Why don't Americans get the British sense of humour?

[JemmaJ]

I'm always hearing that they don't understand our humour. Can I have examples of how or why they would misinterpret it?

When I talk to Americans online they seem to laugh at the same things as me. Some laughed at my youtube videos on facebook so I'm not sure what's different.
I like our (British) humour, but I'm not keen on some USA shows such as Friends where it seems to be bland and corny one liners. However there are some USA shows I find funny such as Curb Your Enthusiasm.

 

[SkewBrain1]

"oh dear I put lemon in my tea" hahahahahaha

 

[DreMcNinja]

Aside from cultural differences and unfamiliar phrasing/wording, I don't think there is that huge of a divide in that area.

 

[Stefanolsuspendedl]

I don't know if the TV show "The Inbetweeners" represents British humor, but I ******* love that show.

 

[OwlBear]

I've never heard that. I know lots of Americans who enjoy British humor such as Monty Python, Benny Hill, Fawlty Towers, Eddie Izzard, etc.

 

[Fred]

Some of it is shared but americans dont understand the sarcasm inherent in some british humour and some comedians like Spike Milligan and the Goon show went down like a lead balloon in the US. To their credit american scripted humour is slick and original.Take 'Cheers' for instance. By contrast our scripted humour with very few exceptions tends to rely on 'in' jokes and low sarcasm. Take 'Birds of a Feather' for example. Yuk!

 

[KateyKings]

Americans and English usually understand eachother but we sometimes use different words. For example Americans would say making out were as the English would say snogging.

 

[¸e•tmtitmmBtetmmY¸e•t]

They aren't as witty and cleaver as us so it takes them a bit longer for the water to sink into the soil to the roots.