Forums

Are there any web links dedicated to British sense of humour?
----------------------
Britons fail to understand German humour

The Guardian - United Kingdom. The Guardian looks into the
belief widely held in Britain that the Germans have no sense of
humour, and finds that German humour exists, but the British
fail to recognise it: "The trouble with joking in German, the
comedian Stewart Lee explained in the Guardian a couple of
years ago, is the grammar. It is hard to set up a punchline
when you have to put the subject of the sentence near the start
- and anyway, big, clunky compound nouns don't lend themselves
to the sort of double meanings that fuel British humour. If the
theory is right then Germans don't lack wit, just the sort of
wit that sounds good in English. That hasn't stopped
generations of British writers from claiming Germans are
humourless. ... But German humour is out there. The point is
that the British don't get it." (07/10/2008) +++
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/07/germany">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... 07/germany</a><!-- m -->

To save Britons' face, I must say I heard some official from Berlin say something like that German comedy is a bit of a paradox.

Yalta, this is a good topic! :haha

I think what most people find a little odd about the Germans is that they liked Mr Bean so much! :roll: My personal experience of Germans is that many of them have a very dry sense of humour - sometimes you don't even know when they're making fun of you! And there are some real gems in Germany - like Raumschiff Surprise :haha - I'm amazed that never got shown in the UK!

I'm not sure about websites about British humour, but you can watch some current shows here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/comedy">http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/categories/comedy</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.channel4.com/watch_online/">http://www.channel4.com/watch_online/</a><!-- m -->

And some classic radio here
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/cult/2004/11/17/15520.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/cult/200 ... 5520.shtml</a><!-- m -->

Some of the more contoversial shows aren't listed Some British humour can be a little... dark... :evil Shows like 'Jam,' 'Monkey Dust' and 'Brass Eye.' Older shows like 'The Young Ones,' 'Bottom' and even 'The League of Gentlemen' are missing too... You can view a few episodes on YouTube though ;-)

What do people from other countries think of Bristish humour? (For example, I know the Americans don't always get it! :lol: ) Do many of these shows get promoted overseas? I don't think I've ever seen any European comedy shows translated for British TV...

Mr Bean became a part of pop culture. We see him even in cartoons. I wouldn’t say he's omnipresent, but he is probably very much like a celebrity. Those who have never seen his comedies think Bean is a name of the actor who plays Atkinson.
On some occasions Mr Bean is being placed in the old jokes to make them sound fresher. However I cannot make out what people feel about his films. Except for jokes, I don't hear people talk about him. Probably, he’s just nothing new any longer.
Now and then I can watch old British serials in Latvia.
"Coupling" is liked by the local TV watchers.

We are also given opportunities to taste dark side of the British humour. It is more demanded by theatre goers and those who attend special film festivals.
The film festival “Arsenāls” demonstrated “horror comedies”. Dailes teātris staged Martin McDonagh’s “The Pillowman”. I’m just not sure he is British, as he was introduced here. I’ve heard he’s Irish.

The traditional fun on the British we gossip is made about men who are always gentlemen - the very top of politness and etiquette, sober and modest or even dry and devoted to the perfection even in the most extreme circumstances. I don’t know how much of it corresponds to the old reality and how much of it could be found now.

Am sorry for telling this, but I find British humour a little bit boring. British culture, taken as a whole, has made its nation very much conservative. For example, what I saw in Mr. Bean shows was funny for me when I was 12 years old, OK 15 years, but obviously not now. I like realistic humour, humour that emerges from real life.

Don't be sorry, Terry! I agree that most of the comedy that Britain 'exports' seems to be quite tame. Mr Bean isn't a good example though - currently shows like 'Little Britain,' 'Shameless,' 'Gavin & Stacey' (not really my taste) are popular, as are comedy Quiz-shows like 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks,' 'QI,' and 'Shooting Stars.'

It is true that quite a bit of British society still tries to be sober, upstanding traditional gentlemen. They get pretty upset when comedy shows speculate that they behave otherwise behind closed doors... :twisted:

So... I'm interested, Terry... where can I find some comedy from your country? ;-) We don't see many foreign-language programmes on TV here

I grew up with BBC (also VOA and Radio Free Europe) and I will never forget the great radio that the BBC used to broadcast to Eastern Europe. Later on I fell in love with British comedy - the whole gamut from Benny Hill to Fawlty Towers and Keeping Up Appearances. I still watch when I get a chance. Not to mention that I had a huge crash on Dianna Rigg. I still get goose bumps (and other) when I hear this theme music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvmgrnsaE1U

I like listening to Russian sense of humour, it's really nice and it contains a bit of soul in it. Russian humour is based on real life and situations that occur us in daily life. So if anybody has an opportunity to find translated Russian humour TV shows, don't hesitate to do it.

I like British humour Unlike German it really makes you laugh out loud, and I don't agree with big_becka and Terry that it is boring - not at all. And again, it depends on the person who reads or listens to the British humour. British films, especially the older ones, are full of irony and funny episodes.