Ayoade's comedy is not always my cup of (British) tea, even though I love British comedy far more than American in general. His jokes are often very incisive, which I love, but it's the deadpan delivery that is a little dry for me.

*latenight *british *comedy

I think improv and sketch comedy groups are all springboards from stage to radio, radio to stage, stage yo television, radio to television, television to radio, to other television and ultimately the big screen. Any good YouTube sketch comedy? I've yet to really explore that, I guess Vine is funny sketch comedy. A bit too fast, over and done for me though. Cyanide and Happiness count? Web comics? Cracked? Anyway, on to television, which remains the fascination:

The first years of SNL are phenomenal with Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner. And before that a lot of those guys were together on the National Lampoon Radio. (Speaking of radio, Dr. Demento?)

And there's also SCTV, jesus -- John Candy, Martin Short, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Joe Flaherty. Flaherty's vampire killed me as a kid. So funny, but really I haven't watched it since I was a youngster.

When I was growing up PBS played a lot of BBC television. Benny Hill amongst them, such a naughty show. I think I was barely allowed watch. But I enjoy the show as much as its mostly about old horny men and women with big tits.

What do I think about Upright Citizen Brigade? I would choose to be an Agent of U.C.B. before S.H.I.E.L.D. Great as both an improv group and sketch comedy for television. Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz are awesome, and I love them on SNL as well. Assssscat

Cast transfers, right? Sketch comedy groups are like sports teams. Mark McKinney on SNL, etc. Daily Show anchors from Upright Citizens Brigade. SCTV to SNL, etc. Every sketch comedy floods into SNL. Did you watch Nickelodeon's All That? Kenan and Kell.

Mr Show is on my to watch list. I love David Cross in his stand up, as Tobias Funke on Arrested Dev, and as Todd Margaret, which is fucking RIDICULOUS if you haven't seen it. It's not sketch comedy but it might as well be. It's like a British comedy with brash Americans thrown into the mix. Chaos ensues and many, many, many laws are broken, including the usage of weapons of mass destruction and murder. Dark comedy.

Oh, I know a good dark sort of sketch comedy: The League of Gentlemen? It's sort of like if Simon Pegg produced Monty Python. They say things like "Rape our dead mouths". Psychopaths, murderers and crossdressers.

Now that we've ventured off the beaten path, what are your thoughts about the short run comedy central show Stella? Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain. All three from a funny sketch comedy series called the State. I think I've sifted or promoted some sketches from that series.

And I can't not mention MadTV, you know what? Uh uh, a list about sketch comed without MadTV, ridiculous. I'm running out of steam though, because I'm typing too much, but MO Collins, Orlando Jones, Bobby Lee, Phil LaMar (who does DC comics cartoon voice over work), Aries Spears, and Will Sasso. Damn.

And lest we forget (Thanks, Rudyard), Little Britain -- Britain, Britain, Britain, if it weren't for Little Britain I would scarcely know of the country.

I'm sure I've left off some other great sketch (In Living Color!!), but these came to mind and as I started to think of my favorite cast members and comedians, I began to realize how they all fit in the grand scheme of things. I'm going to watch some Fire Marshall Bill clips now.

I struggled with The Office, mainly because I've worked for people very much like David Brent and couldn't see the funny side. But I've just started watching his latest series Derek and it's completely changed my view of him. It's amazingly well written. He manages to get The most immature dick jokes in there, racist or obscene jokes, physical comedy, clowning, subtle puns and wordplay but all in a plot that is one of the most touching and heartfelt I've seen for a long time, comedy or not.

Great british comedy, like Only Fools and Horses, or Open All Hours, are all about compassion and love. They're funny, but the characters are so well written you really care for them. The writers of Only Fools and Horses managed to write an episode about one of the main characters having a miscarriage. There were jokes throughout the hospital scenes but somehow they didn't stop it being truly tragic, they didn't trivialise it. It was devastating, but funny at the same time.

I'm not sure Derek is quite that level, but it's getting there. It's made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. He's undoubtedly a very clever man and going up in my estimations all the time

*british *comedy *latenight

*hiphop *british *comedy

*nochannel *british *comedy *1sttube

This film has almost everyone in British comedy.

Can't wait.

Thanks. *british *comedy *music *pets *nature

*british *comedy

Interaction with the audience is a big part of Carr's stand-up, and the basis of the interaction is that Carr is quicker and wittier than the audience members. People who go to his show deliberately heckle him just to see him tear them to shreds. That part of Carr's on-stage persona is very much the sort of wise-cracking "my-knob-is-bigger-than-yours" thing that Fry attributes to American comedy.

I also don't think the self-deprecating "hapless loser" style of comedy is a new thing in America. Self-deprecation has always been a big part of Jewish comedy (Woody Allen is a good example), which has been central to the American comic tradition. Besides that, I already mentioned Lucille Ball, who certainly isn't a recent phenomenon. You can add the Three Stooges to that list. Also Phyllis Diller and (more recently) Chris Farley.

It might be true that self-deprecating humor is more common in British comedy, but it has been a big enough part of American comedy that I find it a little misleading to characterize it as a specifically British trait.

You don't have to be italian to make pasta, but its still italian food. Self-deprecation is undoubtably a very British trait. I'm not saying we have a monopoly on it, but we do it far more than anybody else and its fairly apparent in our comedy. The fact somebody like CK exists is just proof that the world is a lot smaller than it used to be. British comedy has been exported to the states, our cultures are mixing. Hell, I say trash instead of rubbish half the time so it doesn't surprise me that there are American comics with elements of "British" humour in their standup.

Maybe the analysis isn't spot on, but I think its a pretty good attempt.

@lucky760 this got bumped from the featured (promoted) videos and i cant see it on newestor upcoming video list. http://videosift.com/video/Stephen-Fry-on-American-vs-British-Comedy

just kinda disappeared.

He might well be gay, but it really doesn't have anything to do with the video if he is.

*nochannel *british *comedy *fail *eia

Hah, you beat me by a minute! *nochannel british *comedy *fail *gay *promote