American Reacts to Philomena Cunk on Britain

[@DruncanUK]

Going into this the experts are aware that it is for a satirical sketch but that is all the info they are given. They have no idea what they are getting into.

[@MickBeard]

Don't listen to her Audiobook "Cunk on everything" using headphones in public. People think you are mad because of the constant laughing

[@vking1358]

HA HA HA HA ! I always end up doing it too!

[@Lily33McC]

The people she interviewed knew she was a comedian but didn’t know what she would ask! They were told to answer her questions as if they were talking to a child. 😂

[@andrewgoatley2866]

Thanks for that I've seen her work reacted to by others from North America and you are the first to keep up with the complexity and ridiculousness of this very British humour.

[@sophieking7508]

As a Brit, I can’t believe I’d never seen Philomena Cunk until your videos! They make me cry with laughter! Thanks for introducing me 😅

[@user-man-now80]

Yeah, me too. I must live a sheltered life. Brilliant !

[@lovetolay]

Hats off to the experts…how they kept a straight face but how fantastic they took part in this fantastic British comedy

[@eden255]

There’s no way Brian Cox managed that in one take 😂😂

[@aaroncarson1770]

His eyes were way twinkly!

[@Varksterable]

I'm not sure; his QI appearance where Ross Noble quizzes him about Ewoks got just as crazy, but he managed to play that pretty straight. I think he's more used to this kind of thing than you might think, given that he's been co-host with Dara O'Brien, and has been in several weird conversations on The Infinite Monkey Cage over the years, amongst others.

[@MarkAsh-tv2ox]

I'm a Brit. This shows how ingrained humour is in British life and culture. All of the experts, who are not comedians, are in on it and go along with the whole thing straight faced. One of our dullest Prime Ministers was Gordon Brown. One of his closest associates and advisors was politician Ed Balls. In his autobiography, he has two whole chapters on the imprtance of humour in British politics. The humourless Brown employed people to write a couple of jokes into all of his speeches. The thinking is that the audience remember the jokes more than anything. And a speech without a joke is completely forgetable. And to understand the importance of humour in UK politics, just watch the weekly Prime Ministers Questions or videos of the previous House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow.

[@jamesroyce1845]

That's a really good point. I wonder if prominent US figures would engage in the same way?

[@emporioalnino4670]

OHRDURRRR

[@mojobag01]

Diana is original and precious. She has a broad appeal over here for her brutal puncturing of stuffy, pompous British TV documentaries. The nuclear weapon bit is both touching and very cleverly delivered.

[@seldom_bucket]

The smile after he says he loves abba is truly amazing.

[@vking1358]

She's an actress, full stop.

[@m00plank90]

I love that the captions struggle with the Bolton accent too. 😂

[@jay-rk1ve]

It's my accent even the subtitles cant catch it😂

[@Shoomer88]

The character was created by the living genius Charlie Brooker for his show 'Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe' and in the early days guests did not know it was all a joke. But when Diane Morgan started to get her own TV shows playing the character the game was up. Now I would imagine most interviewees know who she is.

[@josheldridge8546]

still waiting for barry shitpeas' return to the spotlight. that or more 'sick on a widow.'

[@Broadercasting]

@@josheldridge8546 And Dowdy man!

[@callum4796]

My favourite clip of her is when she's talking about a pyramid and says and says "here is a computer simulation of what it would have looked like" and it switches to a clip of a pyramid in Minecraft 🤣😭

[@seanf1851]

She is brilliant and her guests are great sports

[@richardcummins5465]

She's a comedy queen. Absolutely love her. And what a name!

[@rollosinternet1853]

Her real name's Diane Morgan, so you can look for more of her comedies.

[@zoeblay8771]

My mum and I watched all of Cunk on earth today thanks to this reaction vid...the rest of the day we've spent watching your reaction vids....keep up the good work JJ 👍

[@sooevers9411]

You are right about Professor Brian Cox. Who I am sure you will know was a keyboard player with the band D-Ream, whose popular song was "Things an only get better. Love Philomena/Diane, and the Prof played along well

[@silasfatchett7380]

Auto-generated subtitles/closed captions are not equipped to translate a Bolton accent. What she actually said was, "spare money".

