Americans rated most hilarious in global poll

[KSG_Standard]

Americans rated most hilarious in global poll

(Reuters Life!) - The Germans have been voted the world's "least funny nationality" in a global poll, which names Americans the funniest overall and the Spanish the most amusing Europeans, ahead of the Italians and French.

The social network and dating website Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name both the "funniest," or best at making people laugh," and "the least funny" nationality.

Americans took the funniest prize, followed by the Spanish in second and Italians in third.

The voting for "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of American novelist Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter."

The Germans won comfortably, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

Yet, the British -- whose "The Office" and Monty Python shows have become pillars of English-language humor -- learn from the Badoo poll that they are not as funny as they think. They placed just seventh out of 15 -- behind the Brazilians, French and Mexicans.

But they ranked higher when Badoo asked the opposite question: Which nationality do you find the least funny? Here, the British ranked fourth, just after the Turks.

"I'm afraid that we don't find some of the results very funny," said Badoo's Director of Marketing Lloyd Price, who is British.

The Americans topped the poll, as the folks who brought us TV sitcoms like Friends, The Simpsons, Frasier, Seinfeld and any number of comic greats from the Marx Brothers to Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Larry David, Ben Stiller or now Tina Fey.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato, editing by Patricia Reaney)

Americans rated most hilarious in global poll | Reuters

We may be bankrupt, overbearing and obese...but we're funny...so at least we have that going for us.

 

[sonar1]

...so at least we have that going for us.

...which is nice...




Sorta like receiving total consciousness on our deathbed...

 

[Roberteaux]

Well... being funny at least got Roger Rabbit next to Jessica. He made her laugh!

Beats the hell out of being a stick in the mud, even if you're not a cartoon rabbit.

--R

 

[JMV]

 

[Phil47uk]

Two totally different types of humour.
Brit humour is based on irony and studied insult, whereas American humour is more slapstick, happy endings type stuff..That is evident by how popular Benny Hill and Mr Bean were in the States, whereas they died out decades ago over here.
In fact not many people do understand British humour. ( Evident in here for a start ) so I suppose you can't really blame them.
The nearest to British humour is Jewish American Borscht belt humour ie: Jakie Mason and ironically also Polish humour so I've read somewhere.

Here's a typical exchange I had with some Americans the other day on X box live. ( Not the brightest Yanks I've met by a long chalk I must admit ).
I could hear over the earphones..'Yeah buddy let's go kick arse.. America yeah'.
So I started whistling the British grenadiers in the background .
Sure enough one took the bait.. " Who's that" one asked.. I replied in a very clipped Brtish accent.. " Private shitshot at your service Sir ".
A stunned silence ensued, then came back the reply.. " You sound stupid man".
I replied " Of course I sound stupid, and seeing as you are stupid I assume I'm in the rght place".
Strike one..His buddies all started laughing..
He then responds with " Oh yeah dude I'm gonna kick your arse when the game starts".
" I wouldn't be too sure of that old chap" I told him casually , " " You are the one who is going to get his arse kicked and loose big time".
" Oh yeah he barks back, what makes you so sure of that buddy?"
"Oh simple" I said " " Simply because I'm on your team and they don't call me shitshot for nothing".
Strike two.. His mates really fall about laughing.. Game set and match..

The Brit way of dealing with these types is not to loose your rag, but take the piss out of yourself, which lowers their guard whilst you subtlety deliver the coupe de grace.

This is typical stuff.. I love this excerpt from the film.

If you don't understand these vids then you'll never get Brit humour.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEacXeAbHpQ]YouTube - ‪Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) - "Nose Speech" & "Fencing Ballade"‬‏[/ame]

The Brits love to make a song and dance about it.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNRbmwi9Go[/ame]

 

[mudfinger]

Eh, we've known each other long enough by now, Phil, I'll let you in on a little secret.

Most Americans totally understand British humor. We just don't think it's all that funny. At least, not as funny as Brazilian, French, and Mexican humor.

And, since we're, ya know, ah...#1 and all that...you should probably take that under advisement, eh?

 

[nbeersiii]

I think the Brits are funny as hell. They seem to have a nack for quick witty comments. Thats why I hate to see all the old bits gone from here. They always said funny stuff.

 

[mudfinger]

I think the Brits are funny as hell. They seem to have a nack for quick witty comments. Thats why I hate to see all the old bits gone from here. They always said funny stuff.

I'm pretty sure most of the funny stuff was actually posted by Brazilians posing as Brits; those crazy Braz guys do that all the time for a laugh. Prolly why they're up higher on the list.

 

[Rich]

...which is nice...




Sorta like receiving total consciousness on our deathbed...

lmao! Very good job of slipping in a Carl quote!

 

[Dan]

Phil, I understand and quite enjoy British humor, yet I don't much appreciate the insinuation and generalization about Americans and our sense of humor, or lack there of for British humor. While your experience might lead you to make generalizations about ALL of us, those of us who do not fall into that paradigm might be a wee bit offended by it. After all, generalizations hurt my poor little feelings

EDIT: And for the record, that's my favorite version of "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, and Ian McKellen. What could be better? And quite a playful production. Not all of us Yanks are complete sods, by British standards, of course.

