Comedy

[MMJ]

With the current controversy over a joke made by Daniel Tosh there is a debate over whether there are certain topics you shouldn't joke about. Here is a link to an account http://breakfastcookie.tumblr.com/post/26879625651/so-a-girl-walks-into-a-comedy-club , although it is apparently exaggerated slightly. Personally I feel that it is perfectly acceptable to make a joke about any issue, however controversial it may be, in the name of comedy. But what does everyone else think?

 

[ThatThereSaintsFan]

With the current controversy over a joke made by Daniel Tosh there is a debate over whether there are certain topics you shouldn't joke about. Here is a link to an account http://breakfastcookie.tumblr.com/post/26879625651/so-a-girl-walks-into-a-comedy-club , although it is apparently exaggerated slightly. Personally I feel that it is perfectly acceptable to make a joke about any issue, however controversial it may be, in the name of comedy. But what does everyone else think?

Depends if it's at an appropriate time, If you made a joke about an tragic incident straight after it happened then it can be very offensive.

On the subject of comedy I've been thinking that with a lot of comedians if you had got a nobody to do their routines they'd get no laughs, and it's actually the fact that we expect the comedian to be funny and have good material that makes us laugh. Don't get me wrong though I wouldn't have the guts to do it and there are some good ones out there.

 

[Dan]

I've never been offended at a joke despite hearing some real controversial ones because they're just jokes. I personally think any joke is acceptable, even if they're really personal to me, because I just don't take jokes seriously. More things to worry about than getting offended over something that wasn't meant to offend. Granted, I fully respect that this doesn't go for all people, but a lot of people do get offended far too easily these days.

 

[Joe!]

Well I'm only just hearing about this Daniel Tosh thing now, but I think it's acceptable, even if it's not particularly funny, because he clearly was just joking. If that woman was so offended then that's her problem.

Sometimes though I suppose jokes can be made that are just not on. Jim Davidson has been criticised for making jokes about gays, ethnic minorities and disabled people, and I think that criticism is valid; not because you shouldn't joke about those things, but because there was an undertone to those jokes which actually suggested that Jim Davidson genuinely holds derogatory opinions towards those kinds of people.

 

[pass the football]

There's a difference between a joke being offensive, which for me is pretty rare, and just a bad joke, and poor taste can mean it falls into that category. There are a lot of things that many self-proclaimed comedians joke about which I just don't find funny. Tosh seems to fall squarely into that camp. To be honest, it would take a pretty special talent to make rape funny.

Edit: Should point out that I think that woman was well within her rights to be offended, I would have been had I been in her position. Whether it's acceptable or not is up for debate but there's no question that it's in poor taste.

 

[Itchen North Matt]

With the current controversy over a joke made by Daniel Tosh there is a debate over whether there are certain topics you shouldn't joke about. Here is a link to an account http://breakfastcookie.tumblr.com/post/26879625651/so-a-girl-walks-into-a-comedy-club , although it is apparently exaggerated slightly. Personally I feel that it is perfectly acceptable to make a joke about any issue, however controversial it may be, in the name of comedy. But what does everyone else think?

The line I think is when a joke stops being a joke. I didn't find the joke in that piece funny either and wouldn't have been best pleased had it been directed at me. Some bad taste jokes are funny and others aren't.

 

[MMJ]

There's a difference between a joke being offensive, which for me is pretty rare, and just a bad joke, and poor taste can mean it falls into that category. There are a lot of things that many self-proclaimed comedians joke about which I just don't find funny. Tosh seems to fall squarely into that camp. To be honest, it would take a pretty special talent to make rape funny.

[video=youtube;eo0RoQAmifI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo0RoQAmifI[/video] This is one of my all time favourite tv scenes, and it uses the concept of rape for comedic value incredibly well.

 

[Wisescummer]

The only jokes that offend me are ones that aren't funny. If it gets a laugh, then NOTHING should be off limits to comedy.

 

[Joe!]

