Greatly to his Credit

(me, laughing]

Note: that while I frequently specify where links appear in the text, each link is also designated by its color: purple--various shades. Pink is the color of section separations)

"For he himself has said it

And it's greatly to his credit

That he is an Englishman

For inspite of all temptations

To belong to other nations

He remains an Englishman"

--Gilbert & Sullivan

Thus begins my promised tour of & ruminations on the weird & wonderful topic of English humor; it's a huge topic & my musings are limited. Still, I hope you'll enjoy them & perhaps be inspired to check out some of my recommendations & follow the included links for your further edification & hours of hilarity.

English Humor: part I

It is said that English humour can seem puzzling to the non-English and that may be an understatement. British humor, whether high class or low, depends on verbal wit, wit that is based on peculiarly the English experience that often seems almost impossible to translate either literally or culturally. However, my optimism is boundless. Thus, I shall list examples of English humor by medium & provide brief comments on each.

Print

Comic Strips:

Lets begin with one example that is familiar to any regular reader [of which I am one] of American comic [formerly called funny] pages in their local newspapers: Andy Capp.

Andy Capp [Handycap or Handicap] is a working class bloke, married to the long-suffering Flo [& he has long suffered his mother-in-law], whose profession is drunk with occasional forays into football [soccer] & betting on the horses. He & Flo regularly attend marriage guidance [for an example, see comic of date 10-5-07 at the link above]. Until I researched this comic, I didn't realize that it was created by Reginald Smythe, seen in the The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror newspapers since 1957. Perhaps its ongoing popularity alone provides enough of an inducement for you to click on the links provided here.

Magazines:

You can do no better than to introduce yourself to Punch magazine & no better way than to visit its web site. [click the link]

There you will learn, among other things, that: "Punch, the magazine of humour and satire, ran from 1841 until its closure in 2002. A very British institution with an international reputation for its witty and irreverent take on the world, it published the work of some of the greatest comic writers (Thackeray, P G Wodehouse and P J O’Rourke among others) and gave us the cartoon as we know it today." The web site is quite simply one of the best I've ever seen & if you click on the link above you'll do the next best thing to reading this deservedly long-lived journal.

Books:

Punch contributors have written books that lately I've had the good fortune to stumble upon.

The British Character by Pont of Punch.

Sadly he died when he was only 32. However, he left a large body of work, some of which can be discovered & revelled in in this book; should you wish to enjoy it for yourself, an Amazon search reveals several used copies.

Also noteworthy! as in the dog world, breeding is of importance in the world of English humor as Pont makes clear in this illustration.

Diary of a Nobody & Diary of Mrs. Pooter : Diary of a Nobody [1892, available from Amazon.com] was written by brothers George [who formed a special relationship with Gilbsert and Sullivan, see verse at beginning of entry] & Weedon Grossmith & first published in Punch [see above]. The "author" is one Charles Pooter of The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway and I include his justification for the diary herewith:

"Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen eminiscences of peopls I have never heard of and I fail to see--because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody'--why my diary should not be interesting."

Disaster upon disaster follow, the son, William who prefers to use his middle name, Lupin, disturbs whatever domestic bliss exists, and many assorted domestic depredations occur. Yet throughout, C. Pooter's motto, "home sweet home," prevails and Mr. Pooter is nothing more, nor less, than a good man, not hero, nor fool, but decent & honorable.

Mrs. Pooter [Mrs. Pooter's Diary by Punch contributor Keith Waterhouse, 1983 & dedicated to the authors of Diary of a Nobody] early acknowledges that she secretly reads her husband's diary. Mrs. Pooter's Diary, is an homage to C. Pooter's and recognized as "one of the great classics of English humor... a wonderful comic creation in its own right.

Many other novels more popularly recogznised by an American audience include P. G. Wodehouse's [click link for superb website] characters Bertie Wooster & Jeeves who cavort through a number of novels, J. R. Ackerly, whose few contributions to literature have been described as "a cross between Dickens' David Copperfield, Rousseau's Confessions.... his truth is stranger--and funnier--than fiction...." [read the novel--and see the film [link] staring Gary Oldman-- We Think the World of You as a starter], and of course the immortal Charles Dickens [link]. As to the last suffice to say I read The Pickwick Papers [read it online by clicking this link] for the first time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia & as of this moment, I'm re-reading it again with the greatest pleasure.

Well!

You've been provided with a full plate of pleasure. Suffice for the day.

Part II [to come shortly] explores English television, film and [best of all?] Cockney Rhyming Language.
'Til next time, Cheers, M²