It's difficult to pigeonhole American humor into one category though, whereas Brit humor is basically...well...Brit humor . Popping in my copy of the Naked Gun or Airplane! will make me laugh till' my sides hurt. TV shows like Arrested Development and MST3K make me belly laugh till' I can't breathe. A show like Friends will make me chuckle. Something like Saturday Night Live will only elicit the occasional "ha" out of me. Monty Python the the Holy Grail, likewise, makes me laugh pretty hard, and so does your average Hugh Grant flick (he's very funny). Absolutely Fabulous and Keeping Up Appearances are really funny. I used to watch the original Whose Line Is It Anyway? and thought that was a riot.

American humor relies, as BellaNotFromTwilight says, more on slapstick and sometimes sight gags, snarkyness, and sometimes just outrageous situations. Brit humor seems to be a tad bit more dry with lots of emphasis on wordplay. I love both dearly but at the end of the day I'd probably have to go with American since I find it just a hair more to my taste. Plus Airplane! is reallllly funny.

Keeping up Appearances is great. Poor richard having to be married to such a women. I would be driven mad like that man who hides from her next door.

I like eccentric comedy and comedians a lot. If I show most people something by noel fielding, Paul foot or sam simmons they think I am a nut case thinking such things are funny. Me and my sister share the same sense of humour and are always caught laughing at strange or inappropriate things or things other people just do not notice(usually involving the way people are walking or dancing in a serious show).

On another topic:

My mother directed me to this article:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/09/australia .

I disagree with his description of smithton( I lived there for the first 7 years of my life and we couldn't go down the street without getting stopped by someone). Smithton is however a rather unremarkable place but at least now I can say it has the cleanest air.

I love both dearly but at the end of the day I'd probably have to go with American since I find it just a hair more to my taste. Plus Airplane! is reallllly funny.

The humor in Airplane! actually reminds me a lot of British humor, which is why it's one of the few American comedies I like. Usually when an American comedy makes me laugh, it's because its style is somehow reminiscent of Brit humor.

It isn't often a movie or show with actual American humor appeals to my taste. The only example I can think of now is Community. Especially the first season. Now that is American humor done right.

It's difficult to pigeonhole American humor into one category though, whereas Brit humor is basically...well...Brit humor

Actually, there is quite a variety of style within Brit humor too. For example, if you compare Jimmy Carr, Dylan Moran, and (especially) Noel Fielding with each other, you're going to see quite a lot of differences. There are some times when the only thing they have in common is their accents.

~Riella

Community and Parks & Recreation, Arrested Development - these are about the only American comedies I find funny. On the other hand, I could name many hilarious British comedies.

My favourite stand-up comedians are mainly British. Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard, Ross Noble, Craig Ferguson and Brian McIntyre - just to name a few.

Oh yes I forgot about community. I was addicted to that show earlier in the year.

@Ithi With the mention of Jimmy carr, isn't his laugh fantastic?. I like how you mention those 3 because I find them equally good for different reasons. Dylan Moran is the grumpy character who just loves to moan and complain. Noel fielding is happy and eccentric and I am finding it hard to describe Jimmy carr so I will not.

@W4J I saw Ross Noble earlier this year and he was great. People say you can go to his show two nights in a row and get two different shows and I would believe them.

ps: This is a great conversation. I am actually in my element.

Yes, that's because Ross Noble is almost completely improvisational in his approach to stand-up comedy. He has a few prepared jokes just in-case but it seems he finds most of his material by stirring up the crowds (but not in a mean-spirited way). I imagine some of his shows are better than others for that reason. Still, he's very clever.

@Ithi With the mention of Jimmy carr, isn't his laugh fantastic?.

YES. It's so unusual. I love the part in that one episode of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, when they all start making fun of his laugh, and he starts making fun of theirs. So suddenly they're all quiet, and someone (I think it was David Mitchell?) was like, "Great, now look at us. A group of comedians all sitting together, afraid to laugh. "

~Riella

"Great, now look at us. A group of comedians all sitting together, afraid to laugh. "

I'm afraid that my favourite humour is often in cartoon form, rather than TV. I used to like Eric Jolliffe's cartoons when he was alive, and others just hit the spot. A group of comedians ..afraid to laugh, looks like the four driving school cars pulled up at each road leading into a crossroads with a roundabout, each trying to decide which one gives way first.

@Ithi With the mention of Jimmy carr, isn't his laugh fantastic?.

