British humour

Last updated

British humour carries a strong element of satire aimed at the absurdity of everyday life. Common themes include sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, banter, insults, self-deprecation, taboo subjects, puns, innuendo, wit, and the British class system. [1] These are often accompanied by a deadpan delivery which is present throughout the British sense of humour. [2] It may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems unkind in the eyes of other cultures. [3] Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is off-limits, though a lack of subtlety when discussing controversial issues is sometimes considered insensitive. [4] Many British comedy series have become successful internationally, serving as a representation of British culture to overseas audiences.

Contents

Themes

Some themes (with examples) that underpinned late-20th-century British humour were: [5]

Innuendo

Innuendo in British humour is evident in the literature as far back as Beowulf and Chaucer, and it is a prevalent theme in many British folk songs. Shakespeare often used innuendo in his comedies, but it is also often found in his other plays. [6] One example in Hamlet act 4 scene v reads:

Young men will do't if they come to't / By Cock, they are to blame.

Restoration comedy is notorious both for its innuendo and for its sexual explicitness, a quality encouraged by Charles II (1660–1685) personally and by the rakish aristocratic ethos of his court.

In the Victorian era, Burlesque theatre combined sexuality and humour in its acts. In the late 19th century, magazines such as Punch began to be widely sold, and innuendo featured in its cartoons and articles.

Lance Thackeray seaside postcard of an ice-cream vendor interrupting a couple on the beach Lance Thackeray, "Excuse me".jpg
Lance Thackeray seaside postcard of an ice-cream vendor interrupting a couple on the beach

In the early 1930s, cartoon-style saucy postcards (such as those drawn by Donald McGill) became widespread; at their peak, 16 million saucy postcards were sold per year. They were often bawdy, with innuendo and double entendres, and featured stereotypical characters such as vicars, large ladies and put-upon husbands, in the same vein as the Carry On films. This style of comedy was common in music halls and in the comedy music of George Formby. Many comedians from music hall and wartime gang shows worked in radio after World War 2, and characters such as Julian and Sandy on Round the Horne used innuendo extensively. Innuendo also features heavily in many British films and TV series of the late 20th century. The Carry On series was based largely on smut and innuendo, and many of the sketches of The Two Ronnies are in a similar vein. Innuendo with little subtlety was epitomised by Benny Hill, and the Nudge Nudge sketch by Monty Python openly mocks the absurdity of such innuendo.

By the end of the 20th century, more subtlety in sexual humour became fashionable, as in Not the Nine O'Clock News and Blackadder , while Bottom and Viz continued the smuttier trend. In contemporary British comedy, Julian Clary is an example of a prolific user of innuendo. Innuendo has become a celebrated part of The Great British Bake Off TV cookery show. [7]

Satire

Original cast of Beyond the Fringe, c. 1963 Beyond the Fringe original cast.JPG
Original cast of Beyond the Fringe, c. 1963

Disrespect to members of the establishment and authority, typified by:

Absurd

Michael Palin and John Cleese of Monty Python performing the Dead Parrot sketch in 2014 Dead Parrot O2 Arena.jpg
Michael Palin and John Cleese of Monty Python performing the Dead Parrot sketch in 2014

The absurd and the surreal, typified by:

Macabre

Black humour, in which topics and events that are usually treated seriously are treated in a humorous or satirical manner, typified by:

Surreal and chaotic

Humour inherent in everyday life

The humour, not necessarily apparent to the participants, inherent in everyday life, as seen in:

Adults and children

William Brown of the "Just William" books, in William Below Stairs Just William.jpg
William Brown of the "Just William" books, in William Below Stairs

The 'war' between parents/teachers and their children, typified by:

British class system

Bertie Wooster and Jeeves in Jeeves in the Springtime Jeeves in the Springtime 01.jpg
Bertie Wooster and Jeeves in Jeeves in the Springtime

The British class system, especially class tensions between characters; and pompous or dim-witted members of the upper/middle classes or embarrassingly blatant social climbers, typified by:

Also, some comedy series focus on working-class families or groups, such as:

Lovable rogue

The lovable rogue, often from the impoverished working class, trying to 'beat the system' and better himself, typified by:

