What's Funny?

This is not a humorous blog. This is a blog about humor. 

While scrolling TikTok the other day, I stumbled upon a video in which an English man was comparing humor within the United Kingdom to American humor. His video responded to a comment saying he didn't understand American sarcasm. This particular video piqued my interest for two reasons:

1. I'm currently spending the entirety of my junior year in college studying abroad in London.

2. I'm American.

As a brief synopsis, his main argument was that British humor is better than American humor as it emphasizes intelligent, situational jokes and dry, witty remarks filled with subtext compared to American comedy, where sarcasm is over-the-top and obvious. Here's a couple of tidbits taken from the TikTok itself:

"Because much like a frat boy in Miami, [American sarcasm] lacks subtlety. If you want to make the average American laugh with sarcasm, you need three ingredients: say something loud, obnoxious, and vacuous."

"But at least we've learned how to take the piss out of ourselves and communicate sarcasm without screaming 'NOT' at the end of a sentence."

(Note that the 'NOT' was spoken with an American accent)

He then states this is the reason why American comedy is watched by British children rather than adults. He also makes some remarks about how he's surprised to see that American sarcasm, unlike British sarcasm, isn't based on being inventive or creative despite entrepreneurialism being a cornerstone of American society (we'll cover this second point later).

You're probably thinking: "Michael, why are you getting so worked up about what this guy has to say? He's clearly being caustic, sarcastic, and downright rude. Plus, he's making some big generalizations." 

To which I would respond with: I'm not offended at all. NOT!

This response is funny for two reasons. The obvious first reason is that I'm making use of the American caricature that this creator mocks and critiques. The second reason is that the guy in the video would hate that I used this joke because it's so obvious. But what he wouldn't understand is that his getting mad about me using an obvious sarcastic retort is what makes the use of the joke funny. I'm not screaming "NOT!" at the end of my sentence because I genuinely think it's funny. I'm doing it to get a rise out of the guy.

In reality, I don't care that this guy is being caustic, sarcastic, and rude. I just love overanalyzing things (bro likes yapping). So that's what I'm gonna do.

Before I continue, we must make note of another prominent aspect of this debate: the comment section. There are largely two factions within the comment section, the Brits and the Yanks. Within these two sides, the same points are being recycled:

Let's take a look at each of these one-by-one.

"British humor is better because it is wittier, more situational, and creative"

I mean, sure? I get the idea here that many British comedic shows have these attributes. The Office, Inbetweeners, Peep Show, Mock The Week, etc. I've watched episodes from all the shows mentioned, and I've found them really funny (Side note: are we really going to sit here and ignore that a lot of what makes Peep Show funny is hearing what Mark and Jeremy are thinking? There's literally no subtext there).

But the notion that American humor can't be any of those things is disingenuous. While, yes, there are U.S. TV shows that take inspiration from British shows, series like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Community, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Veep, The Boondocks, etc. prove that American comedy can be situational, witty, provide social commentary, and do all of the things that this guy claims they can't.

"Your opinions on our comedy are largely outdated and grossly generalized"

The previous argument is a good pivot into this one. The guy in the TikTok said that American sarcasm is simply throwing "NOT!" at the end of a sentence you didn't mean. The British people in the comment section point to Friends as the most prominent form of American humor. The problem with both of these statements is that these guys are acting as if Friends didn't come out nearly 30 years ago, and saying "NOT!" at the end of a sentence is funny as if we're still in elementary school. Nobody our age watches Friends anymore, nor do the shows we currently watch use largely unfunny first-grade humor.

The second part of this argument, that the understanding of American humor is grossly generalized gets at this phenomenon even further. The British commenters and the video creator think Friends is the pinnacle of American comedy because they're looking at mass-produced, low-brow television.

The United States has over 330 million people. Not only is the U.S. catering to the multiple demographics of people viewing their shows domestically, but they also know that foreigners will most likely watch too. Thus, you end up with a low-brow, easily digestible comedy show that doesn't represent subtle American humor.

Again, this is similar to the last point. Very rarely are people my age (or even older really) watching shows that have laugh tracks. As previously mentioned, these types of shows are made for mass appeal, so they use over-the-top sarcasm and laugh tracks to make these shows easily watchable.

