I suspect that British culture in general tends to value a sharp sense of humor more highly than American culture. Bill Bryson, a writer who’s lived about half of his life in each, wrote that in his experience a British man would likely be less offended by being told he was a terrible lover than that he had no sense of humor, whereas in America he found a sense of humor to be treated as more of an optional extra.
I suspect that British culture in general tends to value a sharp sense of humor more highly than American culture. Bill Bryson, a writer who’s lived about half of his life in each, wrote that in his experience a British man would likely be less offended by being told he was a terrible lover than that he had no sense of humor, whereas in America he found a sense of humor to be treated as more of an optional extra.