'sarcasm' involves mockery by definition. It is a subset of ironic humor. Do the Brits value mockery?

@@johnl5316 Stop it ! 😂😂😂 your sarcasm is killing me! 🤣🤣🤣

Sarcasm? What sarcasm? Whatever do you mean?🤣🤣🤣

God, I hope we get sarcasm. Otherwise, I will literally never be understood.

@@fermisparadox01 "Such a fine line between stupid and clever." David St. Hubbins

If you can't be good, be good at it.

@@jchrisj200 Or: If you can't be good , be great!

That will usually prompt us Americans to then dust for prints

Just like I don't joke about bombs in airports, or about mailing odd substances to the USPS.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 Brilliant

At risk of sounding stupid what are the major differences

I'm an American who has lived in the U.S. all my life. People often don't get when I'm serious or not. I guess I have to be more blatant about when I'm being sarcastic.

My husband used to work with a lot of Brits and this was the conclusion they also came to. I will say that my husband picked up on their sarcasm before they picked up on his, maybe because they weren't expecting it from him while he was absolutely expecting it from them.

@@exrobowidow1617 Same. I've had to take to speaking plainly & straightforwardly at work, which as you can imagine is a terrible burden.

@@steveisthecommissar4013 personally I feel American sarcasm tends to be more ostentatious and a bit in your face. We tend to change our vocal pitch when we do it too. British sarcasm is much more deadpan and delivered with a normal speaking voice without the pitch or tonal change. One big exception is if we're using sarcasm to call someone an idiot. Then it's the most straight faced British delivery you can image, but with just enough stupidity that hopefully the target realizes you're being a smart@$$ and bystanders aren't sure.

maybe you're just handicapped mentally. had you yet considered that we're just going easy on you?

Legendary NASCAR Driver Dick Trickle comes to mind when names are mentioned. lol

@@neolithicnobody8184 🤣

And he played for DA-BEARS....

@@cw5312 Hello fellow Jackal!

We used to live near a street called Hurlbutt. We had some chuckles over that.

It is.lol

lol, why do all those guys think that's so funny

@@Jim73 Pull my finger, and I will let you in on the secret.

Not the toll booth?

@@altortugas5979 What about Lily's performance int he saloon?

Sometimes, it depends on whether or not we want to toy with the recipient. If I like somebody, I'll give them the wink and a nod. If I don't like them, or I think they're bright, I won't bother. It's kind of a joke for me to enjoy.

​@@SmallSpoonBrigadeYou monster. Teach me your twisted sarcastic ways, you delightfully devious demon.

Lol. I just commenter that America loves British comedy and PBS proves it

@@timothy4664 That's right!

I actually just commented on Jonathan Pie. There's also another lesser known British comic that I love - Diane Spencer. She is hilarious. If you enjoy British humor - check her out on YT. I regret that I'd have to the UK to see her act in person. Benny Hill was great but I think the total of GOAT/British belongs to Monty Python.

@@JimAllen-Persona I'd have to agree on Monty Python. I didn't get to see their stuff till a little later, when cable TV came to our town. I did get to watch Fawlty Towers early on though.

@@heathercutler5114 British humor needs a bit of time to be appreciated but it’s well worth it. It’s not “in your face”.

Exactly! I can hear both but apparently not everyone can.

Yep, and it's why Monty Python did that episode in Germany. Neither country has any idea how to be funny, but they did have a bit of a go at forcing their humor on the other during not one but 2 World Wars.

I don’t know. I found both of his sarcastic Sheboygan phone calls equally funny. 😊

I will say using the British model is more useful in a workplace setting.

@@mattjones8523 Especially if you continue on speaking and don't stop to let it sink in to the unexpecting victim. But really, where's the fun in that. If I go to the effort to grace someone with good sarcasm, I want it to be recognized.

@@mattjones8523 SARCASM: "A cutting, often ironic remark intended to express contempt or ridicule. A form of wit characterized by the use of such remarks. A biting taunt or gibe, or the use of such a taunt; a bitter, cutting expression; a satirical remark or expression, uttered with scorn or contempt; in rhetoric, a form of irony; bitter irony."

@@stanleymyrick4068 SARCASM: "A cutting, often ironic remark intended to express contempt or ridicule. A form of wit characterized by the use of such remarks. A biting taunt or gibe, or the use of such a taunt; a bitter, cutting expression; a satirical remark or expression, uttered with scorn or contempt; in rhetoric, a form of irony; bitter irony."