YES. It's so unusual. I love the part in that one episode of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, when they all start making fun of his laugh, and he starts making fun of theirs. So suddenly they're all quiet, and someone (I think it was David Mitchell?) was like, "Great, now look at us. A group of comedians all sitting together, afraid to laugh. "

~Riella

Oh yes I have seen that.Here is a reference for those who don't know what we are talking about:( I am only putting the link due to it containing some language at the begining)

I want to see the goth detectives for this years quiz again. How long has it been?

@wagga I had a similar experience to the one you discribed at the roundabout. I was there as a learner driver and another to my left and he was meant to give way to me but it happened the other way round.

This leads me onto complaining about the incredibly long process of getting your license in Western Australia. First you have to get your L's drive around on those learning(yes reasonable) than you take your driving test and that only allows you to have your log books which you have to stay on for 6 months and gather 50 hours of driving. Than you have to take another test to finally get your ps which has 2 colours. One of which you have to stay on for 6 months and the other a year. When mum got her license she practiced for a month, did the test and stayed on p's for a year( the only had one type back than).

@IlF: Do you only have to stay on red "P's" for 6 months in W.A.? Check out the NSW procedures for getting your license. They are even worse, and I've a feeling you get off lightly. Once upon a time, back in the 1960's, I got my "L's" as soon as I finished the Leaving Certificate exams in Dec 1964 and six months later, I was able to get a full license. There were no green "P's", red "P's" or any other colour "P's", but I got into a lot of minor accidents while I learned to deal with aggressive drivers in Sydney's traffic.

Nowadays, you have to be on "L's" for at least a year, red "P's" for at least 18 months and green "P's" for another 30 months. I've met people who couldn't be bothered getting their full license, because it has become too much trouble. Even if you get your learner's permit at 16, it would be very unlikely that you would have a full license before you reach your 21st birthday.

What are the conditions for getting a license in UK, Canada or USA?

It is red for 6 and than green for a year. Here l's is for at least a year overall(including log books) that is if you do the test right on the 6 month day( which is near impossible since there is like a 2 month waiting list) and 2 months before your text who knows if you are going to be ready?

@W4J I remember him spending a lot of time referring to a guy named Cameron who said something about a cow( I don't remember). He is the best improviser I have ever seen. Most comedians improvise a little but not for the whole show.

I was one of those people who was picked on once. It was by Judith Lucy. Me and my friend( we were 17 and 18(it was early this year)) where the youngest people that she could actually see. She kept asking us questions about swedes and turnips and all sorts. Luckily I knew the difference between the two and knew what storm boy was. I might of ruined some of her jokes for the show.

In the Ohio, you start by getting a learner's permit at age 15&1/2. To get the permit, you have to pass a basic, common sense exam about road signs, vehicles, etc.... You must have the permit for at least 6 months before you get your license.

To get the license you have to pass a practical driving test with a certified instructor, and you also must pass what's called "Maneuverability" which involves both driving through, and reversing through a series of cones without hitting any.

After you pass both of those, you get your license.

That seems much much simpler than our system. You have to be at least 16 In western Australia(just to add). No wonder the amount of teens getting there license in Australia has decreased in the last decade.

In Britain, first you have to apply for a provisional licence, which entitles you to go on the road as a learner. (You may, for example, have a full licence for cars and a provisional licence for motorbikes, as you have to take separate tests for different kinds of vehicles.) The youngest age you can apply for a provisional licence for cars is 17. When I took my driving test in 1982, the test was just a single test: a practical session of between half an hour and an hour with an examiner in the passenger seat, and you had to demonstrate competence in all sorts of manoeuvres, as well as general driving in traffic. These days, learners have to do a "theory test" before the practical test: a multiple-choice quiz on a computer at the test centre, as well as a hazard perception test, which is a bit like a "car simulator".

On the subject of comedians, I find a lot of present-day British comedians to be too harsh - I prefer the gentler humour of comedy-dramas such as Monarch Of The Glen or (more recently) Doc Martin. One thing that puts me off Jimmy Carr is that he's so anti-Christian - even more than Stephen Fry. I used to enjoy "QI" but I've given up on it because of the regular Christian-bashing.

Yes qi is rather anti-religious( Though I don't notice it as much as a christian would) considering Alan Davies(I loosely quote)" someone who dabbles in atheism" or an agnostic in simpler terms I guess and stephen fry is atheist as we all know and many of the regular guests( Jimmy carr, Bill Bailey and ross noble) are all atheists. Jimmy carr use to be very catholic until he was around 24/25 but than became atheist.

As for tests we have to do. We also have to do the multi-choice before getting our learners permit. Than take the practical to get our logs than take some other test to get your p's. Many people say they should switch the practical and the last test you have to do around.