British Humour

I have been planning on writing about British humour for a while now, but didn't really know where to start, because it's such an important part of British behaviour. When it comes to humour, you have to keep in mind the Brits don't just tell a joke, they are full of wit. It's part of their mentality. 

It's particularly hard to get the British humour when you come from a country where people (stereotypically) have no sense of humour at all. In situations where we Germans rather remain silent, English people usually crack a joke, because they feel uncomfortable and have to compensate that by joking about it. Therefore, British humour tends to break taboos. Here is an example from Mock the Week:
"So, I saw the Saddam being executed. It made me think... is there nothing on the internet I won't masturbate to?" 

Another difference is that while in Germany slapstick humour is very popular, the funny side of British humour lies in puns. For example: "I was arrested at the airport. Just because I was greeting my cousin Jack! All that I said was 'Hi Jack', but very loud."

British comedians are omnipresent. When you turn on the TV, in every second entertainment show you have a comedian either as host or guest. British comedians such as Stephen Fry write also serious columns in newspapers, discuss political issues on TV and are also outside of TV politically involved. 
On contrary, British politicians behave as if they wanted to be comedians. Just have a look at these scenes from the House of Commons:

I'm still experiencing difficulties when it comes to British humour, so please don't be offended if you are British and I don't laugh about your jokes.