British humour

British humour has a reputation for being puzzling to non-British speakers of English. Nonetheless, many UK comedy TV shows which use it as a basis have been internationally popular.

Related Topics:
English - UK

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Some themes which underpin twentieth-century British humour were:-

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• Smut and innuendo with sexual and scatological themes, typified by
• the seaside postcards of Donald McGill,
• the humour of Benny Hill,
• the series of Carry On films, and
• the comic magazine Viz .
• Disrespect to members of the establishment and authority typified by
• Beyond the Fringe, stage revue from the 1960s
• Private Eye, satirical magazine
• Spitting Image TV puppet comedy lampooning the famous and powerful
• Discworld, a series of fantasy books written by Terry Pratchett, heavy with irony criticizing all sorts of aspects in Society.
• The Absurd, typified by
• The Goon Show,
• Monty Python.
• The banality of everyday life, as seen in
• Hancock's Half Hour
• The Office
• The War between parents/teachers and their children. Typified by
• the Beano and The Dandy comics of publisher D C Thomson.
• The Just William books by Richmal Crompton.
• The British class system especially pompous or dim-witted members of the upper / middle classes. Typified by
• the Jeeves and Wooster books of P. G. Wodehouse, and
• the Dad's Army comedy TV series
• Fawlty Towers comedy TV series.
• You Rang M'Lord? comedy TV series
• The embarrassment of social ineptitude. Typified by
• Mr Bean comedy TV series starring Rowan Atkinson
• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em comedy TV series starring Michael Crawford.
• Alan Partridge
• Harsh Sarcasm including extensive use of double entendres
• Blackadder
 
British humour: See also ►