Frankie Boyle slags off Downs

Zamboni

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Frankie-Boyle-Downs-Syndrome-Jokes-Slammed-By-Mother-Sharon-Smith-Mock-The-Week-Star-Rebuked/Article/201004215597861?lpos=Showbiz_News_Carousel_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15597861_Frankie_Boyle_Downs_Syndrome_Jokes_Slammed_By_Mother_Sharon_Smith%3A_Mock_The_Week_Star_Rebuked

I don't get this. I mean even in his DVD's he slags off Jamie Oliver as having low level Downs Syndrome.
If you buy a ticket to his gig surely you should expect this type of humour.
I appreciate that Downs is a serious condition but so are many other illness/issues etc.
Once you draw a line as to what can be slagged, something is wrong as far as I'm concerned. Nothing should be 'sacred'
For chrisake the guy's tour is called I would happily punch each one of you in the face. And I believe he means that wholeheartedly. He is obviously a cnut but he is a ridiculously intelligent and dry funny cnut.

rovert

People getting offended by comedy..... :rolleyes:

Gross Halfwit

This is ridiculous. Everything is on the table to be made fun of or nothing is on the table to be made fun of. That's my view anyway. I've written at least one joke on almost every taboo subject. And I appreciate Frankie Boyle's humour.

It's weird that the article didn't state whether or not the "offended party" laughed at the the other controversial jokes he made and then only got offended at the stuff that was a little close to home. Which irks me no end that someone will laugh at every other stereotype but their own. At least Boyle is an equal opportunities insulter!

MiloYossarian

Comedy is supposed to make people laugh not cry. People with downs are kind and loving people, and maybe if Frankie pointed out the good things about them as well as the bad it would have worked out better. When he saw the lady squirming in the front row, why did he have that exchange with her? He should have just backed off. It's not about comedy or freedom of speech at that stage, it's about common human decency. What bothers me most though, is not what was said by Frankie, but what was said by the posters before me. I do think that people with downs are fair game, people in wheelchairs or any other disability too, but maybe we should stop making fun of them when you are aware that somebody related to a person you speaking to has that disability and you're making them upset.

eth0_

The thing about Boyle's "humour" is that there is nothing clever about it. It's real school bully comedy. I would put him in the same grouping as Bernard Manning or Roy Chubby Brown.

Take the DS joke in this news story. He joked about the fact DS kids have a low life expectancy. That is just not funny, no matter how you spin it. I absolutely believe no subject is off-limits in comedy, so long as it's approached in a clever and thought-provoking fashion (see: Richard Herring, Brendon Burns for examples), or isn't simply vicious for the sake of it (the DS character in Chris Lilley's "Summer heights high" springs to mind).

Anyway, all that is beside the point. This woman did not heckle Boyle. She simply didn't laugh at this particular joke and looked upset and he picked on her unmercifully.
I am totally in favour of comics ripping hecklers to shreds but he went too far IMO.

rock chic

who is this arsehole frankie boyle :mad:

Chuchoter

God, some people are so touchy. As someone else said, everything is on or everything is off. He makes fun of absolutely everyone;even victims of sexual abuse. You expect that when you go to one of those shows. Does she stand up when he makes fun of other groups? No. Its just because it affects her that she cares

eth0_

crayolastereo wrote: »

God, some people are so touchy. As someone else said, everything is on or everything is off. He makes fun of absolutely everyone;even victims of sexual abuse. You expect that when you go to one of those shows. Does she stand up when he makes fun of other groups? No. Its just because it affects her that she cares

You've completely missed the point. If he'd made a clever joke that made people think, then yeah, it's fine to make a joke out of someone having DS. But all he did was basically say haha downsies have stupid haircuts and they die before they're 30. That's neither clever nor funny.

I think Frankie Boyle is just Jim Davidson minus the racism.

actwithoutwords

Having the right to take the piss out of everything and anything is all well and good, but why is it Downs Syndrome so often? Is it brave, pioneering taboo breaking at this point, or just lazy and needlessly unpleasant?

If everything is on the table for humour (which I believe it is) why do so many comedians pick on disability? What's the point?

Galvasean

Gross Halfwit wrote: »

At least Boyle is an equal opportunities insulter!

I like this term of phrase. I'm not prejudice either, mind, I like to insult everybody!

actwithoutwords wrote: »

If everything is on the table for humour (which I believe it is) why do so many comedians pick on disability? What's the point?

Have you ever watched one of Boyle's shows? He makes fun of everything, including, but certainly not limited to disability.

i71jskz5xu42pb

Gross Halfwit wrote: »

Everything is on the table to be made fun of or nothing is on the table to be made fun of.

No, no, no, you're missing the point. Everything is on the table to be made fun of except stuff that I have some personal experience of. It's the "that's not funny because I know somebody that happened to" school of determining what's funny/off limits. Simple enough really.

Busi_Girl08

Does anyone actually have an exact quote of one of Frankie's jokes?

Because I don't really want to judge too much until I hear it in context.

new fang

Jerome Fresh Sucker wrote: »

No, no, no, you're missing the point. Everything is on the table to be made fun of except stuff that I have some personal experience of. It's the "that's not funny because I know somebody that happened to" school of determining what's funny/off limits. Simple enough really.

for some reason the thumbs up/thanks feature is disabled for me, but this post completely deserves it

Howard the Duck

eth0_ wrote: »

You've completely missed the point. If he'd made a clever joke that made people think, then yeah, it's fine to make a joke out of someone having DS. But all he did was basically say haha downsies have stupid haircuts and they die before they're 30. That's neither clever nor funny.

I think Frankie Boyle is just Jim Davidson minus the racism.

No thats not the joke it is about wanye rooney being/looking like a monkey and how they aren't supposed to live that long..and then he says he's talking about people with down syndrome and not monkeys. He does say thats as low as his show goes.
It doesn;t sound very funny when i type it out but i laughed when i watched it. I do think he is hilarious and he is out to offend people. I wouldn;t compare him to Jim davidson who is just a bitter racist. the two are not a like at all.
Frankie Boyle's stand up charactor is an act as he has said himself. It's not the real guy. If you read his book you'd see he was a carer for people with mental problems so he can't be that bad.
The whole routine was on youtube.

Denerick

Its all well and good to make fun of whatever condition people have, but its essential to examine the motivation. Too often Boyle comes across as a bully who has nothing clever to say other than 'Kerry Katona is so fat that she has to wear spandex underwear to hide her belly' Yeah... funny... Honestly, he's decent for the odd joke but 9 out 10 times he hits an epic fail. Going for the shock jokes is usually the hallmark of a limited comedian.

A lá Tommy Tiernan.

Howard the Duck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL8gl_6zhI8

This is the joke i believe