I'd say there's a lot of variances in American sarcasm. Yes, most people probably do it in the over-exaggerated "can't-miss-it-if-I-tried" way, but I've met plenty of people that like to make sneaky sarcastic remarks in a deadpan way. It's funnier when people notice. If people don't, then they're missing out.

And in the early silent films many Briish vaudevillians were imported precisely because they were masters of slapstick.

@@charlynegezze8536 He missed Harold Lloyd too.

Also, if I may quote (if I'm remembering correctly) the great John Cleese: "There's nothing wrong with sex on television, as long as you don't fall off." ...this made more sense back when TVs were big chonky boys, but hopefully you get the idea. :P

I believe the quotation is from Monkey Business: That's what I always say. Love flies out the door when money comes innuendo

The old "You Bet Your Life " show with Groucho hosting was a prime example of humor at it's very best! Groucho was indeed so far ahead of his time (and 1950's audience!) that most of his jokes and sideways innuendoes go right over the heads of the contestants and audience.If you listen closely to some of the shows you can hear at times a small portion of those laughing that do GET the joke,the rest laugh nervously because it either was "supposed to be " funny and they don't get it or that the times were very restrictive socially then.Groucho is a true genius and he had his shtick down to a fine art!

Which is totally ironic because American culture itself is bringing itself to such absurd situations and then denies the absurdity. It's like that meme with the dog in the burning room, insisting that everything is fine. Abstraction and absurdity fly right over most Americans' heads.

Another quote I have seen (by 'anon') is that in the USA life is full of hope, but serious; however for the British life is hopeless, but not serious.

I'm an American living in Turkey and the UK and I don't understand absurdity? LMFAO

@@tootz1950 this is KZfaq comments, the text you see on your screen isn't directed at you specifically

@@rucker69 It might be. Who knows what Google is up to these days? Maybe they insert specific messages to certain people among all the other comments. If nothing else, it would make a great _Black Mirror_ episode.

SARCASM: "A cutting, often ironic remark intended to express contempt or ridicule. A form of wit characterized by the use of such remarks. A biting taunt or gibe, or the use of such a taunt; a bitter, cutting expression; a satirical remark or expression, uttered with scorn or contempt; in rhetoric, a form of irony; bitter irony."

No, his tone definitely changes, which is the clue that he is doing a bit of levity, but he doesn't go broad with the "Do ya get it?!" expresions and body language trying to sell the bit. That is really the main difference. Brits don't mug as much for higher-level humor.

One quibble, he stated that "Airplane" " _makes considerable use of slapstick"._

I am not sure I know a single person over 25 who can't quote huge chunks of Monty Python's Holy Grail (and their other sketches, but that one especially.) Can confirm, is Americans really love Monty Python. There really is something about a posh accent delivering absurd lines that adds a certain spice to it that delights me.

I hear the shots for that are quite painful........

Ahem: Bob Newhart.

Lol, your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

@@marysmith6671 of course there are exceptions.

What We Do In The Shadows, the movie and show, are excellent.

I've been watching watching Monty Python forever but my husband introduced me to the Young Ones and Kids in the Hall. Both great. And the Mighty Boush. Love 'Ol Greg and his mixed up downstairs.

Ohmygod, that's almost EXACTLY me. The "was a teen in the '80s, found British humor through Monty Python and Douglas Adams" thing. I wouldn't say I became a snob, just slightly even weirder than I already was. I went around quoting the lines from the BBC "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" miniseries out loud, complete with the character's accent as close as I could; people thought I was in Drama class and asked what play I was rehearsing for. XD Did your high school/nerdish cadre also have that thing where as soon as someone hits a certain age, they see and get OBSESSED with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or was that just my school? I swear, I saw it happen so many times, and always when the kid was in the same grade (including me). Speaking of Yank teens getting in British humour...

@@robinchesterfield42 I was about as nerdy as it gets. I was in band and on the math league. And my little friend group was discovering all this stuff together. I'm pretty sure we were juniors. We would sit at lunch quoting The Young Ones (which I can still do) and of course, doing whole scenes from Holy Grail. My favorite then and now is, "I'm French! Why do you think I have this OUTRAGEOUS accent, you silly king?" 🤣 By the time I was in college, I had a whole collection of CDs of Monty Python songs and sketches, and had many of them memorized. Such a dork!

Some of my friends in high school in the '70s also discovered Monty Python. We were transitioning from slide rules to calculators, and analog clocks to digital clocks. But our TVs still had tubes. We also had Dr. Demento on the radio, which my friends loved.

