| British Comedy, known in many countries as Britcom, is a very particular type of humour that is performed in Britain and exported around
the world. British comedy is known for its consistently quirky characters, settings and
plots and has produced some of the most famous and memorable comic actors and
characters in the last fifty years.
A number of British radio comedies achieved considerable renown
in the second half of the twentieth century. One notable and influential series was The Goon Show, which was broadcast through the 1950s. Another
was Round the Horne.
Currently, most British comedy is broadcast via TV with sketch shows,
stand-up comedy, impressionists and
sitcoms being the four most popular formats.
One notable show is Monty Python's
Flying Circus, a comedy from the seventies that introduced us to such luminaries
as John Cleese, Eric Idle,
and Terry Gilliam and went on to shape the future of comedy in the
UK. Other sketch shows include French and Saunders, Little Britain and
The Fast Show.
The situation comedy (sitcom) is another genre of peculiarly British humour. Popular British sitcoms have included Only
Fools and Horses, Blackadder, The Vicar of Dibley, Fawlty Towers, and Dad's Army.
Listed below are just a few of the thousands of British comedies. For a more complete list please see the external links at
the bottom of this page.
List of some British comedy programmes
External links
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