Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day has now become an institution in the UK and once again it is upon us today. For those of you from outside our shores, or who have been living in a cave without TV for the last decade here is a bit of background…

Comic Relief are a fundraising charity set up by comedians looking to eliminate poverty in both Africa and the UK. One of the events Comic Relief organise every two years is Red Nose Day where everyone in the UK is encouraged to throw caution to the wind, cast their inhibitions aside, put on a red nose and do something wild to raise money!

This years’ event is called The Big One. Why? Because it is the biggest ever red nose of course!

Red Nose Day has been responsible for some classic comedy moments on British TV. For example, who can remember Ali G interviewing the Beckhams? Or Peter Kay showcasing his new “(Is This the Way to) Amarillo” video on the show?

Comedy and humour are often touted as one of the strongest elements of British culture. We have a long history of exporting laughs, from Monty Python, through The Young Ones to recent successes such as The Office – all classical British comedy that translate to get the laughs anywhere in the world. But what exactly is British humour and why don’t the Americans get it? Or do they?

A recent British comedian, Rowan Atkinson, is a prime example of someone taking British humour to the world – and he does it without saying a word! By facial expressions and being, well, incredibly annoying, Mr Bean, and his icon of Britishness – the Mini, has taken the world by storm. Attempting the impossible is a long running theme in British humour and in typical slapstick fashion Mr Bean has asked you guys to come up with a solution to one of his comedic problems: how would you go about squeezing the most amount of people into Mr Bean’s mini?

So today we hope you carry on laughing and spare a thought for charity as you do!

–Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team