This one is harder to illustrate, but I largely agree with the sentiment. Sometimes ideas are lost in translation due to differences in language. I think this point is best explained by an interaction that I had with a British student who had first arrived in London.

Since it was the school's "welcome week," we were all asking the usual questions of "Where are you from? What's your major?" and the like. Since I'm American, he asked what college I attend and how big it is.

I told him, "My school has 8,000 students" (undergrad).

What I had forgotten was that while Americans use "school" to refer to any level of schooling from Pre-K to college, British people use "school" usually to refer to what we would consider middle school, and they call college "university." Even though we both speak the same language, sometimes a lack of cultural understanding means we don't get the phrase, the explanation, or the joke.

I remember watching a Newcastle game, and I believe it was Sandro Tonali's debut. The commentator explained that Tonali was looking for a nice place to get dinner as a newly immigrated Italian in England and was recommended Weatherspoons. At the time, I didn't get the joke. Having lived in London for the past month, I see why that's funny.

Although a pint for like three quid in London is crazy.

All in all, some jokes require significant cultural knowledge to understand the subtext. But just because you don't understand it (or in this creator's case, you believe it's extremely obvious) it doesn't mean it's not there.

"British humor is better because you guys copy us! The Office! Inbetweeners! Shameless!"

Now, I haven't watched the U.S. versions of Inbetweeners or Shameless (in fact, I've only seen some of the original Inbetweeners) but, I do know a sizeable amount about both versions of The Office.

It's interesting to note that when most people talk about the American version of The Office, they don't like Michael Scott in season 1. This is interesting considering that this version of Michael is similar to his British counterpart, David Brent. The way Americans view Season 1's Michael Scott with disdain while British viewers find David Brent horribly funny is a testament to something larger; it is a microcosm of both cultures.

Within both versions of The Office, the audience is meant to find the boss funny; the reason they find these characters funny, however, is entirely different. In the American version, Michael Scott is a bumbling idiot. His lack of social awareness and inability to read the room means he makes poor decisions and offensive remarks despite his best intentions. David Brent, however, is made to be a horrible person. He's selfish, vindictive, and offensive. But unlike Michael, there's nothing redeemable about David.

I think the differences between Michael and David showcase how Americans and Brits view comedy and sarcasm. American comedy is often centered around playing dumb, while British comedy is mean and cruel. Both of these viewpoints say something about each society. If we take the sarcasm of both countries as intending the opposite of what happens, we can use this to deduce what both countries value (or in this case, rather don't value). Thus, if the American sarcasm Michael portrays is focused on being an idiot, it would tell us that the worst thing you can be in the U.S. is incompetent; similarly, if the British sarcasm David portrays is focused on being cruel and selfish, it would tell us that the worst thing you can be in the United Kingdom is rude and socially distasteful.

So, American sarcasm is based upon making the audience believe that they're as dumb as they're coming across, while British sarcasm is based upon making the audience believe that they're as rude as they're coming across (We finally got to the important bit, thank you for bearing with me).

Remember earlier on in the blog, where I mentioned that the creator of this TikTok said that he was surprised that American sarcasm isn't inventive since our culture is based on entrepreneurialism? I kind of see where he's getting at, but I think he approached it from the wrong angle.

Let's assume we agree that America props up the ethos of optimism and being a self-starter. If that is true, then that is the exact reason why Michael Scott becomes more likable in season 2. The American audience wants a reason to believe that it will get better for the office characters because we're naturally more optimistic. And if you agree with the trope that British people are usually more cynical and frank, then it also makes total sense why David Brent is the way he is.

So the American jester looks to make a fool out of themself while the British jester lacks social grace. With this in mind, let's look at what happens when we make a cross-cultural joke. If an American makes a joke using their form of sarcasm and it doesn't land, the audience simply thinks they're unintelligent. If a British person makes a joke using their form of sarcasm and it doesn't land, they have simply just said something rude. Now, this isn't to say that I don't like British humor, or I think it's worse than American humor. The point here is this:

It's impossible to objectively compare American and British humor when the audiences and intentions differ so greatly. 

So if there's anything you should take from this, it's that humor is whatever you find to be funny. Sometimes we say what we mean. Sometimes we say what we don't mean. There's non-irony, irony, post-irony, and even meta-irony. Who's to say what's funny or not? In the end, maybe the real humor was the friends we made along the way.