AMERICAN V. ENGLISH HUMOUR.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 309, 5 November 1910, Page 2

AMERICAN V. ENGLISH HUMOUR.

Mr. J. H. Donahey, the well-known j American cartoonist, says the cliC- ; ['crenco between English ami American humour is largely a question of '. national temperaments. "The American," he says, "likes humour that takes effect instantly. He likes it spiced with exaggeration. ] He doesn't object if it is broad so : lone; as it is not coarse. It may be j extremely personal and luting, but j true American humour rarely leaves j a sting. I look upon English humour ! as more sedate and orderly. It. | comes much closer to wit than does : the \meriean brand, and frequently ! has a meaty kernel that is well ' worth the time and effort required ! to extract it. The English humor- . ists— writers and artists—are greatly : aided in scattering their wares by certain time honoured national typ»~-s : oi character. There is the i><>rpci.ual j curate, for instance, and the heavy yokel, the coster, and the asinine i profligate, the canny Scot. Tommy J Atkins, the drawing-room dummies, j 'Arry and 'Amet, end a long list of ; other material equally available. 1 •'The American humorist makes his | own puppets. The typical Yankee is j a forgotten creation ; the Southerner j is rarely used ; the Westerner is losing all his characteristics. The American tramp—a supposedly indigenous product—is a typo of widely differing conception. Even Uncle Ram is an idea of many phases and faces, while, bluff John Bull is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."—