5 Ways British and American Humor is Very Different

I've been labeled both a 'comedian' and 'America's finest British import'. So the time has come to set the record straight about British vs. American humour and/or humor.

[kenbrown]

whenever a brit says americans don't get sarcasm, my response is always the same. "yeah, we yanks would never do sarcasm."

[alm]

I just went through a background check to buy into co-op housing, and the property manager told me that my check had come back perfectly clean, nothing bad on it at all. I told her I was just really good at being sneaky. The silence that followed told me that I should never ever joke with a co-op property manager again.

[michael]

I'm an American who has lived in the UK for nearly 6 years now. My british friends recently told me that they finally understand when I'm sarcastic. People I've known for half a decade only just now figured me out.

Brits like to pretend they have exclusivity in sarcasm but like you said, the style of sarcasm is just different. Americans tend to miss british sarcasm and Brits tend to miss American sarcasm.

[JoeMama]

I (an American) worked with a guy for 3 years before he started to recognize my sarcasm. I figured that the outlandish things I said would give it away despite my flat delivery. I had to intentionally add the telltale smile and wink you mentioned for the sake of my audience.

[generalZee]

There was once an American Football player named "Dick Butkus" (pronounced Butt-Kiss). Sadly, he was not a tight end.

[SeliahK]

I actually think that the biggest difference in American vs UK humor is the delivery of it.

You Brits are delightfully good at delivering your sarcasm with that deadpan, dry tone and facial expressions... and I love you for it!

We Americans certainly do have a tendency to deliver ours with deliberately exaggerated tone of voice, body language and facial expression.

I love both. I have spent far too much time thoroughly enjoying both to pick one, or to put either one down. They're both so good! LOL

[robpolaris]

Americans absolutely use and understand sarcasm. However, Brits tend to deliver it exactly they same way they say everything else. Americans will add some kind of exaggerated voice, facial expression or body movement to indicate it’s sarcasm. We get confused when it’s delivered with zero indication of sarcasm.

[michaellay]

Your description of British comedy is exactly why I decided to follow this channel. I love the fact that every joke is delivered with a straight face. Your tone never changes for an instant throughout the entire episode, so the comedy for me just comes out in these little "-wait... Did he just say?..." moments, which I find delightful.

[jcortese]

My dad used to say that British humor came in three types: raunchy, morbid, and incomprehensible. Then again, he thought the campfire scene in "Blazing Saddles" was the apex of American cinema.

[Fishmorph]

It's all about prosody — patterns of stress and intonation that indicate meaning. Brits have their own version which they are accustomed to hearing, and Americans have theirs. A Brit might therefore *intend* something to be ironic, but the joke is delivered in an intonation that the American ear doesn't recognize.

[rj-zzim]

I think we do absolutely understand sarcasm. What I think we, as well as the British, have a difficult time interpreting another's sarcasm when it comes from a different dialect or culture. If that makes sense...It's the same when you encounter a different culture or race in your own country and there's an initial barrier in the understanding of one another's humor, anger, etc...

[dinahmays]

Hay don’t forget about Hyacinth from Keeping Up Appearances! She still cracks me up!

[TheMidnightPhil]

I liked Tim Minchin's take, which refuted the common opinion of many British and Australian comedy fans that Americans don't get sarcasm or irony. In his view, what Americans don't get is ABSURDITY, and I think he has a point. Stephen Fry pointed out that American culture has this idea that anything can be done in principle and that you have full agency over your life, and I think that's what's at play here: It's hard to grasp absurdity if you think everything is controllable. When confronted with absurdist humor, many Americans blink with confusion and say, "Well that doesn't make sense, " or, "Why didn't they solve this by doing x, y, or z." American culture conditions many people to think that if you work hard enough anything is possible, and that if your dreams don't come true you've got no one to blame but yourself. Absurdism is the observation that many things happen wholly outside of your control.

[heathercutler]

Having grown up watching Britcoms on PBS, and Benny Hill (when I got to stay up late on school nights), I love both British and American humor in many of their forms. 😊

[michaelg]

British comedy that punches you in the gut: The final few minutes of the last episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth" where the soldiers go over the top and the chaotic battle scene changes to the present and shows a tranquil field of poppies.

[bradleyheck]

One quibble. You mentioned "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun" as slapstick. Those are actually absurdist with slapstick elements. The Pythons, The Young Ones, Seasons 2-4 of Blackadder, The League of Gentlemen and others could answer the same description.

[LindaMz]

One of my favorite shows ever is "Keeping Up Appearances." It's a comfort show for me.

[Luscombag]

Lawrence, your sense of humor is what keeps me coming back to watch more of your videos. Keep up the good work!

[robertgronewold]

I'm American, and I have watched British comedy ever since I was a kid. However, I will say that some British comedies are full of too many 'in-jokes'. Someone will make a joke about some British politician traveling through a suburb of a middling sized British town in the company of a soccer star we've never heard of, and the humor, though likely good to people in the know of those people and the location, can just fall flat on American ears.

[Sophie.S..]

As a British person I find your sense of humour absolutely hilarious and your take on British v US sarcasm spot on. In fact I have never known anyone with more perception.