British humour

British humour is shaped by the relative stability of British society and carries a strong element of satire aimed at "the absurdity of everyday life". Themes include the class system and sexual taboos; common techniques include puns, innuendo and intellectual jokes.

A strong theme of sarcasm and self-deprecation, often with deadpan delivery, runs throughout British humour. Humour may be used to bury emotions in a way that seems insensitive to other cultures. Jokes are told about everything and almost no subject is taboo, though often a lack of subtlety when discussing controversial issues is considered crass. Many UK comedy TV shows typical of British humour have been internationally popular, and have been an important channel for the export and representation of British culture to the international audience.

Some themes (with examples) that underpinned late 20th century British humour were:

Innuendo in British humour is evident in the literature as far back as Beowulf and Chaucer, and it is a prevalent theme in many British folk songs. Shakespeare often used innuendo in his comedies, but it is also often found in his other plays, as in Hamlet act 4 scene v:

Young men will do't if they come to't / By Cock, they are to blame.

Restoration comedy is notorious both for its innuendo and for its sexual explicitness, a quality encouraged by Charles II (1660–1685) personally and by the rakish ethos of his court.

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