Poll: Who's better at comedy? Brits or Americans?

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

F*ck you Escapist, and your damn double posts.

 

[Interrobangin]

The Office UK: Gervais and Merchant gives us a classic comedy series that was?at the time?refreshing in its nature.
The Office US: Typcial US sitcom. Multiple shark jumps and still no end in sight.

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

Not really. The UK has produced some great comedy, it seems absolutely ridiculous that the only Brit you find funny is Yahtzee.

Humor is relative. I don't like british comedy, that's all there is to it. I prefer guys like Stephen colbert and Even John Stewart to the likes of The Office or Monty Python.

My problem is with that statement. It's too much of a generalisation to be true. But whatever, there's no point arguing over it.

 

[Varanfan9]

It depends on what kind of comedy you like.
British comedy is more the subtle kind of funny while American is more loud and slap stick style.
Though my personal favorite is Japan. Because random comedy is the best.

 

[kickyourass]

More often then not the British, don't get me wrong, I love almost all comedy. But the British are the responsible for Monty Python so for me they win by default in pretty much any comparison.

 

[Laxman9292]

Depends. American comedies quite often have genius moments, but mostly they're just above lolcat level. British comedies maintain reliable entertainment levels, but they're rarely as clever as American ones are, so I'm going with British.
EDIT: Britain seems to produce better stand-up comedians as well.

Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Zach Galafinakis, Kevin Hart, Bob Sagat, Louis CK, Lewis Black, John Lovitz, Joel McHale, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, Jon Stewart, Adam Sandler, Robin Williams, Kat Williams. All phenomenal American stand-up comedians.

Besides Ricky Gervais and The Monty Python troup what good comics are British? For the life of me I couldn't name one. WAIT! Russel Brand and Sacha Baron Cohen. Now I'm out.

Personally, I think American comedy is generally better. Sure people point to Family Guy and say "Oh stupid Americans hahaha." But they are the idiots for willfully ignoring a ton of comedic gold that is made in America. Seinfeld and the Chappelle Show are hands down two of the funniest shows ever, and even the Simpsons has many subtle jokes that are well above "lolcat" level. Or what about the Daily Show and Colbert Report? Or South Park, which is the most topical animated comedy show period. I mean, I love Monty Python (have a Ministry of Silly Walks poster in my room actually) but really that's all that I think is funny, maybe Fawlty Towers but again, John Cleese.

 

[Laxman9292]

Movies? American Pie vs. Hot Fuzz. Right...

That's not really a fair comparison. American Pie is not really a satire, it's a Teen sex romp movie.
A much more fair comparison would be Hot Fuzz vs Observe and Report or Cop Out (both being Dark comedies involving cops). Either way, those two movies are on par with Hot Fuzz in the comedy department.

Yeah, way to pick the most mismatched pairing ever. I mean of course British comedy is better, they have Da Ali G Show and we have Carrot Top... See what I did there? Be a little less biased next time.

 

[MrRetroSpectacles]

There's a reason so many English sitcoms and comedies are taken and used in the U.S. Because we rock at comedy. England has adapted the ability to laugh at itself, then it adapted the ability to laugh at everything and everyone else. The U.S are emerging with real comedy now though, some ours, some their own, I wish they'd concentrate more on their own to be honest, because "The Office" U.S.A. is an abomination, despite Steve Carell, and Shameless is worse. Then again, Who's line... worked very well. Anyway British comedy has been better for a long time and continues to be, American comedy is inferior but is getting better rapidly, I say this as my opinion but the poll sort of shows I'm correct.

I hat e your british shows say top gear, inbetweeners and whatever ramsays doin.

xfactor
wilfred
office
etc, yeah you can keep those.

Ramsey is a dick, Wilfred is an American comedy, the x factor lost support here so he's taking it to you, ignore it he'll get bored eventually. You picked very few shows as an example. Here are mine, that I think you should keep. 30 Rock, How I met your mother, Big Bang theory, South Park, Robin Williams.

 

[Romblen]

This is not an easy one for me, as I like both. British TV comedy is a lot better than the US, but I find American stand-up much better than British stand-up. But if I had to pick one, I'd say American since I love stand-up comedy more than TV comedy.

