What's the difference between American and British humour? Page 2

Must agree with CarolVorderman ; who appears to be having a bad hair day , Amy Schumer is just unfunny , cock on with Rivers . would add Rita Rudner and a longtime back Phyliss Diller . To date for me Victoria Wood was the most creative ,Each to their own ,but I find a lot of the American and some brit female comics rely such a lot on droning on about their naughty bits and whose been hanging out of them .

I saw a clip the other day where Michael Parkinson asks a young Steve Martin that very question
and Steve Martin cuts his tie off with scissors
I think that basically sums it up

Yeah I saw that, did seem a bit, okay... I used to love it on Shooting Stars when they had American guests, Belinda Carlisle seemed pretty much out of her depth and poor old Larry Hagman had this internal wtf ness going off in his head but seemed like a good sport.

I watched American Pickers yesterday, they were in Maryland, did remind me a lot of rural UK, looked a lovely place, but did think, are there some places, maybe like Maryland etc. where culturally they are more intuned with British humour, which way do Canadians generally go, UK or US humour?

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=south+park+canadians+show&docid=608007936092606166&mid=F44C1D1019702A69FCA4F44C1D1019702A69FCA4&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

This is a newbie talking here. From my viewing experience, British humour is more focused on the visuals and voice lines. American humor also delivers with voice lines, but sound effects and music are added to emphasize the situation.

Just take American Shark Tank vs U.K. Dragons' Den. They are both shows about investing in businesses. However, with Shark Tank, you're going to notice way more sound effects whenever someone mentions spicy information. Cue the dramatic music on top of that too. With Dragons' Den, the camera zooms in and out of facial reactions whenever a witty remark is made.

Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares shows these differences too. In an American restaurant, you're going to hear squishy sound effects when he picks up some expired ingredient. We are treated to a fine montage of his angry remarks in the meantime Laughing out loud. When he's in the U.K. though, he turns to more of a mentorship role with the people in charge. And of course, clever jokes are made here and there.

Overall, it's about exaggeration for both sides. They both have their own ways to make the situation larger than it really is.

Yes but we're supposed to be talking about Comedies - not Dragon's Den or Cookery programmes.

Quote: Chappers @ 21st January 2021, 8:06 PM

Yes but we're supposed to be talking about Comedies - not Dragon's Den or Cookery programmes.

Oops, my apologies. I didn't know that this was specific to comedies only. Those were examples I referenced Laughing out loud

Quote: Steven Pham @ 21st January 2021, 8:02 PM

.....British humour is more focused on the visuals and voice lines. American humor also delivers with voice lines, but sound effects and music are added to emphasize the situation.

A fair comment which can also be seem in comedy. Porridge and Rising Damp for example, focus on the voice line but Seinfeld and Friends are loaded with sound effect. They also seem to go for more scene changes, but that could be down to budget.

I think the Americans have more canned laughter .A local channel has been showing Mash with it.I don't like it.

It depends on the genre for instance 'New York' Jewish humour is zippy poignant and always on the money, put it next to the likes of Jethro and his Cornish capers there is no comparison for me., But as always comedy is subjective.
I think American TV sitcoms are slicker because they are laid out with hooks for the adverts and as such that dictates the pace of the script.
Also America is naturally cosmopolitan so their writers don't spend way too much time trying to shoehorn in 'Inclusivity' and issues like the BBC demand of their writers.
For me in the the yanks have been miles ahead of us with sitcoms because their writers are allowed to write comedy not the 'Comedy Drama' the Brits demand.
Of course its subjective but if anyone wants to pit any UK sitcoms against the Yank sitcoms I have been watching I would be pleased to read their list.
Seinfeld
King of Queens
Malcom in the middle
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn 99
Curb your Enthusiasm

What's the difference between American and British humour?
NOW
Most popular in comedy (on IMDB and torrents) is WandaVision (2021), US - not witty, slow, vision oriented, tech oriented, tricks, slaps show.
In UK it's wit that wins everything, not the necessary "modern" traits, it's like AI music score ("band in the box", DJ programmes) vs. real human composer's score.

Except those, mentioned above US Classics and lovely old family sitcoms

Quote: john tregorran @ 22nd January 2021, 7:55 AM

I think the Americans have more canned laughter .A local channel has been showing Mash with it.I don't like it.

We get that too which is a terrible shock as when it was first shown here it was never used.

Quote: Teddy Paddalack @ 22nd January 2021, 12:11 PM

Seinfeld
King of Queens
Malcom in the middle
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn 99
Curb your Enthusiasm

Of those I've only seen a couple of Seinfeld shows and Curb once.

Quote: Chappers @ 22nd January 2021, 5:34 PM

We get that too which is a terrible shock as when it was first shown here it was never used.

And a couple of USAF friends I had in the 70s said how much better it was without when they watched it over here.

Kevin James acts wonderfully in "The King of Queens", I'd recommend it to those who didn't watch it;
later, becoming movie star, all his light comedy charm was not coming through as before, but maybe it's because of worse writing and less number of jokes in his movies. "Kevin Can Wait" sitcom (I watched it complete) also is not nearly so funny as "The King of Queens".
........................
I remember I also liked "Everybody Loves Raymond" family sitcom, it was slow but somewhat "warm and cosy".

I agree 69.I think he is very good as are the others in the cast.Jerry Stiller too,much like his Seinfeld character.