Embarrassment of social ineptitude

Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean Rowan Atkinson and Manneken Pis.jpg
Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean

The embarrassment of social ineptitude, typified by:

Race and regional stereotypes

The An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman joke format is one common to many cultures, and is often used in English, including having the nationalities switched around to take advantage of other stereotypes. These stereotypes are somewhat fond, and these jokes would not be taken as xenophobic (by the Englishman telling them). This sort of affectionate stereotype is also exemplified by 'Allo 'Allo! , a programme that, although set in France in the Second World War, and deliberately performed in over-the-top accents, mocked British stereotypes as well as foreigners. This also applies to a lot of the regional stereotypes in the UK. Regional accent and dialect are used in such programmes as Hancock's Half Hour , Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Red Dwarf , as these accents provide quick characterisation and social cues.

Although racism was a part of British humour, it is now frowned upon, and acts such as Bernard Manning and Jim Davidson are pilloried. Although some observers once argued certain comedy series of the 1970s were targeting racism rather than being in sympathy with it, such series as Love Thy Neighbour and It Ain't Half Hot Mum are no longer considered acceptable for repeat screenings. Along with the first of these two series, Till Death Us Do Part was an attempt to deal humorously with the influx of immigrants to the United Kingdom, but it is now usually considered to have been counter-productive. Still much admired, however, Fawlty Towers featured the mistreatment of the Spanish waiter, Manuel, but the target was the bigotry of the lead character, Basil Fawlty. The Young Ones featured a police officer (in sunglasses) engaged in racial profiling, only to discover the man was white and wearing dark gloves. Later, The Fast Show has mocked people of other races, such as the Chanel 9 sketches, and Banzai has mimicked Japanese game shows, which have an exaggerated sense of violence, sex and public absurdity. Goodness Gracious Me turned stereotypes on their heads in sketches such as 'Going for an English' and when bargaining over the price of a newspaper. An episode from The Goodies depicted all of the black population of South Africa leaving to escape apartheid, leaving the Afrikaners with nobody to oppress – instead, they begin a system of discrimination based on height, targeting short people, labelled "apart-height".

Bullying and harsh sarcasm

Harsh sarcasm and bullying, though with the bully usually coming off worse than the victim – typified by:

Parodies of stereotypes

Monty Python's Nudge Nudge sketch performed by Terry Jones and Eric Idle at Monty Python Live (Mostly) in 2014 Nudge, Nudge O2 Arena.jpg
Monty Python's Nudge Nudge sketch performed by Terry Jones and Eric Idle at Monty Python Live (Mostly) in 2014

Making fun of British stereotypes, typified by:

Tolerance of, and affection for, the eccentric

"The Camouflage Expert" by Heath Robinson William Heath Robinson Inventions - Page 093.png
"The Camouflage Expert" by Heath Robinson

Tolerance of, and affection for, the eccentric, especially when allied to inventiveness, typified by:

Pranks and practical jokes

Usually, for television, the performance of a practical joke on an unsuspecting person whilst being covertly filmed, epitomised by:

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Fawlty Towers</i> British TV sitcom (1975–1979)

Fawlty Towers is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional hotel in the English seaside town of Torquay in Devon. The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil, the sensible chambermaid Polly (Booth), and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel. They show their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cleese</span> English comedian and actor (born 1939)

John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monty Python</span> British surreal comedy group

Monty Python were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".

A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Brooke-Taylor</span> English actor and comedian (1940–2020)

Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of The Goodies.

<i>Not the Nine OClock News</i> British television comedy sketch show (1979–1982)

Not the Nine O'Clock News is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 16 October 1979 to 8 March 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The programme features Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series.

Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blunt, ironic, laconic, or apparently unintentional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fish-Slapping Dance</span>

The Fish-Slapping Dance is a comedy sketch written and performed by the Monty Python team. The sketch was originally recorded in 1971 for a pan-European May Day special titled Euroshow 71. In 1972 it was broadcast as part of episode two of series three of Monty Python's Flying Circus, which was titled "Mr & Mrs Brian Norris' Ford Popular".

