Everyone Laughs at the British

When Francois Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl launched a trans-Rhine television channel, Arte, in 1986, I wondered, ‘But will the French and German viewers really get it?’ Now it transpires that when it comes to humour, the answer is, bluntly, ‘No!’ Gallic and German humour is mutually incomprehensible. So the British have come to the rescue. Apparently both French and German audiences roll about with Fawlty Towers and French & Saunders, so Arte will be screening Anglo-Saxon comedy shows from now on. Andreas Schreitmuller, Head of Drama at Arte comments, ‘English humour is a kind of universal humour.’

Well, up to a point. Many Americans just don’t get the British sense of irony, for example. Be ironical with an immigration official as you enter the US, and you’re likely to be put on the next plane back home.