OT: I just don't get British humor

[DJ Spanky]

So I always keep an eye out for different Christmas songs just because, well, there ain't much variety when you come down to it. Anyway, this one popped up:



I was like: WTF????

I looked up what this was and..... Wiki >> Mr. Blobby

Ummmmmmm.................

 

[ashokan]

A few years before Teletubbies.
Kids can be fascinated by weird stuff.

Then there was UK's...."Crazy Frog"

 

[DJ Spanky]

Kids can be fascinated by weird stuff.

This wasn't for kids.

 

[ashokan]

This wasn't for kids.

It pretended to be - then it actually became one

"He originally appeared on the "Gotcha" sketch on Noel's House Party which hoaxed celebrities into thinking that Blobby was a popular children's television character filming an episode about their particular line of work. Blobby would begin by clumsily trying to take part in whatever activity their celebrity guest was trying to teach him before giving up entirely and resorting to rather violently breaking the set in order to frustrate the unwitting celebrity.... something that started off as a fake popular children's TV character ended up becoming a real one. Yup, British TV in the Nineties was weird."

Mr Blobby

A strange example of the weirdness of British television in the Nineties, Mr Blobby began life as a character appearing on Noel Edmonds' Saturday evening variety show Noel's House Party. Not so much a character as a force of nature, Blobby was a …

tvtropes.org

 

[93RUDoc]

There are some aspcts of British humor that does not work here, like Mr Bean, who is huge there and internationally. Monty Python is some of the best comedy in history. The Holy Grail movie, Life of Brian, the ministry of silly walks, doesnt get much better.

 

[Shelby65]

Fantastic humor the Brits have

 

[RU848789]

There are some aspcts of British humor that does not work here, like Mr Bean, who is huge there and internationally. Monty Python is some of the best comedy in history. The Holy Grail movie, Life of Brian, the ministry of silly walks, doesnt get much better.

British humor has been some of the best ever IMO. From Dudley Moore/Peter Cook in the 60s to Monty Python in the 70s (maybe my favorite comedy show ever and the movies were brilliant) to shows like Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, the Office, Flea Bag and Ali G since then, as well as many funny films, such as A Fish Called Wanda, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, The Full Monty, Shaun of the Dead and more, plus while Peter Sellers mostly starred in Hollywood films, he was one of the funniest actors ever on film. Having said all that, the Blobby phenomenon wasn't funny, IMO. And while Bean I'm with you on Bean, Rowan Atkinson had some brilliantly funny roles in films like 4 Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually.

 

[93RUDoc]

One of my favorite scenes, "can you lend me 50 francs", still has me rolling on the ground

 

[SkilletHead2]

It is really interesting what folks find funny and what they don't. To me, some British humor is great and a lot of it is incredibly juvenile. Monty Python is a great example. The movies were brilliant and the TV show was funny about 1/4 of the time. They never knew how to end a sketch (same problem with SNL).

I have never seen Atkinson in anything in which he wasn't painful to watch. His bit (to me) in Love Actually is a great example of that. I found it absolutely cringeworthy.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were brilliant pretty much all the time. Shaun of the Dead was great.

Humor is a really odd thing. I know a lot of 40-50 somethings (including my son) who don't like The Big Bang Theory, which I think is the best sitcom that has ever been on TV. MASH was funny at the time, but didn't age well. Same thing with Dick Van Dyke show, but I can always watch Mary Tyler Moore. Burns and Allen were great. Jack Benny not so much.

My favorite stand up folks are Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Sam Kinnison, Bob Newhart, and Steve Martin.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

The British currently have way scarier fish to fry than their shit humor…

Thats a wide category.. Monte Python (which is still funny), The Young Ones (which, if I recall correctly, would .. not hold up)... So many other shows that got copied here.. like The Office. Ghosts even Threes Company.

But.. yeah.. some of it is total crap. I never liked Benny Hill.. for example.

 

[RedTeam1994]

It is really interesting what folks find funny and what they don't. To me, some British humor is great and a lot of it is incredibly juvenile. Monty Python is a great example. The movies were brilliant and the TV show was funny about 1/4 of the time. They never knew how to end a sketch (same problem with SNL).

I have never seen Atkinson in anything in which he wasn't painful to watch. His bit (to me) in Love Actually is a great example of that. I found it absolutely cringeworthy.

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were brilliant pretty much all the time. Shaun of the Dead was great.

Humor is a really odd thing. I know a lot of 40-50 somethings (including my son) who don't like The Big Bang Theory, which I think is the best sitcom that has ever been on TV. MASH was funny at the time, but didn't age well. Same thing with Dick Van Dyke show, but I can always watch Mary Tyler Moore. Burns and Allen were great. Jack Benny not so much.

