British Humor.....

[Rushmore]

I just purchased the entire series of Fawlty Towers at EBAY.

Believe me when I tell you that if you do not think that Fawlty Towers is funny, there is something lacking.

Any program (programme?) which features the main character shaking his fist at God for laughs is OK in my book.

[superleeds]

Fawlty Towers is consistently rated as the best Comedy Programme ever made whenever they do TV polls in the UK. And rightly so.

Basil: That is Torquay, Madam.
Mrs Richards: Well, it's not good enough.
Basil: Well, may I ask what you were hoping to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom-window? Sidney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest? sweeping majestically?
Mrs Richards: Don't be silly. I expect to be able to see the sea.
Basil: You can see the sea. It's over there between the land and the sky.

Classic

[Gamblor]

IMO, Oscar Wilde is the epitome of British humour.

The Importance of Being Earnest is far and away my favourite book, and I've read it annually since age 13.

[Rushmore]

The episode where the moose falls on his head is perhaps the funniest thing ever put on television, seriously.

[David Steele]

It is close between the Moose episode and the food inspector one that ends with Basil saying "Care for a rat?"

D.

[CORed]

I never card much for Benny Hill, but I loved Monty Python. The "dead parrot" sketch, is IMO a classic. I also loved "Fawlty Towers".

[pudley4]

[ QUOTE ]
An example of the difference between American and British look at the hosts of Who's line is it Anyway. On the American side is Drew Carey -- loud, boisterous, bit slapsticky; on the British <if forget the name>-- dry, quiet though quite funny. As they say here in Vietnam-- Same, Same but different.

[/ QUOTE ]

Clive Anderson

Everything about the shows highlighted the differences between British and American tv/comedy.

British - understated, wry host
American - loud, boisterous host

British - dark, quiet set
American - bright, loud set

British - spontaneous audience reaction
American - "APPLAUSE!!!!" signs

British "Who's Line" >>>>>>>>> American "Who's Line"

[Phat Mack]

I've always maintained that the two best stories illustrating the pure joy of gambling are The Purity of the Turf and The Great Sermon Handicap. I was once going to start a thread about Wodehouse's books with gambling scenes, but I couldn't think of any of his stories that didn't have gambing in them.

When I first started reading him, I tried to memorize some of his better phrasing, but soon gave up the attempt. Perhaps not exact quotes, but here is how I remember some...

"After all, golf is only a game," said Millicent.
Women say these things without thinking. It does not mean there is any kink in their character. They simply don't realize what they are saying.

She snuffled like a bulldog who has been denied cake.

What a curse these social distinctions are. They ought to be abolished. I remember saying that to Karl Marx once, and he thought there might be an idea for a book in it.

Eyeing them (babies) he is conscious of doubts as to whether Man can really be Nature's last word.

[Zeno]

I love the Bertie/Jeeves story when they place all sorts of underground bets on the winners of the anunal church summer picnic games. The egg carry, the sack race etc. The plot gets all very elaborate and convoluted with lives and fortunes hanging in the balance on the outcome.

I agree that a thread with the best gems of Wodehouse, Thurber, and Wilde would be a fun thing to get going.


'He tottered blindly toward the bar like a camel making for an oasis after a hard day at the office.'


-Zeno

[ThaSaltCracka]

I am gonna say it cuz no one has....
While British humor is/may be funny, none of it is as funny as American Humor, and thats a fact jack. The only place where the British dominate in regards to comedy is wit. They really are quite funny, however the silly humor (Ie Monty Python, Benny Hill) is in fact very dumb and juvenile.