Basil beating his car. It never gets old.

my first thought was when he stops to give his car a good thrashing (even though he’s in a hurry). that’ll do it!

Just whatever you do, don't mention the war!

Love the podium.

They both have flat eartebhrs, but the USA has way more due to much more children being brain washed into religion!

Fell in love with British comedy watching Mrs Slocum and Mr Humphreys run Grace Brothers

@@billolsen4360 For me it was seeing a marathon of the old BBC miniseries of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on my local PBS station when I was about 14. NEVER looked back, never wanted to! By the way, anyone seen my towel?

@@robinchesterfield42 I'd better look that up. Never saw "Hitchhikers." My wife still roars with laughter at "Keeping Up Appearances."

That is badass. If that happened to me during an interview, I'd immediately KNOW I had come to the right company. XD (Something similar did happen once--I interviewed in a room that had a Star Wars planet name on the wall, and found out as I went through a little bit more of the building, they _all_ had different Star Wars planet/moon names. Turns out I'd found a company of fellow sci-fi nerds. My main working room was "Endor". :))

@@robinchesterfield42 I worked for a company like that too, but they had an excuse - they were Disney. Each floor had its own theme and conference rooms were named accordingly.

That's always the case, and rarely a good idea. There's little point in watching American programs like Murphy Brown in syndication because the shows were topical and for most people if you weren't there, and aren't currently in the mood for it, it falls flat.

Same applies to Americans comedies

@@thomsboys77 Definitely true. Likely why my favorite American comedy is Frasier.

I think you'll find that's because we're a tiny island so we know a little about everyone here😉

@@frangy865 Oh, I have no doubt, and the same with American comedies. Though it does help when you try to balance out with more situational jokes. Everyone around the world can laugh at a flaming stove or sexy aunt joke, not everyone gets a joke about Detroit or Middlesborough. lol

OMG. Did the owner every think of blocking the mine entrance so no toxic water got in?

@@deejayguppy6087uh, it comes up from the ground.

Once again, *why* is thee not a "flag as scam" reporting option on here, Jesus H. Christ.

Thank W. S. Gilbert for that. He told his actors that comedy was always funnier when played seriously and put his foot down when an actor played it silly.

@@Arcanist_Gaming There is for me? Maybe its a browser/app restriction, I'm on a desktop computer. The first option for reporting is "Unwanted commercial content or spam"

@@Arcanist_Gaming go to the three dots to the right of the message - it gives the option of answer or report.

@@jek__ I am also on a desktop computer (I use both Opera and Chrome, neither have the option). There's hate speech, bullying, sexual content, misinformation, threats of harm, terrorism and child abuse. I've checked like 10 times. EDIT: Oh yeah, and self harm. Forgot that one. Still no "impersonation" or "scam" option. Are you on a Mac, by chance? 'Cause none of the browsers on my Windows PC, be it in the full comments or the little drop down thing, have that option.

I'm adding One Foot in the Grave, Birds of a Feather, On the Buses, Allo Allo, AbFab and French and Saunders.

A PBS watcher? I’m very familiar with Keeping up Appearances and Are You Being Served from the local PBS station. I still sometimes intentionally pronounce the word “bucket” as “bouquet.” Some great British TV on PBS. I am old enough that I watched classic Doctor Who on PBS (this was *looong* before the revival). Tom Baker is *still* the Doctor for me.

@@jasonlescalleet5611 Yes ! I'd write more but have much to do before guests arrive for one of my candlelight suppers ... 😀

Adding : The Vicar of Dibley & To the Manor Born 😀

Totally agree ! I do think that " Frasier " is the closest we Americans come to matching Brit. comedy . Brilliant cast , intelligent writers , witty , dry humor ( humour ? ) full of subtleties , etc. & physical comedy often a mere gesture but oh so " loud " in meaning !

Thank goodness Terry Jones' old employee friend at the BBC told him they were going to tape over all the MPs. Terry made it over there real quick to get those video tapes. Too bad a lot of the early notable Tonight Shows w/Johnny Carson are lost bc of NBC trashing them.

Yes.

@@1otterlover Terry rescued all the tapes! So grateful that he did!

Hi Susan, remember me? I'm Laurence's daddy. Unfortunately! :-)

@@andrewmurray9350 Daddy? Ok, have you been hanging around Uncle Toby?