[@daveofyorkshire301]

It's the best kind of humour because after you stop laughing you actually think about the twisted way she presented a point...

[@thomasroth4533]

Diane Morgan is brilliant and I can warmly recommend the British comedy series called "Motherland" in which she has a big role. The really big star of that show is the genius Anna Maxwell Martin and every time I watch the first scene in the pilot I laugh out loud.

[@pathopewell1814]

My very favourite programme, very cleverly written, and acted. Love it!

[@nolaj114]

She also had a role in an Australian/UK comedy series called "Frayed". Hilarious.

[@DoubleMonoLR]

@@nolaj114 And in “After Life” with Ricky Gervais, though that's not entirely comedic.

[@SalemEverett]

The aggressive "who are you?!" always cracks me up! I'd love to see more real-world journalists begin their celebrity interviews with this phraseology; immediately take them down a peg 😂

[@dontxtalk]

I've seen it so many times and it never gets old lmao

[@marvinc9994]

WHAT a brilliant idea! Now, how can we make this happen? We could begin with 'actress' - and apparent Australian Wildfire Expert - Jennifer Aniston, for example, and ask her to share some of her extensive knowledge on Manmade Climate Change. I'd pay good money to witness the outcome!

[@MrStevegregory]

My favourite is the titanic as a single use submarine.

[@DevonExplorer]

I've never seen her before and didn't know who she was as I haven't had tv for a good 15 years. A couple of her YT videos came up on my feed and I thought she was probably a historian, lol, as I watch a lot of history and didn't want to add any more to my 'watch later' list yet. Absolutely hilarious! I'll definitely have to watch them now. Great video as always, JJ. :)

[@carolineskipper6976]

Love watching you react to Philomena! The gag rate in these scripts is even higher than you'd notice, because she often references well known British cultural icons that would pass you by- for example in this she referred to the Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst as 'Emmerdale Pankhurst. 'Emmerdale' is a popular UK TV soap opera.

[@Isleofskye]

Plus "WestminISter" and "FeminINists" etc

[@barneylaurance1865]

@@Isleofskye Yes although I'd say that those two are characterisation rather than jokes. I don't think there's any real joke in those, it's just showing us that Cunk is uneducated and hasn't bothered to learn how to pronounce those words correctly even for TV.

[@danlefou]

Even subtler - a gang called the Suffra Jets.

[@nolaj114]

The Noel Gallagher islands, instead of Galapagos Islands

[@SamThredder]

that emmerdale bit cracked me up hahahah

[@jeannellies4778]

You missed one of my favourite lines...'Britain stands at a fork in it's crossroads' 😂😂

[@mistamichal]

I've watched a few Americans react to Cunk and they all miss that... Not that I'm implying anything.....

[@Tony-c7z9t]

Yea but which fork, there are four forks at a crossroad

[@jeannellies4778]

No, a fork only has two options...left or right. A crossroad is quite different - it does have 4 options. 😊

[@Tony-c7z9t]

@@jeannellies4778 well to get to a fork, one must have a path to get there, so to walk along a path until one reaches a fork gives a minimum of three paths, I have not ever come across z definition of only two ways to go on a fork, as that would be just one path, forwards and backwards

[@Tony-c7z9t]

​@@jeannellies4778no your wrong a fork can have multiple not just 'two'

[@timford544]

Matthew Burton (1:50) is a teacher that became famous thanks to a programme called Educating Yorkshire and his relationship with a pupil called Musharaf. I'd love to see you react to that if possible

[@timford544]

I missed it but that scene with Musharaf had me welling up

[@Cleow33]

I've seen that clip of Mushy P so many times. Always makes me cry. Educating Yorkshire was a fab series.

