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 by Nick Birren, nick.birren@spe.sony.com
Stop reading. I’m serious. Taking on the task of writing an article to perhaps the most prestigious and accomplished group of individuals in the television industry is not just a little bit daunting…it is down right intimidating. So please, stop reading. It won’t do you any good and I promise you can’t learn anything you probably don’t already know.
Last chance…
Alright then. If you insist on reading on I guess the least I can do for you is tell you a joke. Stop me if you’ve heard this one:
A man is walking with his newly divorced brother in a supermarket. The brother’s son is walking a few feet ahead of the shopping cart singing to himself when the brother says, “I’m not comfortable with this I should go wait in the car.” The man responds, “You’re not waiting in the car. Trust me, this is a great way to meet women.” The brother feeling more uncomfortable says, “I don’t want to meet women. I just got divorced.” to which the man responds, “And what do you think your ex-wife is out there doing right now?” Just then they pass by an incredibly attractive woman with short shorts, and long legs. She stops the brother and says with a smile, “You’re son is adorable with a cute little voice.” Confidently, the brother responds, “Why, thank you.” The woman continues no looking at the man, “You and your life-partner must be very proud.” She walks off. The two stand for a moment before the man finally responds, “Yeah…you’d better go wait in the car.”
Funny, right? Here’s one more for you since you’re flattering me by reading this far:
A manager for a small company reports back to his boss about future plans for the company’s success. The manager says, “I gave a speech this morning to my staff assuring them that there would not be cutbacks and there certainly would not be any redundancies.” The manager’s boss replies back, “Well, why on Earth would you do that?” The manager boastfully retorts, “Why? I don’t know. Maybe because of a little word I think is important called ‘morale.’” The boss jumps on the manager’s cockiness, “It’ll be worse for morale in the long run since our new plans shows there ARE redundancies and you’ve already told people that there won’t be.” The conversation goes silent and the manager takes a long pause before finally responding, “Well…Those idiots won’t remember anyways.”
I know what you’re thinking, and I’ll admit it: I didn’t write those jokes (not that talented), and I’ll tell you in just a moment who did, but first, I have a quick question to ask you: Which joke was funnier? There’s no right or wrong answer here. It’s just a question of personal taste. If you said the first joke I’m happy to credit Chuck Lorre & Lee Aronsohn from the Two and Half Men pilot. What about the second joke? Did you laugh? If you did, I’m pleased to tell you that line was taken straight from an episode of The Office.
No. Not our Office…their Office. You know….the Brits.
That line came straight from the UK, the BBC, and Ricky Gervais the king of all things funny…in the UK. But what about the U.S.? Why is it so difficult to translate the British sense of humor for American audiences? More importantly, what do you think are some of the reasons why Americans find it difficult to invest in Britain’s sense of humor?
For years people broke it down to simply say that Americans don’t get British humor because they just don’t get irony. However, with shows such as Seinfeld, Arrested Development, and The Simpsons it’s tougher to find the validity in that statement at all. David Freedman, Executive Producer on BBC’s Mr. Hell Show, believes that Americans do get irony, but that there’s a time and a place for it. He says that Americans get into trouble when they start dropping irony into everyday conversations, but in Britain you hear it all the time. As a result, it’s not that we don’t get irony, but we just think differently about how to use it.
However, whether or not we use irony in everyday life, it simply illustrates how the issue is less about the different kinds of humor and more about the comedic elements each country is better at and best known for. For instance, the British have a talent for biting sarcasm and self-deprecation. They generally are more accepting of crude and borderline offensive humor that if delivered from the American mouth might be considered racist or sexist. To them, nothing and nobody is sacred, which is why going after famous institutions and celebrated heroes they have been brought up to revere is just part of the fun. However, American shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Family Guy, and The Chappelle Show have a knack for delivering this brand of crude and anti-establishment style of humor to Americans as well.
At the same time the British are also known for their laconic cool and understated gestures (Mr.Bean), while Americans are more hands-on, louder, and direct (Fresh Prince of Bel Air). In fact, we tend to be more physical and overstated in our comedy preferring more slapstick than subtlety. However, physical comedy is not solely an American trait as the British also have a certain amount of affection for pie-in-the-face horseplay as well (Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em).
Truth be told, the American and British sense of humor is technically more similar than we might think. However, when it comes to adapting British comedy for American audiences there’s one primary and not so subtle difference that should be taken into account: culture. People of different countries and cultures inherently find different things funny. This might depend on a host of absolute and relative variables such as geographical location, maturity, level of education, and context amongst others. It affects the subject matter at the center of the joke, the rhythm of the performance, and is the one thing that cannot be changed with a quick rewrite or a new cast. In fact, it is the very reason why we continue to discuss how to adapt British comedies for American audiences.
As a result, there’s one element that consistently remains different about our two cultures when it comes to comedy: the delivery. The manner in which a joke is set-up and paid-off is a crucial difference to take into account during the adaptation process. But just because you change the delivery of a joke, doesn’t necessarily mean the joke is ruined. It just means that the joke is changed from its original intent despite its superficial similarities. Like if Pat Boone tried singing Ozzy Osborne. The melody might be recognizable, but the song ultimately has a different impact on the audience.
So how do the British take their jokes? With time. What you’ll often find is more time spent setting up the threads of the story and drawing in the audience to the characters before the pay off of any jokes. One explanation for this is what Simon Pegg, creator of the BBC show Spaced and movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz!, describes as the UK’s more cynical and guarded outlook on life. “Americans are not embarrassed by their emotions,” writes Pegg, “They clap louder, cheer harder, and empathize more unconditionally…Generally speaking…(the British) become edgy and dismissive of these brazen displays of emotion.” Maybe it’s a lack of sympathy and maybe it’s a lack of sentiment, but whatever the case Pegg believes that the British are just not as open with their emotions as their cross Atlantic counterparts.
This might also explain why Americans are more accepting of having a laugh track mixed into their comedy shows. Our willingness to express our emotions makes us want to feel part of the fun. In talking to friends that are either from or have lived in the UK the British seem to have a different perspective on the laugh track. They believe that it’s telling them when to laugh and would prefer to discover the comedy on their own. But for Americans it’s not viewed as telling the audience when to laugh; rather, it’s a device that builds the relationship between the show and the audience. In fact, back in the days of being a page at NBC one of the stories we used to tell was how the I Love Lucy show was the first to be filmed in front of the live studio audience. The reason being was that when viewers at home would watch a show a listen to the “audience” they would write into NBC asking for tickets because the sounded like they were having so much fun. Of course, little did they realize it was actually canned laughter they were listening to and not a real audience.
In terms of comedy, our openness to express our emotions also means that we don’t have any prerequisite when it comes to our comedy. We’re not looking for story threads to be woven to characters to be colored. Instead, we show up with the expectations to laugh. Once you get us to laugh investing in the characters will feel more organic.
Each year more and more writers are taking on the task of having to adapt foreign comedies for American audiences, and with the constant overlap between American and British humor it is increasingly tougher to delineate the humor between the two. Sometimes it’s as easy as using the same script, casting the show, and allowing it to grow on it’s own, but sometimes the adaptation process has to be a bit more extensive beginning with a page one rewrite. Whichever the case, what we can say is that shows in the UK and shows in U.S. are not so much separated by a different kind of humor as they are by different uses of it.
Nick Birren is a member of the JHRTS and is Executive Assistant to Tal Rabinowitz & Dina Hillier at Sony Pictures Television.
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