Week Three: Concepts and Cultures
After watching this video clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE ), I can clearly see that Hugh Laurie is first off a very funny guy, and he clearly got a laugh out of the audience.
From my personal opinion, I think British humor from BBC is kind of strange: sure, you get a laugh, but it is a stupid-funny kind of laugh. The so-plain and basic-so-it-is-funny kind of humor obviously got a laugh out of the audience overseas, as they are used to this kind of humor. For me, I had to watch it a few times.
When it comes to TV shows, and many movies, it seems these companies/actors seem to think basic, dry or "stupid-funny" humor is the way to go. It just does not cut it for me. I like the more intelligent humor, humor that makes you use your mind.
I guess the clip is showing that many "ballads" like this one are overly done to people in other countries. To those who have seen any of the Monty Python shows, however, I get the same feeling....the humor in this "song" comes off like one of the British comedy shows. Goofy, but not so funny you want to tell others about it. All it got from me was a brief chuckle, but "goofy or stupid-funny" was the flag that went up. Seems there are more than one type of comedy!
Hi Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI like that you focused your comments on what Americans feel is funny versus what Brits feel is funny. I agree that we may seem over-the-top to the Brits, but the Brits are over-the-top as well, when they perform comedy. The things they do seem goofy to us and visa versa. Some other blog entries focused more on how the Brits feel toward Americans as a society, but I like your spin on this assignment.
Thanks!