Divided Languages - Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America - page 19

was not until some time later that I realised that this visceral aggression was what some
New Yorkers regard as humour. It is certainly a lot preferable to arch banter, self-conscious
joshing and Boy Scout heartiness.
Being inept at satire or irony does not of course mean lacking a sense of humour. On the
contrary, the United States is marvellously rich in comedy. It represents one of its major
contributions to world civilisation. The British are thought to be a humorous bunch, but
nothing in their media today can outshine Seinfeld , Family Guy , Curb Your Enthusiasm,
The Office or the early episodes of The Simpsons . The British, however, excel at whimsy,
which is less common in the States. Because they value eccentricity, they enjoy a vein of
humour which is quaint, fanciful and capricious. Some years ago, there flourished briefly in
Britain a Gnomes Liberation Movement, whose project was to abduct ornamental gnomes
from people's gardens and return them to their owners on the payment of a ransom of
candy. Owners who refused this blackmail would sometimes find their kidnapped gnomes
lying decapitated on their doorstops, a sinister rim of red around their severed necks.
There are other instances of such humour. The Guardian newspaper usually conceals
a spoof in its pages on April Fool's Day, which one year appeared in the “Help Wanted”
advertisements. There were job ads such as “Dynamic coordinator required for forward-
looking project delivering quality service for supervision of progressive resources redistri-
bution,” which turned out on closer inspection to mean nothing at all. It would be hard to
imagine a quality U.S. newspaper engaging in this practice. Work in the States is a serious
business.