What is Northern Humour? A short (and hopefully funny) essay on British sensibilities

For all the weeks this blog has been in existence, I've never once felt compelled to define what this 'Northern' humour I claim to peddle actually is. It's right up there in the blog description, it's mentioned in numerous posts and even has its own category, but how is it distinct from 'Southern' humour, British humour in general or just anything remotely funny?

Some even say that Northern British humour isn't all that different from American Northern humour - namely Canadian, after all, our northern counterparts on the other side of the pond have strong colonial ties with the United Kingdom. Over in Americaland, whilst there is a strong sense of 'sod the southerners, they don't know owt' (only in a strong Canadian accent and with the odd French loanword chucked in there), it's mostly jovial, at least in my experience. That's not to say the rivalry between the north and south of the UK isn't –I think in secret they hold a certain respect for each other– but it's far more cutting, in some cases bordering on slander.

As your generic northern person -- no doubt in a flat cap and with a whippet by his heels -- would be quick to pipe up, a bit of good-natured banter never hurt anyone. It's an aspect of working class culture that has survived from a time when living conditions were much harder than they are today, more often found in the mining towns of The North.

But wait, what's the deal with that anyway? What is 'The North'? Common consensus says anywhere from Watford Gap northwards, but of course many Scotsmen (and ladies, of course) would beg to differ, claiming themselves the 'true' northerners. Others reckon anyone north of London to be 'from The North'.

I think it's far more than just geographic location, though. It's about culture as well - a more basic, primitive culture less touched by the hand of wealth, hence the 'stupid northerner' stereotype often used by Michael McIntyre, who in turn follows in the footsteps of many other comics (mainly from The South) that rely heavily on established clichés. But sometimes, is it not the belly laughs that you want, the uncomplicated 'telling it like it is' that reminds you of those Yorkshiremen from Monty Python, or Geoff Boycott from Test Match Special?

The Northern comic tends to be more in touch with the everyday and glorifies the mundane in such a way that makes us feel comfortable and familiar with the situations described. Most of us will have been told to 'put the big light on' (Peter Kay), but how many of us have stopped to consider how silly that sounds in a literal sense? Combined with some nice, big, exaggerated hand movements and funny faces that all northerners can pull (I think we're genetically programmed that way), no matter how serious the intent , you can't help but laugh, can you?

Anyway, isn't the basic human instinct to laugh a primitive, primeval thing to start with? Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of the large number of comedians that appear on comedy panel shows –those staunch stalwarts of British humour in recent times– such as QI and Have I Got News for You, I just think Northern Humour deserves a lot more credit than it gets.