 

[teame1]

Americans are just plain funny
Brits are blessed with a sense of humour.
Big difference.

 

[Phil47uk]

Eh, we've known each other long enough by now, Phil, I'll let you in on a little secret.

Most Americans totally understand British humor. We just don't think it's all that funny. At least, not as funny as Brazilian, French, and Mexican humor.

And, since we're, ya know, ah...#1 and all that...you should probably take that under advisement, eh?

Thats simply because Those other cultures humour are more based on your own. Why do think the Brits and French have never got on for centuries?
There is no right or wrong..No best..Merely different.
Did you know that they have to make lots of changes to British sitcoms when they are screened in America.
Take 'Porridge' for example, an old comedy show based in a jail.
In the British series all the guys saw out of the windows were grey dismal red brick walls.
This was considered far too depressing for American TV audiences who like happy ending to their comedy shows, so they had to change the outside view to a beach and palm trees. The whole package has to be happy for the Yanks, but our humour has two edges. Yes it's very funny, but at the same time it's very dark and bleak.
No I don't think many Americans other than some who frequent these forums and the well travelled do understand Brit humour.. Hell, I have been to the States enough times to realize that.
But then the same can be said in reverse. Some myopic Brit thinks all Americans are loud, brash, childish and dangerously gun crazy.

I myself have had to inform these types in the past ( They are everywhere ) that some of the nicest and most intelligent people I have met were in the States.
I think we'll just say we are different in some respects.

Whoaa! I love America.. Crap chocolate, beer and bread though. Nice guitars..

 

[sonar1]

"...Gol-LEE Mr Lamarrr. You use yer tongue prettier than a ten dollar whore..."

 

[Alligatorbling]

we laugh at some effed up sxhit lol

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp82m43sWmE]YouTube - ‪Hyundai vs Toyota REAL FUNNY (Banned Commercial)‬‏[/ame]

 

[bscenefilms]

The American version:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWNLhptltBg]YouTube - ‪Roxanne - 20 Somthing Betters‬‏[/ame]

 

[KSG_Standard]

I think the Brits would have rated higher in the poll...except that nobody can understand what they're saying.

 

[EnjoGuitar]

On my father's side, we have a good amount of English history. Though my grandfather wasn't raised in England, he has a wicked sense of humor, and is excellent with his wit and jokes. In every joke he tells, there's a strong sense of brit humor in it. That's why I like English humor so much. As far as the US' humor goes, some of our comedians are fantastic, and some of our more humorously-themed things seem to work well.

 

[Leendrix]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M]YouTube - ‪America fuck yeah-team america‬‏[/ame]

 

[mudfinger]

Thats simply because Those other cultures humour are more based on your own. Why do think the Brits and French have never got on for centuries?
There is no right or wrong..No best..Merely different.
Did you know that they have to make lots of changes to British sitcoms when they are screened in America.
Take 'Porridge' for example, an old comedy show based in a jail.
In the British series all the guys saw out of the windows were grey dismal red brick walls.
This was considered far too depressing for American TV audiences who like happy ending to their comedy shows, so they had to change the outside view to a beach and palm trees. The whole package has to be happy for the Yanks, but our humour has two edges. Yes it's very funny, but at the same time it's very dark and bleak.
No I don't think many Americans other than some who frequent these forums and the well travelled do understand Brit humour.. Hell, I have been to the States enough times to realize that.
But then the same can be said in reverse. Some myopic Brit thinks all Americans are loud, brash, childish and dangerously gun crazy.

I myself have had to inform these types in the past ( They are everywhere ) that some of the nicest and most intelligent people I have met were in the States.
I think we'll just say we are different in some respects.

Whoaa! I love America.. Crap chocolate, beer and bread though. Nice guitars..

Well, of course their humor is based on ours, because ours is the funniest. You guys can't even keep up with the French and Mexicans. For shame!

And, what the hell would you know about the quality of bread, you're English!

 

[Phil47uk]

Phil, I understand and quite enjoy British humor, yet I don't much appreciate the insinuation and generalization about Americans and our sense of humor, or lack there of for British humor. While your experience might lead you to make generalizations about ALL of us, those of us who do not fall into that paradigm might be a wee bit offended by it. After all, generalizations hurt my poor little feelings

EDIT: And for the record, that's my favorite version of "The Scarlet Pimpernel." Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, and Ian McKellen. What could be better? And quite a playful production. Not all of us Yanks are complete sods, by British standards, of course.

On the contrary, read my post above.
I have had many good times in the States and have met lots of wonderful people..
How many who say they understand British humour though have spent any time over here?
I'll stick to my statement that I do think there are some big cultural differences on the whole, even if we do speak the same language.
Of course one can't make sweeping statements, but try something like this out.
The Yanks are far more into the flag waving patriotic thing than we are for instance. Nothing wrong with that at all, but if you said anything about the American flag and gun toting patriots, all hell would probably break loose and people would get angry.

Many Brits on the other hand would respond by subtely taking the piss in return whist at the same time agreeing that we have a shit National anthem, a shit Royal family and a shit just about everything else.
The Brits are one of the very few cultures who have the abilty to laugh at themselves.