My favorite stand up folks are Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Sam Kinnison, Bob Newhart, and Steve Martin.

It is interesting how humor differs

I like American slapstick/ physical comedy - I think of Jim Carrey or Kramer from Seinfeld. Even will ferrell (who isn’t slapstick) but a big part of his humor is his physicality. He, like Kramer, is just funny in the way he carries himself/ talks. Those guys make me laugh just at the sight of them. Whereas the British equivalent…. Nothing.

I do very much like the DRY British humor when done well.

- some monty python stuff - “I’m a lumberjack” and the scene from the holy grail where the knight gets his limbs cut off “it’s just a flesh wound” is some of the absolutely funniest stuff around

Anyone ever check out “the IT crowd” - that’s a good example of the British humor I like. Both dry and silly (in a British way) but not TOO British that it lost on me ;)

 

[RUPete]

There are some aspcts of British humor that does not work here, like Mr Bean, who is huge there and internationally. Monty Python is some of the best comedy in history. The Holy Grail movie, Life of Brian, the ministry of silly walks, doesnt get much better.

True and the same could be said of many forms of comedy/humor. For example, I think Adam Sandler movies suck, but many people love them, so he is doing something right to connect with a large audience. I actually liked his serious movie about the comic who thinks he's dying.

 

[Randal7]

canadians are the funniest people on the planet... a commonwealth country, close enough to capture the wit but far enough removed from the british mothership to reject the propriety they take to everything

 

[angmo]

Maybe try Japanese...

 

[mildone]

Yea they do. Allah akbar.

 

[Morrischiano]

So I always keep an eye out for different Christmas songs just because, well, there ain't much variety when you come down to it. Anyway, this one popped up:

View embedded media

I was like: WTF????

I looked up what this was and..... Wiki >> Mr. Blobby

Ummmmmmm.................

WTF with post like this the start of first football week on a RU football forum?

 

[mildone]

WTF with post like this the start of first football week on a RU football forum?

I mean, he did say "OT". People not wishing to be distracted from football can very easily skip all OT threads, right?

So what's the problem?

 

[LotusAggressor]

True and the same could be said of many forms of comedy/humor. For example, I think Adam Sandler movies suck, but many people love them, so he is doing something right to connect with a large audience. I actually liked his serious movie about the comic who thinks he's dying.

Sandler's serious movies are actually very good. (Hustle and Uncut Gems). Agree with you on the comedies. They suck.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Sandler's serious movies are actually very good. (Hustle and Uncut Gems). Agree with you on the comedies. They suck.

I thought Pixels was pretty good - wish they could have a little less Sanders style humor in it, but over I liked it.

 

[RU848789]

I mean, he did say "OT". People not wishing to be distracted from football can very easily skip all OT threads, right?

So what's the problem?

Not those with OCD, who have to read ever post in order and, frankly, I'm surprised at your insensitivity to those unfortunate souls.

 

[mildone]

Not those with OCD, who have to read ever post in order and, frankly, I'm surprised at your insensitivity to those unfortunate souls.

I'm down with OCD (yeah, you know me).

But please, we no longer use "OCD" (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) as it has been deprecated in favor of the more sensitive term: CDD (Calmness Deliberateness Divergent).

 

[Kbee3]

He's an American citizen now, but John Oliver is incredibly funny and one of my favorites.
Last Week Tonight is must-see tv.

 

[Mr Magoo]

All of the talk brings me back to one of my favorite classes at Rutgers in the 80’s called appropriately, The Comic. It was a great English course that was considered to be a “gut” (that means “easy” for you whippersnappers (you can look up whippersnapper)). I believe the professor’s name might have been Carney (no relation to Art but I believe he actually was a distant relative of the Marx Brothers..at least that what he told us..but it might have been a joke..ha).

 

[Mr_Twister]

I never found Newark NJ native Jerry Lewis, The King of Comedy, funny, but I thought the world of him for his admirable telethon efforts.

 

[Source]

There are some aspcts of British humor that does not work here, like Mr Bean, who is huge there and internationally. Monty Python is some of the best comedy in history. The Holy Grail movie, Life of Brian, the ministry of silly walks, doesnt get much better.

I believe it's time for the penquin on my television set to explode.

 

[dfr1966]

All of the talk brings me back to one of my favorite classes at Rutgers in the 80’s called appropriately, The Comic. It was a great English course that was considered to be a “gut” (that means “easy” for you whippersnappers (you can look up whippersnapper)). I believe the professor’s name might have been Carney (no relation to Art but I believe he actually was a distant relative of the Marx Brothers..at least that what he told us..but it might have been a joke..ha).

