Entertainment British geography Jimmy Rees
An Australian comedian hilariously explained which things are the UK and which are Great Britain, and it’s breaking people’s brains
During Andy Burnham’s chat with Donald Trump, the president demonstrated his complete failure to grasp British geography, even though his mother emigrated to the US from Scotland.
Trump: "You call it United Kingdom, Britain, they call it sometimes England. They go back to the old. It's got more names than any other place in the world." pic.twitter.com/k7I5uODzeN
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 22, 2026
He was roundly and deservedly mocked.
However, now that we’ve watched the brilliantly funny Australian comedian Jimmy Rees explain the difference between the UK, Great Britain, and their constituent parts, we’re probably more sympathetic to Trump than we’ve ever been …but still not a great deal.
Check this out, and see how much your brain hurts afterwards.
@jimmyrees Educational!! 🫠… I’m doing shows at Edinburgh Fringe … starts Friday 7th – 16th AUG!! Link in bio!! See ya there!!
“Well, it’s Great Britain, which contains England, Scotland, and Wales. And Northern Ireland, which is on the island of Ireland.”
“So, Great Britain doesn’t include Northern Ireland?”
“Well, no. They’re in the UK.”
“Okay. So, everyone in the UK is_?
“British.”
“Are they happy with calling themselves that?”
“No. No. Scottish people will say they’re Scottish and Welsh people will say they’re_”
“Welsh, right? And English people will say_”
“British.”
“So, at the Olympics, the UK competes as_?”
“Team Great Britain.”
“But that’s not Northern Ireland?”
“Well, officially it includes Northern Ireland, but we don’t say that.”
“But that would be the UK?”
“We prefer team GB.”
“Right? So, if we’re playing rugby, Australia would play against_?”
“Well, they play England, Scotland, or Wales.”
“Or Northern Ireland.”
“No, they play as an all Ireland Ireland.”
No wonder people get it wrong. Here are a few reactions that nail it.
1.
As a Northern Irish person, this is so funny, and accurate.
patroclus_2306ily
2.
Brilliant and hilarious, but I’m still confused.
rk89859
3.
It’s complicated but it’s our complicated and we like it … most of the time … except when we don’t.
brian9731
4.
Maybe it’s just me, but was anyone else reminded of Yes Minister/Prime Minister where Humphrey tries to explain some simple, but ends up being needlessly complicated?
jeremyadler9621
5.
Best ever explanation – finally some clarity, ha, ha
susanrennison7211
6.
As a British citizen with a Scottish father and a English mother a Irish dog a Welsh cat that made perfect sense.
Scotie2508
7.
We’ve had a really long time to make everything as confusing as possible for everyone, including ourselves.
Henriettafinch6057
8.
I am an Australian living in northern Ireland for over 5 years and my head still hurts trying to keep up.
rhiannon9641
9.
It is totally bonkers and almost incomprehensible.
thats_mr_random_person_to_you
10.
I used to feel bad I didn’t fully know how the UK worked. Now that I’ve heard the entirety of it I feel I’m not alone.
francescaA15
11.
Born and bred in England and I’ll never understand any of this either.
alltheworldneedsajolt
12.
Thank you, I am as confused as I ever was.
michaelimpey1407
13.
This hurt my brain.
DBhb1go
14.
We haven’t even gotten to the South Africans in the English cricket team.
Joarrodbright5231
15.
Now I understand! (Why you’ve been fighting among yourselves for millennia, that is…) You poor freezing buggers.
jasondoust4935
You can also follow Jimmy on YouTube and Instagram.
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Source Jimmy Rees Image Screengrab