 

[DarkRyter]

How do we measure this?

Do we count up each citizen's level of funniness and then add it all up? Maybe average it out to account for population differences?

The logistics of the whole process just makes this topic seem ridiculous.

 

[GiglameshSoulEater]

Inbetweeners, Blackadder, Monty Python.

Answer: We brits.

 

[Zorpheus]

I like them both a lot, but written American comedy works a lot better than written British comedy. So American wins out by a hair.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

They're both very good in their own way but for my money Britain wins for 2 reasons:

1) Britain has both good TV and stand up comedy. America has great stand up but is short on TV comedy. Britain has such classics as Black Adder, Red Dwarf, Screenwipe, Keeping up Appearances, One Foot in the Grave, Father Ted, Faulty Towers, Monty Python, Fry and Laurie and many more. America produced such TV comedies as Scrubs, Family Guy and Two and a Half Unfunny Men with only the occasional hit like House.

2) Pretty much expanding on number 1. British TV comedy tends to take more risks while American comedy tries to be more safe which can often be boring and when it does takes risks it tends to go wrong. Brit comedy tends to be more witty while US does a lot of dumbing down and Britain's jokes are based more on implications (even if they are very heavy ones) while American comedies don't seem to think you'll get it so they outright explain the joke to you and as a great villain once said "if you have to explain the joke there is no joke".

 

[lacktheknack]

And Canada for Jon Lajoie.

Oh God, WE unleashed that guy? I feel more shame than I ever have before.

 

[minuialear]

All things considered, when British comedy tries to do American-style situational comedy... It ends up being funnier, in my opinion. But not in a good way, It's funny the because it doesn't attempt to do anything else but make you laugh; therefore, characters can be thrown around without abandon and you can be as caustic and crazy as possible.

This'll piss a fuckton of people off, both American and British, but I have to say it: the reason why British comedy is funnier is because American comedy attempts more. Well, attempted more; American comedy has ceased to be an innovative, multifaceted entity that preserved its characters for the sake of drama, or character development, and such.

American comedy, nowadays, is heading towards the type of situational comedy seen in Britain; in that all it does is try to make you laugh - and nothing more.

Its a pretty complex answer, but its a complex question; I think I got my word in.

That's an interesting stance. I somewhat agree with it, though I'd argue shows like Arrested Development/Archer, and to some extent still South Park and a few other shows were/are still thoughtful, to some extent.



OT: I love Monty Python, but I watch Arrested Development significantly more often. Eddie Izzard is awesome, but if I have to choose between watching him or Stephen Colbert, Colbert wins it for me. I haven't seen any British cartoons that can rival those of the US (though the British definitely have better sitcoms).

It has something to do with the nature of the content (political commentary about the US is more interesting to me than the same for Britain, etc), but I also think the way in which Americans present humor is more interesting than how British people do it. I guess to ^that point, they tend to be more creative about it, based on what I've seen.

 

[funguy2121]

you decide.

also why you think that? and any favourites you would like to add.

The plucky little UK vs the huge america/ns. let the war over the atlantic begin!

"Plucky little UK vs the huge america/ns." Not sure what "NS" stands for, but you are aware that Britain used to be a vast empire in addition to a country, no? And that American imperialism was bred from British imperialism? I mean, I agree that the British are in fact plucky but, c'mon, they used to be the big bad guys as well. Also, since this is the internet, where tone cannot possibly be as effectively conveyed as in conversation, let me be clear that I love the British people, I love them for Eric Idle and Simon Pegg, I love them for Radiohead and Sophie Dee.

Most of my favorite comics are American, but most of my least-favorite comics are as well. This probably has more to do with how many American comics I've been exposed to. Biting, angry comedy and subversive comedy appeal to me more, since I'm one of the Americans who is not willing to lie to himself about how much damage is done, both at home and abroad, by the most powerful, omnipresent empire the world as ever seen. But, since the Brits used to live under that unstoppable juggleknob (cookies available) themselves, they have this particular brand of comedy refine. There also seem to be fewer Brits who are concerned with being macho or cynical or who shy away from shit that simply is funny. That's part of the appeal of the American show Community (couldn't hold it in), or as I like to call it, The Best Thing on Television in The History of Everything.