The British Sense Of Humour

One of the inherent delights of being British is the ability to have a jovial laugh with just about anyone who crosses your path. Renowned around the world, the British sense of humour has a unique identity that often leaves our friends around the world completely baffled, yet television programmes such as Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and Only Fools and Horses have been exported around the world as a mark of Britishness.

Common elements of British humour include irony, sarcasm, satire, self-deprecation (making fun of oneself) and stereotyping. Relentless stereotyping, in fact – for example, even just a whiff of any sort of Northern accent tends to be an indication of impending foolishness. Our sense of humour is also noticeably more scathing and inflammatory than, say, the American sense of humour. Take this priceless line from Blackadder:

“Baldrick, your brain is like the four headed, man-eating haddock fish beast of Aberdeen”
“In what way? ”
“It doesn’t exist “

Or

“Have you ever been to Wales, Baldrick?”
“No, but I’ve often thought I’d like to.”
“Well don’t, it’s a ghastly place. Huge gangs of tough sinewy men roam the valleys terrifying people with their close harmony singing. You need half a pint of phlegm in your throat just to pronounce the placenames. Never ask for directions in Wales, Baldrick, you’ll be washing spit out of your hair for a fortnight.”

The former is designed to be deliberately punishing on Baldrick’s part, and it isn’t uncommon to hear similar styles crop up in everyday conversation, with Brits being rather good at both giving and taking witty insults without causing offence – in fact, such behaviour is often merely passed off as ‘banter’. The latter example gives an inflammatory portrayal of Wales, which on the face of things seems downright nasty. However, this incendiary comedy ties in with our use of stereotyping, and results from an underlying fondness of the subject – in this case, the English and the Welsh. I’m sure you’ve all heard a joke beginning with “An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman”.

Let’s take the American sense of humour to compare. Generally, American humour tends to play on similarly juvenile themes as British humour, but they approach it in a much more matter-of-fact manner, with considerably less wit and perceived intellectuality. In shorter terms, Americans like slapstick comedy and Brits like dry (deadpan) comedy where the humorous part of a witticism often takes a little bit of thinking before it hits you. Going back to our scathing remarks from Blackadder, avid viewers of American comedies (which, admittedly, I am not) will probably notice that negative comedy is less apparent. According to researchers who conducted a survey across both sides of the Atlantic, these differences are actually genetic. They observed that positive humour – such as telling jokes – featured in both Brits and Americans; however, the genes linked to negative humour – such as the scathing Blackadder remarks, offensive stereotyping and self-deprecation – were only seen in Brits.

In summary, the British sense of humour is one which isn’t afraid of upsetting anyone, or escaping the grasp of political correctness (as seen in satirical programmes such as Mock the Week or Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe) and – with its self deprecation – relies heavily on the shortcomings of its people.

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