Being tall and Northern, according to this new research...

You’re more likely to be considered ‘naturally funny’ if you are from the North of England, are taller than average, are the youngest child in your family, and from a city rather than the countryside.

That’s the result of – admittedly limited – research conducted by that esteemed academic paper, The Beano.

The comic commissioned statistician Dr Geoff Ellis to analyse 50 of Britain’s most famous comedians to examined shared characteristics and traits.

He found  funny people are 2.25 times as likely to hail from the North than anywhere else in the British Isles.

Youngest children in families of at least three children are twice as likely to be comedians than their elder siblings, he found.  Victoria Wood, Ricky Gervais and Micky Flanagan are all the youngest of four siblings.

Dr Ellis even suggested Geminis, like Sarah Millican, Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding are  most likely to be naturally funny.

Those who are naturally funny are more likely to be taller than average, with both female and male comedians analysed standing taller than the national average (with an average of 1.79m (5ft 10.5in) for male comedians, 1.63m (5ft 4in) for female comedians, compared to 1.73 and 162cm for the national average) Taller than average comedians include Romesh Ranganathan and Catherine Tate.

Additional supporting research of 2,000 British adults reveals that 71 per cent of of the nation agree that Northerners are funnier than Southerners

And Scousers have been voted funniest of all, with 62 per cent of people saying Liverpudlians have a good sense of humour, closely followed by Geordies (59 per cent) and Mancunians

The top ten regions are:

1. Liverpool (62 per cent)
2. Newcastle upon Tyne (59 per cent)
3. Manchester (51 per cent)
4. Glasgow (45 per cent)
5. London (35 per cent)
6. Yorkshire (42 per cent)
7. Birmingham (39 per cent)
8. Dublin (36 per cent)
9. Edinburgh (20 per cent)
10. Bristol (19 per cent)

The survey also revealed Britain’s ‘least funny’ people with 12 per cent of the vote, were from Oxford.

Almost 90 per cent of British adults believe people are born with a ‘funny gene’. Real research into the subject is limited but a study last year linked propensity to laugh to   5-HTTLPR gene, which dictates an emotional response to different stimuli.

Another Beano poll of 2,000 British kids aged 6 to 13 found that seven out of ten thought their mum wass funnier than dad. 

The study was commissioned to promote a ‘funniest family’ competition the comic is running is running with YoungMinds to keep families entertained during lockdown. Details are at beano.com/funfam

Published: 18 May 2020