North/South divide

[Lesisblue]

Don't know if I am posting this in the right place, but am interested to know if such a thing as a North/South divide exists regarding comedy. I am sure it does.

I am from London, and prefer to watch Only Fools and Horses to (say) Last Of The Summer Wine. I prefer the comedy of Jim Davidson or Mike Reid to Ken Dodd or Roy Chubby Brown.

Also (ducks) I find Peter Kay totally unfunny, and prefer The Office and Extras to Phoenix Nights or The Royle Family.

I know it's all about opinions, but I was just wondering.

[dot.hawkes]

but les, the Office and Extras isn't funny and so you are two down already.

[larkin]

Peter Kaye hilarious.
Mike Reid and Jim Davidson - are they comedians ?
Job description , please !
I'm from north but have lived mid/southernish engand for 32 years - and I am only 40+.
Where do I stand on answering this ?
Northern humour any day !

[Cetti]

Who are you calling ducks...... ;-)

[littleoldme]

I'm a proud Southerner, but would never put the words "comedy" and "Jim Davidson" in the same sentence. Erm, except just then, obviously.

I can't say as I really care where comedy comes from as long as it makes me laugh. For example, I laugh at both Bill Bailey (Southern) and Ross Noble (Northern) because of their material, not because of their accents - and I certainly don't suffer from the seemingly common belief that having a Scouse accent automatically makes you God's gift to comedy.

[larkin]

Yep, suppose that's right.I retract my 'northern' statement cos I like Bill Bailey - he is so,so talented .

[raysparx1]

I am a Londoner, Love Fool & Horses, But also Love Billy Connoly, (Scot) Ken Dodd (liverpool) great live, Chubby Brown, North, Tommy Cooper (welsh) If it is funny it is funny, Jim Davidson, I don't find one bit funny.

[new_squizza]

i think there's a divide to some extent, but it's probably just a case of different types of humour, different language and different references that's used by different comedians and in different sitcoms.

i've got a northern family/background, but i was born and brought up in the south, and i think it's partly due to this that i've got a wide range of comedy tastes.

i certainly know some southerners who just don't get the humour in comedies such as phoenix nights/peter kay or the royle family and would much rather watch something like the office or extras.

also, age (along with many other factors) has as much to do with comedy taste as anything else. i think you'd probably find the audience for ken dodd, mike reid and last of the summer wine is older than the audience for comedians such as bill bailey and ross noble.

and like the majority of the population i agree with littleoldme - jim davidson is certainly NOT a comedian - he's just an irritating tit, who thankfully doesn't grace our TV sets any more!

[Octavius]

Comedy you like is comedy you like, regardless of where the comedian eminates from. What you tune in to is their 'sense' of comedy and if that tickles your fancy then all well and good.

I can't stand Roy Chubby Brown or Bernard Manning because to me they just aren't funny.

[Robert G]

Does anyone know exactly where the north/south divide is, geographically? And is it different for comedy compared with other things?

[EverClean]

The South is that little bit of the country that adjoins London and eveything else is different.

[spudqueen]

ducks? ducks? People in Northampton call people ducks, and that's the South as far as I'm concerned!

[Octavius]

Traditionally anywhere above Watford is North.

It is not clear though whether this is Watford in Hertfordshire, or the one in Northamptonshire.

[Narolines]

Wasn't Tommy Cooper a Bristolian? As far as I am concerned The South starts at an east-west line passing roughly just to the north of Oxford. Woodstock is in The Midlands, Oxford isn't. The North, I suppose, begins at a similar line passing roughly just to the north of Chesterfield. The part of England in between those lines (ie The Midlands) is the real England. As far as comedy goes, I don't see where Davidson, Reid, Dodd OR Brown come into the equation - on the other hand, funny is funny, regardless of which part of the country its perpetrator hails from.

[robbo82]

I didn't think they had TVs in the North yet.

[pinkcowprint]

Im from the north and the reason southerners dont get our humour is because people like robbo think they are funny! we can have a good giggle at ourselves and are very light hearted,we dont think we are something special and we smile and say hello.eastenders says it all.bring on corrie!