John Howard Davies was an English director, producer and former child actor. He became famous for appearing in the title role of David Lean's film adaptation of Oliver Twist (1948). After joining the BBC as a production assistant in 1966, Davies became a hugely influential television director and producer, specialising in comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Yorkshiremen</span> Comedy sketch

The "Four Yorkshiremen" is a comedy sketch that parodies nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. It features four men from Yorkshire who reminisce about their upbringing. As the conversation progresses they try to outdo one another, and their accounts of deprived childhoods become increasingly absurd.

Germany has a long tradition of television comedy stretching as far back as the 1950s, and with its origins in cabaret and radio.

Git is a term of insult denoting an unpleasant, silly, incompetent, annoying, senile, elderly or childish person. As a mild oath it is roughly on a par with prat and marginally less pejorative than berk. Typically a good-natured admonition with a strong implication of familiarity, git is more severe than twit or idiot but less severe than wanker, arsehole or twat when offence is intended.

Comedy Review was a British comedy magazine published by Future Publishing which ran for five issues in 1996. The editor was Andy Lowe with Damien Noonan as associate editor and Danny Wallace, then 19 years old, as staff writer.

<i>Harry & Paul</i> British television series

Harry & Paul is a British sketch comedy show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 April 2007. Prior to broadcast, it was trailed as The Harry Enfield Show.

Comedy is a genre that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: In Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses which engender dramatic irony, which provokes laughter.

<i>Monty Pythons Flying Circus</i> British sketch comedy television series (1969–1974)

Monty Python's Flying Circus is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, who became known collectively as "Monty Python", or the "Pythons". The first episode was recorded at the BBC on 7 September 1969 and premiered on 5 October on BBC1, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. A feature film adaptation of several sketches, And Now for Something Completely Different, was released in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian comedy</span> Australian television series

Australian comedy refers to the comedy and humour performed in or about Australia or by the people of Australia. Australian humour can be traced to various origins, and today is manifested in a diversity of cultural practices and pursuits. Writers like Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson helped to establish a tradition of laconic, ironic and irreverent wit in Australian literature, while Australian politicians and cultural stereotypes have each proved rich sources of comedy for artists from poet C. J. Dennis to satirist Barry Humphries to iconic film maker Paul Hogan, each of whom have given wide circulation to Australian slang.

<i>Quacks</i> (TV series) 2017 British TV series or programme

Quacks, created by James Wood, is a BBC sitcom about four Victorian era doctors. The series combines satire, absurdist comedy and traditional slapstick, with stories often being based on real history. Despite generally favourable reviews it was cancelled after one series.

Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first United States television programs was the comedy-variety show Texaco Star Theater, which was most prominent in the years that it featured Milton Berle - from 1948 to 1956. The range of television comedy has become broader, with the addition of sitcoms, improvisational comedy, and stand-up comedy, while also adding comedic aspects into other television genres, including drama and news. Television comedy provides opportunities for viewers to relate the content in these shows to society. Some audience members may have similar views about certain comedic aspects of shows, while others will take different perspectives. This also relates to developing new social norms, sometimes acting as the medium that introduces these transitions.

References

  1. Laineste, Liisi (2014). "National and Ethnic Differences". In Attardo, Salvatore (ed.). Encyclopedia of Humor Studies. SAGE Publications. pp. 541–542.
  2. British humour 'dictated by genetics' By Andy Bloxham, Daily Telegraph, 10 Mar 2008. Accessed August 2011
  3. What are you laughing at? Simon Pegg The Guardian, 10 February 2007. Accessed August 2011
  4. The Funny Side of the United Kingdom: Analysing British Humour with Special Regard to John Cleese and His Work Page 5 Theo Tebbe, Publisher GRIN Verlag, 2008 ISBN   3-640-17217-5. Accessed August 2011
  5. Black Humour in British Advertisement By Claudia Felsch, Publisher GRIN Verlag, 2007 ISBN   3-638-79675-2. Accessed August 2011
  6. "Usage of innuendo and double entendre in comedy | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
  7. Reporters, Telegraph (2019-08-27). "The 32 best Great British Bake Off innuendos". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2024-10-23.