Sarcasm "lowest form of wit"

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on August 21st, 2007

News to us.

From the Scotsman.com comes this article on a recent poll conducted by a “drinks firm” in the U.K.

And while sarcasm may be denigrated as the lowest form of wit, a new survey claims it is also the nation’s favourite.

It suggests stand-up comics jostling for attention at the Edinburgh Fringe might be better to jettison their gags and opt for the withering diatribes of comedians such as Jack Dee.

The results found that “seven in ten people found sarcasm funny, while 63 per cent admitted cracking up at ‘silly’ jokes. Just over a third confessed to being entertained by slapstick or the stunts on shows such as TV’s You’ve Been Framed.”

And although no drinks firms here in the USA do similar surveys (if they do, they don’t make the results public), we suspect that the results would be similar.

And in this article, from Canada.com, Bruce Deachman asks:

…Is there, in fact, a distinct essence of Canadian comedy? If a Brit, an American and a Canadian comic walked into a bar, could you tell the difference?

The answer, from Mark Breslin, Howie Mandel, Colin Mochrie and Humber’s Andrew Clark is… yes… and no.

No conclusions, but a lot of philosophizing and dissection of Canada’s comic psyche, especially as it’s influenced by the presence of America. Ask a Canadian about anything– humor, food, music– eventually, the conversation comes around to the USA. This is neither a good thing or a bad thing… it’s just a thing.

Read both if you’re a comedian who is venturing/wants to venture to the U.K. or Canada.

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