[@NoudlePipW]

Her starting to cry was IMPRESSIVE 🤣🤣

[@stuartsmith4369]

If you enjoy this kind of humor, check out a show from the 90s called Brass Eye, by Tim Morris. There arent many episodes because it was cancelled very quickly (then brought back and immediately cancelled again after a single episode titled "Pedophilia".) But it is exactly this kind of comedy, as well as a few episodes featuring what looks and sounds like a young John Oliver (as cast, not a victim.) At its best, the show managed to get a bill up for vote in the House of Commons to ban an imaginary drug. Also, can guarantee that none of the celebrities knew it was fake, and all of them are there for free because they truly believe in whatever absurd cause they are presenting on.

[@josheldridge8546]

seeing the gears lock up in a person's head never gets old.

[@stopthink7202]

Never heard of Philomena Cunk until this clip but she is really funny. Thanks for sharing that with us amigo.

[@darthwiizius]

Professor Brian Cox also played keyboards on the 90s tune "Things Can Only Get Better", a no1 hit in the UK and Labour's official theme tune in 1997.

[@marktubeie07]

I don't know what was funnier, her or your reactions - hilarious 😂😂

[@vaudevillian7]

You have to watch the full stuff!

[@irreverend_]

I absolutely love her character, she's hilarious

[@RoZaSims]

From what I've heard, when Diane first started playing the role of Philomena, the guests/experts did not know it was an act or a joke. At this point though pretty much everyone knows who she is and they are told the interviews are for comedy. However, they do not know at all what she is going to say or ask. A lot if not most of the stuff she says in interviews is improvised by her anyway, so it would be impossible to know. But yeah, at first no one knew she's an actress playing a character, but now they do, only not what the interviews are actually going to be like. She's brilliant!

[@krpurple2678]

You would probably enjoy watching the British comedian Jonathan Pie (Tom Walker). He is a fictional, brutally honest, angry political correspondent. Very funny. He has American content as well on his KZbin channel

[@howardmckenna]

Pie is an absolutely scathing wit. His "off camera" tantrums are hilarious.

[@CM-td4zu]

He is brilliantly clever and so so accurate, it’s terrifying!

[@glamourweaver]

The “who knows?” To “how many three wisemen were there?” is actually the correct answer. The Gospels do not give a number of Magi that visited, the number three arises from the number of gifts listed (gold, frankincense and myrrh)

[@robertcreighton4635]

She's brilliant. I never get tired of youtube clips. Great review 👏

[@jamesonslow]

JJLA. Thank you for reintroducing me to Philomena Cunk. Such amazingly dry and fast humour. Cheers 🇬🇧

[@GoryBark]

Philomena is a national treasure

[@padraicbrady]

Most of the experts are old hands at BBC documentaries, and they all know Cunk (who's been in a few BBC series) is a spoof character sending up the BBC's filming style, voice overs and earnest delivery. It works though because they have no idea what she will ask, and the character is completely clueless to the point of blindly repeating script notes. Always entertaining, but also oddly informative when Diana has a point to make.

[@lucyborley7037]

Aawwwww it's so good to see the American people enjoy her humour even though completely gobsmacked 😂❤

[@roundhouse562]

Philomena is a great uplifting hit just as 1989 eurodance classic, Pump up the Jam by Technotronic was

[@shaneoconnor5319]

Doctor cox used to be a pop star, played keyboard in band called d-ream

[@johnleake5657]

10:35 "providing they had lots of _spare_ money already", not what the subtitle says!

[@davidwatts-hw2dh]

Dianne is an English gem. Like kids thoughts on steroids.🥰

[@nolasmith7687]

She is brilliant! Just love her work. Whole series is on Netflix

[@G02372]

“I love ABBA” from the Hulk is amazing 😂

[@johankaewberg8162]

Cox is a particle physicist at CERN, a hit band member (Things Can Only Get Better, D:ream), and a radio/podcast presenter. Believe you me, that surname has been joked about a few times

[@mattbentley9270]

I am soooooo glad u found this, I love her she is genius!

[@alansmithee419]

14:15 No, this was a joke. Jack the ripper was a Victorian England serial killer, and would long since have died of old age by now.

