I watched a satirical program in Toronto recently and I could appreciate the methodology and get a lot of the references the format was such that next week I would have reached for the "blab button" and silenced the intrusion immediately. Context is all - here in the UK satire is characterised by the force of argument not the force of volume. There are some very popular UK programs that leave me cold - their appeal is to a younger audience and age is a very telling context. eg I find one farting pig is maybe funny by it's surprise, two is "heard it" and the third is just before I switched-off.

I always remember my sister trying to explain a recording of NZ humour. We had to stop after each quip to have the context spelled-out. Humour is just not funny when you explain it. Well, I say that but there is one guy I know who sometimes comes-up to me the next week and tells me he got the joke from last week - just after his wife explained it at home. Now that to me is hilarious - every time.