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Entertainment

21st Sep 2018

Northerners are officially funnier than southerners, according to research

Marc Mayo

London has been named the sarcasm capital of the UK, which is really good for them

The north has claimed victory over their southern counterparts in a new survey that reveals how a whopping 74 per cent of Brits believe they are the more hilarious region.

From Peter Kay to Lee Mack and Sarah Millican to Kevin Bridges, the north’s comedic heritage is incredibly strong and has set the standard across the country since heroes Ken Dodd and Eric Morecambe also hailed from the area.

In fact, some 61 per cent of southerners admit that those in the north have the edge in the comedy stakes, with Liverpool leading Newcastle as the UK’s funniest city, mopping up 23 per cent and 14 per cent of votes, respectively.

There was also a place for the Scots as Glasgow took home the title of Britain’s capital for dirty jokes, an honour befitting the home of Frankie Boyle and Billy Connolly.

When it comes to age, younger people are more likely to favour off-colour humour with observational jokes the most popular across the board, rated as best by 27 per cent of respondents ahead of one-liners (13 per cent) and sarcasm (11 per cent).

If it is sarcasm that you’re after, London won out as the country’s favourite city for deadpan humour, despite also being voted the least funny part of the country overall.

A whopping 18 per cent doubted the capital’s comedy credentials, ahead of Birmingham (10 per cent) and Sunderland (seven per cent).

The state of the comedy nation survey, conducted by Comedy Central, also reinforced the notion that laughter is the best medicine with 97 per cent of the 1,500 polled agreeing that they felt much better after a good chuckle.

It also found that men tend to laugh more often than women on a daily average, cracking up 12 times compared to ten.