[@PUNKinDRUBLIC72]

Diane's delivery is always spot on!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@drwfigureadventures]

I would highly recommend trying to find the full episodes if you can. There’s Cunk on Britain, Cunk on Earth and Cunk on Shakespeare, I think. It’s so annoying knowing how much better these clips are in full but that you’re not experiencing it!

[@mrfrye18]

Finally someone checking out cunk!!! 😂 It is Brian Cox, he was also in a band in the mid 90s called D:REAM their biggest hit called THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER, you may have heard it

[@DavenDsota]

Some of them figure out that it’s a humour interview but no one knew her and she had no done much TV work. This was filmed as a whole season before transmission which ensures no one knew who she was. Some of her interviews really pissed off quite a few academics. The Art collections they had curators move and prepare for display just so work and artists could be slagged off on TV caused quite a bit of upset and there are many academics and experts who won’t do an interview so now she often travels to other counties to terrorise their experts cause back here in the UK no one wants to talk to anymore lol I love her humour :) Her northern accent and flat tone can make it hard to bro understand if you’re used to it, but it’s also what makes her humour work really well .

[@jackie6343]

She's known for asking these outrageous questions.lol.not many could get away with it lol brilliant ♥️

[@AgentOccam]

Apparently, at least after season one, they were told to treat her like a child. So yes, they knew it was mainly for comedic purposes.

[@surfaceten510n]

Charlie Brookers creation is a masterpiece of misinformation delivered with a deadpan seriousness worthy of any documentary makers Diane Morgan, genius casting..

[@philrob1978]

This is a great compilation, and your reaction amplified the hilarity! Great stuff - but of course although we know Charlie Brooker wrote this, without Diane performing it and adding a few ad-libs in here bringing it all to life it would be nothing. Presenting someone so wilfully stupid, but all the while remaining totally endearing, is a testament to her acting chops. The moment where she unexpectedly starts crying during the nuclear weapons discussion is wonderful.

[@grahamsibbert2412]

Thankyou. These videos are brilliant, really appeals to my warped sense of English humour

[@redceltnet]

*British humour, you #LittleEnglander

[@artemisentrerifan3797]

shes amazing..love her

[@KB-es5he]

Have you seen her - Diane Morgan - interviewed by Seth Myers? She explains a little about the approach of the interviews. It, also, is hilarious...

[@snwa404]

I adore this show! She and the screenwriter are gineous 😂

[@tcrown3333]

Great reaction 🤣 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@jeffpopham5694]

Her guests had NO IDEA! 🤣

[@timbuktu8069]

I am convinced that all of the people she interviews have thought: "I've had worse."

[@clowncarqingdao]

You must miss a lot if you aren't British and have lived in Britain. For example, she called Emily Pankhurst 'Emmerdale Pankhurst'. Emmerdale is a long-running (some would say too long) soap opera about faming life in the UK. It's silly humor, but she's constantly doing that knowing her main audience is in the UK.

[@omargj1]

Diana Morgan is an amazing comedian and actress, and Philomena Cunk is an awesome character

[@ffotograffydd]

Diane Morgan is in a comedy series called Motherland. It’s worth a watch if you can get it in the US.

[@ellaeadig263]

She's hilarious isn't she! I wish there was more Philomena Cunk content in the world.

[@stuartsmith4369]

The guy should have gone with "Yes, well, he was a very good poet."

[@aaroncarson1770]

There *was so* a pair of trousers that stopped under the balls. They were called shorts in the seventies and eighties, before we decided to put men in Purdah.

[@fpupesh]

the bolton accent makes it even funnier

[@kennethfishwick4061]

Diane Morgan appeared on the Seth Myers show earlier this year promoting the Cunk show.

[@Exoixx]

Christmas is coming up. There might be clips here from ‘Cunk on Christmas’ but I recommend you give that a go in its entirety over the Christmas period. A reaction would be cool, if not, give it a shot in your own time

[@laurenC91.]

