Cultural Artifact -- Catherine Tate

I hate all generalizations. ALL of them. Without exception.

Broadly speaking, though, there are a couple of differences between British and American TV comedy. Much British comedy tends to celebrate silliness, whereas American comedy focuses more on either stupidity or its flipside, wiseassery. Also, British comedy is more about the talents of the performer, while American is more about the cleverness of the writer (or, more typically, writers.)

Catherine Tate is quite a celebrity in the UK at this point, but if she is known in the US, it is probably due to her semi-regular role in the popular sci-fi show Doctor Who.

A couple of years ago, however, she took Britain by storm with The Catherine Tate Show, in which the incredibly versatile performer created a number of characters who have quickly become indelible parts of the British cultural landscape. TV sketch comedy is where British humour often has its finest moments -- for some reason nobody can figure out, we just don't DO sitcoms very well. In Tate's hands, sketch comedy becomes a venue for some astonishing self-transformation and some awfully subtle acting.

Most famously there is Lauren, the stroppy teenager who has become the best-known of Tate's characters -- and the most disliked by Tate herself, for whom the character's catchprase "Am I bovvered?" became an albatross around the neck. Still, it got her into 10 Downing Street to do a skit with Tony Blair, so how bad could it be?



Tate does more than create characters, she inhabits them, refusing again and again to go for the easy laugh or punchline, preferring to take a more holistic approach to comedy, allowing the laughs to emerge from the character rather than being forced into their mouths. And, crucially, she seems to have a real affection for the people she plays, even if many of them appear to be loathsome on the surface. (For example, the foul-mouthed grandmother "Nan," or the high-strung woman who screams in surprise and terror at every little noise...)



So do some YouTube surfing, or find a way to get your hands on the full season of her show (I bet Netflix has it, and if you live in Champaign-Urbana, it can be borrowed at the Champaign public library...)

You may especially recognize this character.