Is British comedy really “the best in the world?”

I always think it's funny that Brits think Americans don't get their humor. It's the opposite for me; I find that my British husband doesn't get some American humor. Do UKers not realize how popular Monty Python was in America?? and Red Dwarf??  My hometown PBS channel had lots of British comedies on it and they were voted to be kept airing, by the local people. My mother and brother loved Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served, and all the others.   But, in regards to the main topic here, yes, I do think Brits think their comedy is the best in the world. They also think they have the best economy, etc...   And Americans probably think theirs is the best. 

@ClairetheWriter i get sick of this too. i've had people ask me, "so i heard that you have to explain british comedy to americans because they dont get it and need everything spelled out for them."...you "heard" that huh? it's not that we don't get it, at least for me. i see where the jokes are supposed to be, it's just not funny to me. i think the humour is very very light and slapstick. it's just too obvious and overt to be funny. not all shows, but a lot of them.

i think the humour is just like the people...very reserved. with americans, we let loose a bit (ok, a lot more) we're willing to be ridiculous and i don't really see that here. the jokes are almost as simple as someone slipping on a banana peel. sorry but i think lots of people here are too stiff to let loose and it doesn't take much to make them laugh.

and if their comedy is "the best" why doesn't it extend and appeal to lots of people and mainly restricted to their own people?

in the year and half i've been here, i've only met a handful of brits with a good sense of humour. it's just like the friends episode in london where chandler makes jokes in a roomful of brits and no one laughs.

well, I'm lucky, Lalala75, because my husband is quite witty, so we banter around, tease each other a lot. I do find some of the humor just silly, or you see it coming, but I still like shows like Red Dwarf.  And hey, there are American comedies on TV here, too. I'm still able to find something to watch. As for jokes, I tend to tag my own joke on to the end of theirs to make it funnier. There's always room to improvise.

And Happy Red Nose Day!   

I don't feel like anyone could definitively call any comedy the "best in the world." To me, comedy is so subjective and I think British comedy (like American comedy) is influenced by the culture. There are some things that can be funny irrespective of what culture you're raised with, and others that take that familiarity to fully enjoy. I'm American and my husband is English and we have English comedies that we both love, and some he loves that I really don't "get" as such. Same the other way around. In some of these instances though its that the comedy is making references I don't (or didn't at the time) get, or it's mocking a type of person he/other people from where he's from encounter a lot.

I've thought an american film was hilarious, only for my husband to go "it's not really funny, you'd never meet someone like that??" and I'd be shocked, because i've known plenty of people like that character.

I think comedy is just so cultural and there are reasons that it's funny to someone from that culture that others can or can't get on to. Like Bottom, my husband loves it but it's just the kind of show I find myself staring off into space and watching the clock to.

I don't feel like anyone could definitively call any comedy the "best in the world." To me, comedy is so subjective and I think British comedy (like American comedy) is influenced by the culture. There are some things that can be funny irrespective of what culture you're raised with, and others that take that familiarity to fully enjoy. I'm American and my husband is English and we have English comedies that we both love, and some he loves that I really don't "get" as such. Same the other way around. In some of these instances though its that the comedy is making references I don't (or didn't at the time) get, or it's mocking a type of person he/other people from where he's from encounter a lot.

I've thought an american film was hilarious, only for my husband to go "it's not really funny, you'd never meet someone like that??" and I'd be shocked, because i've known plenty of people like that character.

I think comedy is just so cultural and there are reasons that it's funny to someone from that culture that others can or can't get on to. Like Bottom, my husband loves it but it's just the kind of show I find myself staring off into space and watching the clock to.

Exactly. You hit the nail on the head. I'm English, my wife is American and she loves a lot of British comedy but there's some she doesn't find as funny and vice-versa.

RTC--you've totally nailed it on the head! I kinda tune out with "Bottom" too but there's so much more that I find hysterical! My husband is from a town between Bolton and Wigan and Peter Kay has my husband's family down perfect (my daughter was born in Bolton so...) and I can't help myself but laugh out loud. AB FAB and Vicar of Dibley leave me cold but it's like anything, it could be just your personal taste.
My husband mostly enjoys American humor like "King of the Hill" (I'm Texan) and many sitcoms but the true test was him watching a Mexican-American comedian. That pleased me because I felt like he understood me.