Thursday, April 16, 2009

The problem with British humor, and why British comedy is always a bit dry

Don't get me wrong, I do love the accent. The accent may just be an evolved form of the English Language. The accents give you character. And it says a lot about you. Especially where you've come from, where you've been. That's huge when it comes to communicating with people. Hey, you got that same accent as me? You must be from xxxx. Instant rapport. Bloody brilliant as they would say. And another great thing about British/English accents is that it makes you sound proper.

The rudest people on television, the ones that can get away with it anyway, all have British accents. Why? They can dish it out, and not sound like like a raving lunatic who has lost their patience, but more importantly, their mind. They can say the most terrible things, and they won't get stabbed in the neck by someone on the receiving end. Its not like they can turn tirades into sunshine and butterflies. What I mean is when they say terrible things about you, the accent takes the edge off. Because it sounds sincere, proper, and educated. Take for example Simon Cowell, Gordon Ramsey, Piers Morgan. Can you imagine if these guys did their jobs without the accent? It would be a disaster. But with an accent, they are able to do something someone without an accent will never be able to get away with.

But there is a downside to these accents. And its the comedy. Can you imagine if Chris Rock, Dave Chapelle , or Joe Rogan had a British accent? They'd be terrible. Take for example Ricky Gervais, a popular British comedian. Is this guy supposed to be funny? Well, he's ok. But he'd be way funnier without the accent because his vulgarity wouldn't be toned down with his proper English. I'm sure there are funnier British comics out there, and everything I said here is not as cut and dry. But I'm sure is some truth in a lot of things I mentioned.

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