Funny people are twice as likely to come from the north, study finds
Funny people are twice as likely to come from the north of the country, a new study by the Beano comic has found.
To determine this, statistician Dr Geoff Ellis, looked at the characteristics and traits of 50 of Britain’s top comedians.
Not only are funny people most likely to be from the north, they’re also most likely to be the youngest out of their siblings, born in a city and taller than average.
It must be a joke a minute for the tall, young one in the family, born in a city up north.
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That’s not all Dr Ellis found out from his analysis, though.
The likes of Sarah Millican, Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding all have something very specific in common.
They’re all Gemini star signs.
While people born in May and June might be the funny ones of the zodiac signs, fire signs (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) are seen as the least comical in their families.
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To make sure Dr Ellis had the most accurate information, he used various sources to determine the top 30, top 50 and top 100 top comedians in the country and then based his statistics around that.
To back up Dr Ellis’ theory, 3Gem conducted separate research in May on 2,000 British adults.
This research found that 71% of Brits perceived people born in the north of England to be funnier than those in the South.
Nine in ten people also believed that people were born with a “funny gene” which inherently made some people funnier than others.
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The study was commissioned by Beano, which is on the hunt to find Britain’s funniest family in partnership with mental health charity YoungMind.
A team of Beano joke writers, led by head judge Romesh Ranganathan, will select a shortlist, before asking the public to vote online for the winner.
“At Beano we’re always looking for ways to tickle funny bones and long suspected a ‘Funny Gene’ existed too,” Mike Stirling, head of Beano Studios, said.
“But we’re on a mission to help keep the nation smiling with our hunt for Britain’s Funniest Family and can’t wait to see the comedy gold that all families across the UK can create together at home.”
Families can submit their funny videos at beano.com/funfam. Entries close on May 24.
