1. BRITISH HUMOUR
“It is clear that humour is far superior to
humor.”
Oscar Wilde

2. Starter
How many of these comedy films can
you name?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM
How many of those films were
American?

3. What is Humour?
Humour or humor is the tendency of
particular cognitive experiences to
provoke laughter and provide
amusement. The term derives from the
humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks,
which taught that the balance of fluids in
the human body, known as humors

4. Types of Humour

Sarcasm
Quotation marks around
any word to make it
funnier.
The use of irony
to mock or
convey
contempt.

5.  Physical /Visual Humour
 Physical comedy, also known as slapstick is
a comedic performance relying mostly on
the use of the body to convey humour.
 Mr Bean
 Charlie Chapin
 The Three
Stooges

6. Satire
Making fun of famous people in
general. (Political Satire)

7. The Macabre (Black Humour)
Monty Python sketch "dead parrot." In this sketch, a
man tries to make another man believe that a parrot
is dead
Death at a funeral
This was remade by the Americans but really did not
work for me…..
•

8. Pun/Sexual Innuendo
A play on words where there is
a double meaning
Sexual innuendo is where one
interpretation has a sexual
nature.
Rainbow

9. Parody
A literary or artistic work that imitates the
characteristic style of an author or a
work for comic effect or ridicule
Jack Black does Lord of the Rings

10. Topical or Cultural
Reference Humour
This is humour that relate to the
current issues in our society (and
often be of a serious nature)
Achmed the dead terrorist

11. How is British Humour
different to US?
According to Stephen Fry

12. • Cruelty
British humour in particular can be cruel and
sad.
Bullying and harsh sarcasm

13. Childish behavior
To laugh at people misfortune and bad luck

14. 
Racism
Making fun of the
English and
foreigners: Germans,
French, Spanish,
Irish,...

15. • More Smutty and innuendo in nature
•The Inbetweeners
Disrespect to members of the
establishment:
Spitting Image and Margaret Thatcher

16. Other Sources to look at
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ministryoflaughs/10-reasons-british-comedy-is-
better-than-american
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/feb/10/comedy.television
http://ideas.time.com/2011/11/09/the-difference-between-american-and-
british-humour/