What is Comedy?

Humour comes in many shapes and sizes. Most people will know some differences between for instance American humour and Canadian humour and British humour, which is, again, different. Even within a certain type of humour there are generally several subtypes of humour. Some of these may be shared by other types of humour. On this page you will find an explanation of some of the types and subtypes of humour.

British humour.

British humour is possibly one of the best-known types of humour. Many people around the world appreciate famous British comedians and comedy groups. Some of the most famous British contributions to comedy include: Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, The Black Adder and Mr. Bean. But what makes British people hilarious?

British humour generally encompasses elements of understatement, irony, self-deprecation, innuendo, satire, absurd or surreal situations and parody/ridicule. Other elements such as racism and dark or macabre humour are also common, although not as common as the before mentioned.

Racism in British humour is starting to be more controversial as the flow of immigrants to the UK continues. Many people argue racism in British humour is acceptable though, since the Brits take the piss at themselves just as much. Therefore there is no real xenophobia in British humour; just humorous stereotypes intended to be just that. No actual offense is generally intended which makes the use of racism acceptable to many Brits.

British humour can be traced back all the way to the sixteenth century and possibly even further than that. For instance William Shakespeare wrote comedies which share common themes and motives to comedies today. These include for instance a servant who’s smarter than the master (e.g. Black Adder the Third), slapstick and comedy violence (e.g. Bottom), struggle against elders or people of higher class (e.g. Keeping up appearances) and focussing more on a situation than the character (nearly every comedy today).

Although of course the language and society were completely different back then, it is remarkable to see those themes and motives that were used by Shakespeare still around today. This is partly why British humour is so well developed and appreciated around the world: they have had over 400 years to practice.

British comedy is liked all over the world. Many prominent American and European comedians cite Monty Python as one of their main influences and British shows and comedians are broadcast everywhere.

American humour

American humour (spelled humor in US English) is much younger than British humour. Whereas British humour can be traced back to the 1500s, American humour only really started to develop in the 18^th century, after the USA declared its independence. Still, the American humour has developed quickly and has spread around the world much like British humour. The invention of the motion picture and the spread of cinema have immensely benefited the spread of American humour.

Examples of world-famous American comedians include Charlie Chaplin (although he was born in England, his humour was mainly American-influenced), Buster Keaton, Jon Stewart, Louis CK, Eddie Murphy, “Weird-Al” Yankovic etc.

American comedy is much more focused than British humour. The main focus is slapstick and physical humour, rather than the dry, understatement humour commonly found in British humour, American humour tends to be more ‘over the top’ and physical. Although physical humour and slapstick is not exclusively American it has always played an important role and still continues to do so. Some people, like Reginald D. Hunter, have argued this focus on slapstick may be due to the humour being much younger than British humour and thus still has to evolve in order to be able to really understand irony and ‘taking the piss’.

Today American humour is known all around the world through media such as the internet and television. Also American stand-up acts travel all over the world and perform in many different countries. Some important stand-up acts include Reginald D. Hunter (although now moved to the UK), Jeff Dunham, Chris Rock, George Carlin and Jerry Seinfeld.

American sitcoms rely heavily on American humour and are popular around the world. New shows like How I Met Your Mother as well as older shows such as Married with Children are wildly popular and still broadcast in the USA as well as in Europe.

Similarities between American and British humour

As mentioned British humour can be traced back for centuries. Due to the large numbers of British and Irish immigrants who moved to the USA over the centuries, it is obvious that British culture and humour has had an influence on early American humour. After the American cinema reached the British Isles in the early twentieth century, the Brits were then influenced by American humour. So what did this lead to? How are British and American humour linked?

First, let’s state the obvious: Both British and American humour involves slapstick and physical humour. And lots of it. Schadenfreude may be a German word, but it is known on both sides of the pond. Charlie Chaplin’s early silent motion pictures involve plenty of pain on his own, as well as his counterpart’s behalf and 1990’s UK television series Bottom features Richie and Eddie constantly trying to maim each other.

Also the self-deprecation, which is often considered to be mostly British, is starting to occur more and more in American humour. Gabriel Iglesias, an American stand-up comedian mainly known for his overweight appearance and love for Hawaiian shirts, is famous for his fat jokes about himself.

Another seemingly British type of comedy that has been creeping into the world of, mostly stand-up, humour is the criticism of politics and religion. The first American Comedian to really focus on this type of humour was George Carlin (1937-2008) as early as the 1970s he started railing against the status quo with his world-famous “Seven words you can never say on television”. This performance got him arrested once, but the judge ruled in favor of his right to free speech as long as it didn’t cause disturbance. Carlin continued to rail against religion, politics, conservationists and nationalists right up to his last show, one week before his death in 2008.

As there is an obvious evolution going in American humor, as well as in British humour, which is becoming more radical on subjects such as AIDS, sex, religion etcetera, it remains to be seen which way humour is going to develop. At the moment is seems the differences are getting smaller.

Subtypes of humour

Previously on this page as well as elsewhere in this blog you might find terms such as ‘irony’, ‘parody’, ‘deadpan’, or ‘slapstick’. These are all subtypes of humour. Here we will try to briefly explain some common subtypes of humour.

Irony

Irony originates in ancient Greece and has had different definitions throughout the ages. Nowadays the word is generally defined as “what is said is not the same as what is being meant”. Sometimes irony is also used synonymous with incongruity. A modern-day example of ironic humour is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

Slapstick

Slapstick is a form of humour possibly as old as mankind itself. It is named after one of the oldest special effects in the performing arts: the slap stick. This is a club-like object that is able to create a loud ‘slap’ sound without causing any actual physical harm, often used in stage performances. It is prevalent both in American humour and British humour. Series such as Bottom and The Young Ones rely mostly on slapstick humour as do Tom and Jerry and Jackass. It was around in Shakespeare’s plays and it is still popular. It centers on one or more people experiencing pain or discomfort. Generally the pain and physical activity are exaggerated way beyond the normal common sense. This creates a humorous effect.

Deadpan

Deadpan is derived from the slang terms “dead pan” meaning neutral or unemotional face. Deadpan humour often involves a humorous or absurd comment or anecdote told with a straight face and a monotone or casual voice. It is sometimes referred to as dry humour or dry wit.

Parody

A parody is an, often exaggerated imitation of a situation, film, style, song or other. The point of a parody is generally to poke fun at the original or real-life counterpart.

Parodies have been around for ages, but have really taken a rise over the last decade. With the rise of the internet and especially sites such as youtube, where people of all ages and all layers of society can freely create and share content, many people started to upload their own parodies and some famous songs and films have hundreds of parodies on the internet.

Self-deprecation

Self-deprecation is the style of humour where one pokes fun at themselves, their peer group, culture, country or community. This style is prevalent in British humour, although it is also increasingly common in American humour. Mainly in British humour self-deprecation is often directed to the British class system. Fawlty Towers and Are you being served? are prime examples of this type of self-deprecation. Also actual self-deprecation is common in British humour. Liverpool stand-up comedian John Bishop is an example of actual self-deprecation as he makes fun of his lack of understanding of ‘manly things’ such as technology.

There are way too many other types and subtypes of humour to mention all on this page. This entire blog is dedicated to exploration of humour, happiness, laughing etcetera so you will find a lot of information on these and other (sub)types of humour in other posts. Have fun exploring the blog!