On Friday night I watched the premiere episode of Da Ali G Show and I thought it was one of the funniest shows I've ever seen. It is smart, silly and pokes fun at journalism. The interesting tidbit is that many critics disagreed with me.
This would be shocking if my favorite shows were Cops and Battlebots, but I tend to think along the same lines as most critics. So what's the rub here? The author says that the reason us Americans don't like Ali G is for fundamental reasons—we have different tastses.
This laughter gulf between two otherwise co-dependent cultures should not be thought surprising. The two most fundamental aspects of comedy are observation and speech rhythms and these are necessarily subject to local variation. The point has often been made that British jokes derive most often from class and puns, while US humour is rooted in gags.
There's clearly something in this distinction. Dad's Army, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools And Horses and The Office are four of the best British sitcoms but all draw on scenarios which are historically or culturally non-existent in America. There never was a Home Guard; no boss as insensitive and incompetent as David Brent could thrive in a New York corporation. Conversely, many key American shows - including Seinfeld and Friends - are sitcoms in which there is virtually no situation (just folks who knew each other) and all the comedy derives from character.
That seems to make sense, but I think it also points to the stupidity of American audiences. Yes, poop jokes can be funny, but is that how we define humor? It seems so and that is disappointing. It would be interesting to read about the root of humor in different cultures. Why do we respond poorly to puns but love guys falling down the stairs? I'm not sure, but if you have any thoughts or reading recommendations then please send them my way.
02/25/03 10:46 AM
I first saw Ali G while watching British television and bought several of the videos. Then of course, Madonna put him in one of her videos. When I heard HBO was going to air his show, I was ecstatic, but I didn’t think we Americans would "get" his type of humor. I'll wait for the American episodes on video since I don't get HBO :(
02/25/03 10:50 AM
I forgot the recent study done on humor - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2001/glasgow_2001/1527602.stm