The USA and the UK enjoy a special relationship, but the two nations differ wildly, especially when it comes to comedy. American comedy tends to be more on the nose, whereas British humor is more subtle and sillier.
So join us as we explore some differences between the two nations and their sense of humor via memes. There’ll be some stereotypes along the way, but as the Brits say, don’t get your knickers in a twist!
USA vs. UK
Before we discover the differences between American and British comedy, it may be helpful to look at the differences between the two countries. The USA is a vast, wild, continent-sized nation filled with dangerous animals that will take your arm off for fun — mountain lions, grizzly bears, coyotes, alligators, rattlesnakes, and giant eagles.
The tiny United Kingdom’s most dangerous animal is the pigeon. A disease-carrying, statue-pooping flying rat. The next most dangerous British animal is the seagull, which will steal your fish n’ chips as you walk along the pier.
You Wot, Mate?
England isn’t really a green, leafy paradise. Many of her urban areas are lifeless, soulless wastelands. The same goes for English guys. In Hollywood movies, they look like James Bond, drive elegant cars, and wear the finest Savile Row suits. But in reality, only 0.01% of British men are like that. The rest look like this:
The average English male can be found chomping on pies in the pub, punching police horses, or singing obscene songs at football (soccer) matches.
Tough Cheese
Earlier, we mentioned how big the USA is. If Texas were a country, you could fit the United Kingdom inside it almost three times over. As such, Brits and most Europeans view a five-hour drive as a long schlep, probably ending up in another country.
But in America, a five-hour drive is nothing. Some Americans in Wisconsin and Montana drive to Canada just to get quality cheese. That’s one thing the Brits can do that Americans can’t… Cheese. Cheddar is meant to be creamy white, not bright orange!
The Wild, Wild West
Without stereotyping too much, Yanks are louder than Limeys. This is because the USA is huge, so neighbors needed to shout louder. As macho frontiersmen pushed west, they became grizzled outlaws. The Wild West featured cowboys who’d take you out just for talking to their horse. Rugged cowboys needed equally tough sheriffs and lawmen to take them down.
Fast-forward 150 years, and American police drive armored SWAT tanks, whereas British bobbies can often be found chasing criminals on bicycles like it’s the 1950s.
Swan Lake
Swans don’t just cause havoc for rural police officers in Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz; they do it in London, too! Brits pride themselves on keeping calm and carrying on, but, in reality, they panic at anything out of the ordinary. However, they also laugh at themselves for doing so.
When a swan was spotted on a London bridge, the police brought out their riot shields… to scoop the bird up. Luckily, after calling the army, the swan was detonated in a controlled explosion. Not really… no swans were harmed.
Level 5 Goose Warning
Here’s another example of London being shut down by a wild bird. London Underground staff’s signs are famous for making commuters laugh, so when a goose invaded the platform of this metro station, they created this hilarious sign.
While our American cousins would probably have turned the event into an ad hoc duck hunt, the more reserved, slightly awkward, bumbling Brits do what they do best — avoid the situation by not making eye contact with the goose and hoping the problem goes away!
The British Museum
Now, the Brits have a reputation for invading and colonizing half the world’s countries (including the USA), taxing their subjects, and pillaging all their natural resources while leaving behind a few railways. Victorian explorers grabbed anything and everything that looked remotely valuable and brought it back to the British Museum, which is mostly full of Greek and Egyptian collectibles.
These two guys are showing how the British Museum pilfers foreign countries by trying to smuggle Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa into their backpack.
Special Relationship
Ever since that whole tipping tea into Boston Harbor affair and that little spat in 1776, the British and Americans have enjoyed a good-natured tit-for-tat, love/hate back-and-forth banter-fueled conversation about history. For instance, when Americans say they won World War II, Brits will remind them that they showed up halfway through the war, three years late.
So every time a combative American mentions the British Empire looting foreign countries, Brits point out that they did precisely the same thing to Native Americans.
