British humour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
British humour is notable due to its intellectual depth, wit, 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.
[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 word play
- British culture (with all its regional variations)
- 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:
- Puns: these do not too easily translate into other languages (if at all).
- Nonsense: has its origins in the writings of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
- Black humour: main features of black humour can already be found in the drama of the Elizabethan era.
- Eccentricity
- Satire and sarcasm
- The use of understatement and irony, so that many jokes pass unnoticed by those not familiar with it.
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 U.S. 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
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:
- the seaside postcards of Donald McGill
- the humour of Benny Hill and Julian Clary
- the series of Carry On films
- the comic magazine Viz
[edit] Disrespect to members of the establishment
Disrespect to members of the establishment and authority, typified by:
- Beyond the Fringe, stage revue from the 1960s
- That Was The Week That Was (TW3), late night TV satire
- Private Eye, satirical magazine
- Yes Minister, political sitcom
- Spitting Image, TV puppet comedy lampooning the famous and powerful
- Discworld, a series of fantasy books written by Terry Pratchett, heavy with irony criticizing various aspects of society.
- Have I Got News for You, a satirical panel game.
[edit] The absurd
The absurd and the surreal, typified by:
- The Goon Show, a surreal radio show involving different plots every episode with the same characters.
- Spike Milligan's Q, a sketch show and a direct inspiration for Monty Python.
- Monty Python, a comedy troupe, noted for performing sketches with no endings.
- Green Wing, an experimental sitcom, using both surrealism, sped up and slowed down filming, and a use of strong female characters.
- Shooting Stars, a panel game with seemingly no rules.
- I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, a radio panel game with bizarre games, notably Mornington Crescent and One Song to the Tune of Another.
- The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, a variety show of sketches and songs.
- The Bonzo Dog Band, a musical group playing songs inspired by the music of the 1920s and comic rock songs.
- "Bus Driver's Prayer"
[edit] The manic
[edit] The humour inherent in everyday life
The humour, not necessarily apparent to the participants, inherent in everyday life (ish), as seen in:
- Hancock's Half Hour
- Till Death Us Do Part
- The Office
- The Royle Family
- Peep Show
- One Foot In The Grave
- The Giles cartoons
[edit] The 'war' between parents/teachers and children
The 'war' between parents/teachers and their children, typified by:
- The Beano and The Dandy, comics of publisher D C Thomson.
- Just William, books by Richmal Crompton
- Molesworth books by Geoffrey Willans and illustrated by Ronald Searle
- St Trinians books and films also originated by Ronald Searle
[edit] The British class system
The British class system, especially pompous or dim-witted members of the upper/middle classes or embarrassingly blatant social climbers, typified by:
- Jeeves and Wooster, books by P. G. Wodehouse
- Dad's Army, comedy TV series
- Mr. Bean, Movie
- Fawlty Towers, comedy TV series
- Keeping Up Appearances, comedy TV series
- You Rang, M'Lord?, comedy TV series
- Absolutely Fabulous, comedy TV series
- To The Manor Born, comedy TV series
[edit] The lovable rogue
The lovable rogue, often from the impoverished working class, trying to 'beat the system' and better himself, typified by:
- The Andy Capp cartoon strip created by Reginald Smythe
- The Likely Lads
- Steptoe and Son
- Only Fools and Horses
- Flashman books
- Norman Wisdom
- Porridge
- Black Adder
- David Robb
[edit] The embarrassment of social ineptitude
The embarrassment of social ineptitude, typified by:
- Mr. Bean, comedy TV series starring Rowan Atkinson
- The Office comedy TV series starring Ricky Gervais
- Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, comedy TV series starring Michael Crawford
- Alan Partridge comedy TV series starring Steve Coogan
- Count Arthur Strong radio show
[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:
- Love Thy Neighbour, TV programme that Bill Bryson once referred to as 'My Neighbour's a Darkie'
- Mind Your Language, TV programme set in a language school in London
- Till Death Us Do Part, TV sitcom which mocked its own main character, Alf Garnett, for his racism
- The Italian Job, film starring Michael Caine in which British criminals mock the Italian Mafia and authorities
- 'Allo 'Allo!, British TV comedy series about a French village occupied by Germans during the Second World War.
- Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, film starring British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as a news reporter from Kazakhstan, reporting on the American way of life, whilst exposing the prejudices of several people.
[edit] Bullying and harsh sarcasm
Harsh sarcasm and bullying, though with the bully usually coming off worse than the victim - typified by:
- Blackadder, comedy TV series
- The Young Ones, comedy TV series
- The New Statesman, satirising a domineering Conservative Member of Parliament.
[edit] Parodies of stereotypes
Making fun of British stereotypes, typified by:
- Beyond the Fringe
- That Was the Week That Was (TW3), late night TV satire
- Little Britain
- Harry Enfield's Television Programme
- Catherine Tate in her sketch show, The Catherine Tate Show
- French and Saunders
[edit] Tolerance of, and affection for, the eccentric
Tolerance of, and affection for, the eccentric, especially when allied to inventiveness
- Heath Robinson cartoons
- Professor Branestawm books
- Wallace and Gromit animations
- Doctor Who science fiction TV programme
- Last of the Summer Wine, the longest running TV comedy series in the world. (Started 1973)
- QI or Quite Interesting, an intellectual panel game with questions so hard, points are given for being quite interesting and points are taken away for being pathetically obvious.
[edit] See also
- British comedy and British sitcoms (which blend elements of all of these in varying weaves)
- Comic Relief and Red Nose Day
- History of the British comic
- Understatement
- Irony
- American humor
- Canadian humour
[edit] References
- Sutton, David. A chorus of raspberries: British film comedy 1929-1939. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, (2000) ISBN 0-85989-603-X