If you don't mind it's spelt humour 😂

@@hairyairey ❤🤣

Is that why everyone hated the Seinfeld finale? 😆

Wat? The majority of comedy in the US is self deprecating

@@pXnTilde ; yeah US comedy began to change (Woody Allen, Larry David, Jim Gaffigan). Old timers like me remember how it used to be (Bob Hope, the Marx brothers, Don Rickles). - A classic comparison from the 70s would be John Belushi in Animal House versus John Cleese in Fawlty Towers. Belushi eventually wins every confrontation from smashing a guitar to getting the cheerleader at the end. In Fawlty Towers, Cleese almost always comes out the loser. - Another classic comparison; Monty Python and the Holy Grail where King Arthur is repeatedly disrespected and eventually is arrested. Compare that to Trading Places where Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd eventually outwit bad guys and they become millionaires. Aykroyd also gets Jamie Lee Curtis. - More classic comparisons; several Mel Brooks comedies such as Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles where the good guys are the winners. Compare that with Terry Gilliam (who became a Brit) and who made Brazil where the hero eventually goes insane. - Getting into the 1990s and the 2000s US movies like The Mask with Jim Carrey and Tropic Thunder have the classic wisecracking US comedy where the heroes are the winners. Compare that with what imo is essential British comedy in Love Actually where while there are winners there are plenty of characters who suffer dealing with cheating and death.

I would think George Carlin might be the exception. I miss him.

@@flyonthewall8122 ; to make British style comedy more clear I suggest watching a comedy/mockumentary series called “Very British Problems”. I think it’s very funny and it’s on KZfaq. As for Carlin, I love his comedy. From his early days all the way to the end. Brilliant. - He’s a classic US comedian. A confident style making fun of others. Very little is directed towards himself.

God, yes!

Will they send Reggie with?

I'll build you a friggin' box!

I remember one episode that was a first class Whitehall Farce, Brian Rix would have struggled to match it. People entering and exiting with impeccable timing, all getting the wrong end of the stick.

@@paulqueripel3493 Sounds like the Ski Lodge episode?

@@catherinelw9365 that seems right, I've only seen it once.

Simon Pegg noted that in the UK, irony is like our kettles. Always bubbling away in the corner, constantly used. Whereas in the USA it's reserved for special occasions.

My history teacher in high school would show Monty Python and the Holy Grail to every class. I think if he'd been a math teacher, he still would've shown it. "She turned me into a newt!" [pause] "I got better..."

true, but SNL has not been funny since the Landshark skits.

Both things are severely overrated and were ninety percent filler and ten percent funny!

... and it's also completely accurate.

Basically this. Brits mulling over why Americans don't get British humour is basically as tiring as them complaining why we don't call soccer football or why there isn't a tea culture in the States. It's as if they forgot there are two separate countries with their own history of development.

@@TickleMeElmo55 Well ,not if it had been done well. This bloke is a dork, whichever side of the 'Pond' he is. I am a Brit. I Hate Benny Hill, Mr Bean, Ab Fab, The Office and most Of Monty Python. I loved MASH, Cheers and Frasier I suppose it depends whether you want your 'humour; to hit you around the head with a pigs bladder or sneak up on you. I loved Father Ted, hated most of the films he mentions. I am trying to come to terms with Spanish comedy, which is somewhere else again. But to mention the stuff he did, he is really not up to this, is he? I suggest we leave him to his fantasies. I would suggest 'Black Books.' Red Dwarf' and the unbeatable 'Father Ted'

This. Humor relies to a large degree on subversion of the expected, and what is expected is largely cultural. American and British culture have a lot of overlap, so by and large we can understand each other's humor - but as one increases cultural distance humor can often become incomprehensible, especially when one culture considers a particular situation surprising and strange and another considers the same situation perfectly normal.

What if you are from the US, and enjoy; Monty Python, Mr Bean, Benny Hill, MASH, Cheers, and Frasier... hmmm.

@@edwarddore7617 I think the hmm answers that

Ted Lasso is one of the best SHOWS around now, period.

A man of culture I see.

Why would you buy it when it’s free on KZfaq?

I watched Keeping Up Appearances with my mom growing up…cracked me up. That and Hitchikers

Ah good old Farty Towels. God damn I loved that show.

Love Soupy Sales! The puppets, the novelty songs, the pies-in-the-face! A cultural Icon!

“As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Yeah, humor is definitely cultural. My husband is Latino and the things that make him laugh are SOOO different from what makes me laugh. He tends to like more slapstick and situational humor, whereas I gravitate more towards wordplay and absurdism. He doesn't understand my choice of films, and I find the things that make him laugh are often intolerable (jokes about homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny make him laugh a lot more than I am comfortable with).