Omg I love her, she is bloody hilarious 😂

[@norahdenovan8658]

How they keep a straight face is beyond me 🤣🤣🤣

[@RobChinn]

I think you would enjoy The IT Crowd, which she also stars :) Ps. this was brilliant, your reactions were making me laugh as much as the content itself haha

[@elingrimes4079]

No she doesn't..? I think you're thinking of the also brilliant Katherine Parkinson :) but yes the IT Crowd (original UK version not the astonishingly pointless US remake) is fantastic

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

Turning on KZbin closed captions to try and decipher words is like asking a Chimpanzee to make you a lasagne

[@lucyborley7037]

Just blow a joint and watch Philomena 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Richard_deVries]

What I find most sad to realize is that there will be people that think the questions she asks, statements she makes and facts she names are all real and that this is a real documentary. compounded by the tidbits of truth and fact throughout it all.

[@heraclefolia]

My mum does😂 she refuses to watch her because she makes mum so cross.

[@SamThredder]

Hahah wow! I didn't realise Iain Borden was on here, he's a rad skateboarder, skates at my local occasionally! Wahey!

[@lancebukkake]

everyone seemed to miss that when she was interviewing Brian Cox and that "what it would feel like being sucked through a hole"...she was talk about...well you know

[@pathopewell1814]

I noticed this and I am eighty-five!!😮

[@derekdamms7380]

You quite correct , he is "Brian Cox"

[@johntaphouse5235]

"you see yourself back to front but not upside down, why ? " and the answer "thats how mirrors are designed "... i still to this day do not understand who had the stoopidest line there

[@johnleake5657]

Philomena's reaction to the continuing existence of nuclear weapons is the one we should probably actually have.

[@choomah]

I like how as soon as you turned on captions the caption got it wrong. 😂Changed "spare money" to "sperm money"

[@zipfed2389]

That was hilarious! Text to speech is clearly based on Received Pronunciation and doesn't recognise a Yorkshire accent.

[@Unchained_Alice]

Diane Morgan plays her so amazingly. She's awesome

[@jackmason4374]

When I visited America I thought I had put weight on due to drinking a lot of beer I actually lost weight because I remember I hardly ate anything the food was grim

[@philrob1978]

This is a great compilation, and your reaction amplified the hilarity! Great stuff - but of course although we know Charlie Brooker wrote this, without Diane performing it and adding a few ad-libs bringing it all to life, it would be nothing. Presenting someone so guilelessly stupid, but all the while remaining totally endearing, is a testament to her acting chops. The moment where she unexpectedly starts crying during the nuclear weapons discussion is wonderful.

[@rainyfeathers9148]

There go the captions again, she said 'spare' money🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@scollyb]

Brian Cox makes a lot of documentaries who's style is mocked by Cunk.

[@nolaj114]

She was saying "spare money" in her accent , not "sperm money" .. teehee

[@NarnianRailway]

Fun reaction! Suggest the compilation "Cunk On Food," the channel 'Philomena Cunk' has many compilations and not clipped as tight as some best of channels (these were good).

[@petervenkman69]

The people she is interviewing are in on the joke, but they have been told to treat her as if she were a curious young child asking questions.

[@ginacable5376]

Never heard of her before or seen her I enjoyed that.

[@fifi23o5]

These experts know about what's going on, but don't get questions in advance. Bloopers must be hillarious!

[@derekspitz9225]

"How many Three Wise Men were there?"

[@QTGetomov]

It's hilarious that you have to turn captions on because you can’t quite catch what she’s saying, but her accent is so strong (at least as far as AI captioning is concerned) that they completely mess it up! I can assure you she didn’t say "you need 'sperm money' if you want to get rich"!

[@everythinggamingnow]

Interestingly enough. One of the first "Cunk" things was as a bit of a skit in a show made by the same person that orignianally made black mirror

[@louisjameswilliams]

Pretty sure some of the experts know , but some genuinely don't know she's joking and it's there genuine reaction!

[@elingrimes4079]

Those subtitles were terrible, they didn't understand her at all!! She said spare money, not sperm money!! Btw Jane Austen is on the £10 note which explains that joke Can't believe the joke I found funniest you didn't respond to at all - Banquo's ghost "played by the letter H" (i.e. the chair) - that was hilarious!