bikeperson45 Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 I'm in America these days and my relatives seem to be under the impression that their American sense of humour is superior to the British one. They say that ours is too dry and we say ours is based more on irony and a load of other stuff like that. I didn't see too big a difference until The Office got involved. I think the British series were a lot better, mainly because it seemed more subtle with it's humour where as in the American the main gag would be driving a car into a pond. Ours is less in your face comedy, I think. Thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 They're wrong. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukasMcNeal Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 American comedy is woeful. There are funny american comics, however that's because they have a good style. Oh yeah check out the american inbetweeners, its horrendous compared to the uk version! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 I've written this reply about 5 times now, basically American comedy was good but has slowly been going down the pan for years much like British Comedy which is also turning to absolute drivel. The 90's was the peak of comedy on both sides of the pond and I doubt we'll reach that level again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyseemonkeydo Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 I think in general a lot of the more successful British comedy is more 'intelligent' comedy- irony, satire, clever play on words etc. Whereas the comedy I've seen is using stupid voices and yo' mamma jokes... I guess the comics have to aim at the average IQ of their viewers which in the states equates to that of the average British PE teacher. Edit: Actually that probably relates more to stand up. They have certainly put out some good stuff with TV etc- the obvious one that sticks in my head being Family Guy which is kind of stupid humour (baby wants to kill mum, fart jokes, drunk jokes) but with some fairly off the wall direct hits using satire. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Nah what about Men Behaving Badly, anything with Vic and Bob, Harry Enfield, Father Ted are all pretty in your face. I reckon Men behaving badly is one of my all time favourite comedies, some of the humour in that is immense. As for the Americans I always preferred the sitcoms to straight up slapstick/offensive humour like Cheers, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Spin City, that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisTrials2012 Posted November 30, 2012 Report Share Posted November 30, 2012 Nah what about Men Behaving Badly, anything with Vic and Bob, Harry Enfield, Father Ted are all pretty in your face. I reckon Men behaving badly is one of my all time favourite comedies, some of the humour in that is immense. As for the Americans I always preferred the sitcoms to straight up slapstick/offensive humour like Cheers, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Spin City, that sort of thing. American Drama is a lot better when done properly i.e The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, Breaking Bad, The Wire and so on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showurcolours Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 American Drama is a lot better when done properly i.e The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, Breaking Bad, The Wire and so on The Americans make much better TV series (in terms of drama, sci fi and all) but I think that's probably because they have massive production value and huge endorsement. I mean really, AMC, Showtime and HBO are massive household names and they produce the best shows around (IMO). As for humour, I like to think the British humour is wittier and thus more intelligent, American humor is pretty drab; it's way tooo obvious and they spell it the punchline in such a way that can only be described as cringe-worthy. You can see that a lot of Americans who come on British TV talk shows (Graham Norton, Alan Carr and the likes) don't really understand our humour or even what we are saying most of the time. That's all my opinion and observation though, obviously we all find different things funny and if the American race want their humour blindingly obvious then good for them I guess. BUT Ours is better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1a2bcio8 Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 If you want subtle but awesome American comedy then check out 'Party Down'. You often have to be paying attention to understand the jokes. I prefer it to The Office, etc. although it's kind of similar. Party Down is probably one of my favourite comedies of all time. And for all your high-brows out there, it's intelligent. I also really enjoy the dark humour of Six Feet Under and Curb Your Enthusiasm is awesome. It's not really a situation of 'versus' though. It's cultural reasons, not the condition of right and wrong, that make up the differences in humour. That being said, I generally don't get comedy that's overdone, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 I might be a bit backwards, but to me Biritsh humour is stuff like Yes Minister, Monty Python, Faulty Towers, Two Ronnies... or has it changed recently? The only American humour that I think I'm familiar with are some popular sitcoms with a live audience that helps you determine when to laugh. I can't stand it. So I'm not too sure about what British and American humour stand for these days, but definitely among the shows that I'm familiar with, British comedy wins hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bing Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 reginald d hunter. top class yank comedian. seen him quite a bit on have i got news for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isitafox Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yeah but he knows the score and lives over here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD™ Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 I'm in America these days No, really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson45 Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Stephen Fry speaks a lot of truth, the bit about their comedy characters being more quick witted is pretty true. And I'd noticed how much they say 'just kidding' after a joke. I'm going to keep trying and educate them No, really? Just wanted to clear things up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TROYston Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 (edited) American comedy is woeful. There are funny american comics, however that's because they have a good style. Oh yeah check out the american inbetweeners, its horrendous compared to the uk version! What The smeg is this shit?! I didtn laugh once, its exactly the same jokes, but because its american, its shit. It couldn't be any worse off if channel five had gone and bought it! Edited December 4, 2012 by TROYston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Dunstan Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 The best comedy has come and gone, Open All Hours, Faulty Towers, On The Buses and Steptoe and Son is what get's me chortling. American comedy is pretty basic because it's made to suit a bigger audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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