The line I think is when a joke stops being a joke. I didn't find the joke in that piece funny either and wouldn't have been best pleased had it been directed at me. Some bad taste jokes are funny and others aren't.

Well there's a difference between a joke being in bad taste and being unacceptable. That joke was in bad taste and I don't find it the slightest bit funny, but I'd still defend his right to say it. The only time I think a joke is unacceptable is when the teller of the joke comes across as genuinely holding a belief which is unacceptable in our society, such as if he's expressing racist or homophobic opinions without a hint of irony.

 

[pass the football]

This is one of my all time favourite tv scenes, and it uses the concept of rape for comedic value incredibly well.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of Gervais but to give him credit that is pretty funny. It's a world away from using a member of the audience as a suggested victim though.

The only jokes that offend me are ones that aren't funny. If it gets a laugh, then NOTHING should be off limits to comedy.

It's difficult to judge where to draw the line though isn't it? If someone made a joke at your expense then you probably wouldn't find it as funny as everyone else.

 

[Dan]

I didn't think Tosh's joke was offensive. If he genuinely hoped she got raped it'd be different, but I (personally, not a generalistic I that implies the whole population should agree) don't see what's offensive about saying something in jest. That said, it wasn't very funny and certainly not the epitome of wit. "I hope she gets raped, lol"

 

[MMJ]

I didn't think Tosh's joke was offensive. If he genuinely hoped she got raped it'd be different, but I (personally, not a generalistic I that implies the whole population should agree) don't see what's offensive about saying something in jest. That said, it wasn't very funny and certainly not the epitome of wit. "I hope she gets raped, lol"

Other reports claim that this part may be exaggerated, apparently Tosh said "she sounds like she has just been raped by 5 guys"

 

[TheSecondStain]

People often find Frankie Boyle offensive. I actually just don't find him that funny, because his material is often, as not, aimed at the weak in society. Now if you want to test your limits of what you consider offensive, try Jerry Sadowitz. Much of the time I find him hilarious, but wow, when he crosses over the line, he does the long jump.

And go find your own Youtube links..!

 

[benditlikeabanana]

I went to a Bernard Manning performance at a working mans club. Men would sit and piss thier pants- not just because he was sooo funny, but if you stood up to go to the loo he would just rip into you and 200 men would be laughing at you, but no-one took it seriously. I would only get offended if someone called me a Pompey fan

 

[Joe!]

I pretty much just like Stewart Lee. I especially like it when he takes the piss out of other comedians. Other comedians are ****.

 

[fran-MLs little camera]

Have no problem with adult humour generally but would avoid shows where the base humour that men like is likely to be performed. However, what that man said was not funny and was aggressive and I bet even a few men who laughed felt uncomfortable afterwards.

 

[fatletiss]

This will sound patronising, but I found with age, I look at "joke" subjects differently; I am not impressed with comedians who drift too far into subjects I consider a little sensitive. Maybe I'm just becoming a grumpy old man. Blimey, by the time I get to Godder's and Beddy's age, I'll have to change my name to Victor.

 

[saintlyhero]

The only crime here is against comedy. Nothing is off limits if you approach it right (that's not a rape joke)

 

[pass the football]

The only crime here is against comedy. Nothing is off limits if you approach it right (that's not a rape joke)

Well done, I bet that is much cleverer than anything in this Tosh fellow's repertoire.

 

[Wisescummer]

It's difficult to judge where to draw the line though isn't it? If someone made a joke at your expense then you probably wouldn't find it as funny as everyone else.

I might not find it funny (although I might if the joke was good enough), but the test is whether in general it's found funny. I don't like places where one person is the arbiter of what is acceptable to society. Also as i'm never likely to be in a position where I'm famous enough to be the but of a joke, it's not something i'm ever going to have to worry about. On the actual piece, if the stand up said what teh woman said he did, then it doesn't strike me as particularly funny, but so much of comedy is about presentation. I was once in stitches watching a stand up tell a story about buying meat from a market stall.