The professor was Dr Charney....I took that course too, it was fun. He encouraged students to pass jokes to the front of the room and he would interrupt his lecture to read them out loud.

I also took a course of his called Literature and Sexuality. Same format...except he encouraged students to pass sexual fantasies to the front of the room. Another fun course!

I also took 2 semesters of Shakespeare with him, a bit more serious but he still made it fun.

 

[RUboston]

This is a classic:

 

[SkilletHead2]

I never found Newark NJ native Jerry Lewis, The King of Comedy, funny, but I thought the world of him for his admirable telethon efforts.

Moms Skillethead and I had a lovely conversation with him once at, of all places, the harbor area in Sydney, Australia. He was playing at the Opera House and was being wheeled around in a wheel chair wearing that strange red and blue outfit he wore later in life. We noticed him and Moms smiled at him. He said, in the silly version of his voicce, "That lady is flirting with me." She replied "You bet I am." (My wife can win people over in about 5 seconds.) So we walked over and had a great chat with him about what he was doing there, why we were there (we had won a weekend in Sydney in a raffle!). Really nice guy.

 

[mildone]

This is a classic:

View embedded media

Incontinentia Buttucks. 😂

 

[mildone]

The professor was Dr Charney....I took that course too, it was fun. He encouraged students to pass jokes to the front of the room and he would interrupt his lecture to read them out loud.

I also took a course of his called Literature and Sexuality. Same format...except he encouraged students to pass sexual fantasies to the front of the room. Another fun course!

I also took 2 semesters of Shakespeare with him, a bit more serious but he still made it fun.

Ah yes, Shake Spear, close friend of Biggus Dickus.

 

[Shelby65]

British humor has been some of the best ever IMO. From Dudley Moore/Peter Cook in the 60s to Monty Python in the 70s (maybe my favorite comedy show ever and the movies were brilliant) to shows like Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, the Office, Flea Bag and Ali G since then, as well as many funny films, such as A Fish Called Wanda, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, The Full Monty, Shaun of the Dead and more, plus while Peter Sellers mostly starred in Hollywood films, he was one of the funniest actors ever on film. Having said all that, the Blobby phenomenon wasn't funny, IMO. And while Bean I'm with you on Bean, Rowan Atkinson had some brilliantly funny roles in films like 4 Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually.

Don’t forget Benny Hill.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Don’t forget Benny Hill.

How could we?

 

[RU848789]

Don’t forget Benny Hill.

Wasn't a fan...

 

[Mr Magoo]

The professor was Dr Charney....I took that course too, it was fun. He encouraged students to pass jokes to the front of the room and he would interrupt his lecture to read them out loud.

I also took a course of his called Literature and Sexuality. Same format...except he encouraged students to pass sexual fantasies to the front of the room. Another fun course!

I also took 2 semesters of Shakespeare with him, a bit more serious but he still made it fun.

Thank you! Your memory is better than mine.

 

[ashokan]

Don’t forget Benny Hill.

He was like a bawdy Chaplain - who Hill idolized (and Chaplin was a big fan of Hill).

At the end, Hill was told by doctors that he had heart threat and needed surgery - Hill said "no."
When his kidneys started going he was told he needed dialysis and said "no."
He stayed home and died in a chair in front of TV.

Hill also went to boarding school like a lot of boys of that era.
Some have found boarding school links to Brit humor (bunch of young boys locked-up with each other).

I was in Brit forum for years and I learned they do, in fact, own the language in ways specific to them.
They like to use words in specific ways and being witty is like a national pastime.
They are also good at insults and satire (listen to Prime Ministers Questions)

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

How could we?

View embedded media

okay.. that wasn't bad

 

[LotusAggressor]

There are some aspcts of British humor that does not work here, like Mr Bean, who is huge there and internationally. Monty Python is some of the best comedy in history. The Holy Grail movie, Life of Brian, the ministry of silly walks, doesnt get much better.

Ah, The Holy Grail.
"I fart in your general direction"
"Your father was a hamster, and your mother smells of elderberries"
"Run away, or I will be forced to taunt you a second time"
"It's just a flesh wound"

 

[DJ Spanky]

okay.. that wasn't bad

When I was a kid I'd always watch the end of the show for the chase scene, scantily clad females and Yakety Sax.

 

[Shelby65]

Ah, The Holy Grail.
"I fart in your general direction"
"Your father was a hamster, and your mother smells of elderberries"
"Run away, or I will be forced to taunt you a second time"
"It's just a flesh wound"

Loretta

Best Python Quote/Scene Ever
Stan : I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me Loretta
Reg : What?
Stan : It's my right as a man.

 

[DJ Spanky]

"It's just a flesh wound"

"You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!"