Rodney are just a few examples. The American version of Dear John was FAR funnier than the UK version. For really funny UK comedy try Watching, Cowboys, Drop The Dead Donkey, Til Death Do Us Part, Coupling, Game On, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Men Behaving Badly, Love Thy Neighbour, Only When I Laugh, Rising Damp, Open All Hours, Just Good Friends, Thin Blue Line & The Vicar of Dibley.

I think British comedy styles have changed over the decades and it’s not all about making you cringe. There are I think many styles just like music.

In the UK I grew up on stuff like Taxi, Moonlighting, The Simpsons, Cheers and Frasier😁

UK comedy loves to sit in the awkwardness of situations

I was really hoping we'd see Richard Wilson's 90's show One Foot In Tbe Grave. It's just so brilliantly written and performed! It follows the everyday life of a guy called Victor Meldrew and his wife Margaret. It's a laugh-a-minute but sometimes with a 'dark' top. It's a show EVERYONE should watch. It's just so funny!!

A major factor is that UK tv comedies are very commonly written by and or staring actual comics... US shows are not. Comedians are far more likely to go further with the material then a team of Network Writers, and because the UK is used to it the UK networks (if thats really the correct term in the Uk) let them run with it.. The BBC also has its safety net of Channel 2.. where its experimental shows get their shot and if sucessful then move to BBC 1, similar with C4 and ITV. not that they switch but C4 is way more open to experimental TV. In the USA everyone is competing over the same things.. even HBO no longer has the freedom it did because Showtime, Starz, ect.. will do everything they will, so staying safe and working the proven formulas is way more favorable.... one thing this vid touched on was the optimism/pessimism angle. American shows will feature wealthy characters far faster then poor ones.. total opposite in the UK. even Ab-Fab which kinda broke that mold had Patsy and Edina totally inept and their money didn't save them. Roseanne in the US showcased he poor character, but it also stared and was created by a comedienne.

British understand yank humor but yanks don't get British humor

The British version of the Office is so much funnier than the American version.

Mr Bean is the best way to describe our humour.

it didnt show an equal amount of british v us clips so hard to judge

British comedy tells a joke.
American comedy explains the joke.

You need to see some Fawltey Towers or if you can find it The League of Gentlemen ( the dentons house rules is classic )

British comedy is generally written by a single person or a couple of writers, they have the licence to take a while to develop the characters. There isnt a pressure to have a certain number of laughs per minute. The writers also usually kill the comedy after a couple of good series, rather than milking it and running when they have run out of ideas - the verybest comediesonly ran to maybe a dozen shows. I think the writers have more power here rather than the TV executives, or at least they are trusted by the executives.