British Wit vs American Humour

I have an American friend who whilst living in Britain, would frequently hear the remark that British humour is 'different' than American humour, and then get surprised glances when he appeared to 'get'/dish-out a clever bit of irony. He was always puzzled by this, as he merely thought it was the interpretation, filtered by cultural context, that determined whether someone got the laugh or not. Well, we can all rest a wee-bit easy now, as British actor/writer/genius-extraodinaire, Simon Pegg, writes a brilliant article on the difference or rather the absence of it between British and American humour. Mr Pegg and I both share something in common. We have American friends who can't quite cogitate the crux of the comic conundrum.


What about the sitcoms of both brands of humour? My personal American favourites are "Frasier", "The Office"(US version), and "The Simpsons" and hold others in abhorrence due to the predictability of the punch-lines i.e. "Friends" and other sitcoms of its ilk. And British comedies? I love almost all of 'em. My TV's default channel is BBC Entertainment.

An excerpt from The Guardian:

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Simon Pegg on British and American Humour

When it comes to humour, however, there is one cultural myth that just won't die. You hear it all the time from self-appointed social commentators sat astride high horses, dressed as knights who say, "Ni". They don't get it. They never had it. They don't know what it is and, ironically, they don't want it anyway. That's right: "Americans don't do irony." This isn't strictly true. Although it is true that we British do use irony a little more often than our special friends in the US. It's like the kettle to us: it's always on, whistling slyly in the corner of our daily interactions. To Americans, however, it's more like a nice teapot, something to be used when the occasion demands it. This is why an ironic comment will sometimes be met with a perplexed smile by an unwary American. Take this exchange that took place between two friends of mine, one British (B), the other American (A):

B: "I had to go to my grandad's funeral last week."
A: "Sorry to hear that"
B: "Don't be. It was the first time he ever paid for the drinks.''

A: "I see."

Now, my American friend was being neither thick nor obtuse here; he simply didn't immediately register the need to bury emotion under humour. This tendency is also apparent in our differing use of disclaimers. When Americans use irony, they will often immediately qualify it as being so, with a jovial "just kidding", even if the statement is outrageous and plainly ironic. For instance...A: "If you don't come out tonight, I'm going to have you shot... just kidding."Of course, being America, this might be true, because they do all own guns and use them on a regular basis (just kidding). Americans can fully appreciate irony. They just don't feel entirely comfortable using it on each other, in case it causes damage. A bit like how we feel about guns. [Link to the full article]

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I thought the article did a pretty decent job of showing how similar the two forms are, and that what people usually consider a difference in humour is actually a difference in the individual's mentality toward irony and understatement which is almost always influenced by one's traditional and cultural dos and don'ts.