Is there anything you shouldn't joke about?

donegal_road

I had forgotten about this until I was reading about it yesterday

Zebra3

Sunglasses Ron wrote: »

Dead baby jokes aren't off kilter because they are controversial.

They should be off because every single one of them are ****e. Not even controversially "ohoho ****, that's bad" funny, just, actually, ****e.

Some of the ones about Clapton's son were good.

Ash.J.Williams

krudler wrote: »

Brass Eye did an entire episode about it and it was fcuking hilarious.

tell me exactly what is so funny about a small bean regarder? go on...what's so funny?


(i'm joking)

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

krudler wrote: »

Brass Eye did an entire episode about it and it was fcuking hilarious.

monkey dust had several amazing child abuse related sketches

bodice ripper

Sir Humphrey Appleby wrote: »

Rape and Child Abuse for a start.
Neither are the least bit funny ...ever.

Isn't the joke actually about how horrible life is? Isn't that a huge part of what humour is for?

Maximus Alexander

One thing I find odd is that plenty of people would have no problem with jokes about murder, but would be offended or troubled by jokes about rape. I would have thought that most people would agree that murder is a worse crime, so why is this?

I first thought it might be because victims of murder are not around to be offended by it, but then it is not only victims that seem to find rape jokes offensive and the families and friends of murder victims could also be considered victims since they are the ones who must deal with the loss.

I can't really figure that one out.

Needless to say, I don't think any subject should be off limits to comedy. However, I do think some topics should be treated with care. I suppose what I means is that if you're going to step into shady territory, the joke needs to be worthwhile, rather than something crass and pointless, delivered only for shock value.

Ash.J.Williams

so it looks like yes you can joke about anything....providing you're funny and socially aware.

du Maurier

IrishFeeney92 wrote: »

To me everything goes, My sense of humor its outrageous at times, but its a good way of dealing with things as more or less nothing ever gets me down no matter how bad it is.

Why did the baby cross the road?

He wasnt wearing his seat belt

Hilarious. The only thing I can glean from your post/joke is that it's something of unparalleled imbecility. That's real mediocre human output just there.

But that's just my opinion - you're probably a lovely fella!

Muise...

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

so it looks like yes you can joke about anything....providing you're funny and socially aware.

it's a question of prepositions- what's the joke about, who is the joke on, and can they laugh it off?

I Heart Internet

I don't think any topic should be off-limits. I do think, though, that certain topics should, ordinarily be avoided, unless you have a particularly well crafted, funny joke that doesn't set out to offend or heap pain on others.

Just because one CAN make a gag about something, doesn't mean one SHOULD.

Some comics need to remind themselves that audiences want to laugh.

Sunglasses Ron

Zebra3 wrote: »

Some of the ones about Clapton's son were good.

Ugh.

Mind you I do like jokes re the Madeline McCann story that pin the blame on the parents, because, in truth, whether they were directly involved or not the whole thing was their fault. Never mind jokes, it's more of a scandal they they were never charged with neglect at the very least.

But jokes about her herself, too much for me. And I despise political correctness.

Tombo2001

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

One thing I find odd is that plenty of people would have no problem with jokes about murder, but would be offended or troubled by jokes about rape. I would have thought that most people would agree that murder is a worse crime, so why is this?

.

Since when are 'murder jokes' a comedy staple?

Tombo2001

donegal_road wrote: »

I had forgotten about this until I was reading about it yesterday

Wow

I'm surprised nobody brought that up when we was reading his grovelling ode to Barack Obama on College Green.

Maximus Alexander

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Since when are 'murder jokes' a comedy staple?

Watch a few stand up comedians. It won't take you long to come across casual references to killing people or jokes about war, for example.

osarusan

No.

There are some things I won't laugh about, but it wouldn't bother me to hear a joke told about them.

shanered

Its a joke how this whole thread seems to be rape!
Its a subjective issue the whole can you or cant you make a joke about whatever.

Gbear

There's a difference between performances or art that people find offensive (like Doug Stanhope's stand up or "Piss Christ") and having a laugh with your friends.

Imagine a hypothetical - I was the victim of a rape that took place in a car. Would it be reasonable to ask the comic to refrain from mentioning cars? No.
While that's Reductio ad absurdum I think the point holds in general. The point is that offence is taken, not given.

Stand up is generally impersonal and if you hear something that makes you uncomfortable because of the personal tragedy you've encountered, emotional baggage due to your ancestry or some other factor beyond the control of the stand up, I don't think that it's reasonable to expect the comedian to stop. Rather, switch off the TV, leave the room or whatever.
It's not that getting offended is wrong, it's just that you can't always expect everyone to be able to understand why certain things they find funny offend you.

While I'm not going to comment on personal tragedy and what people should and shouldn't feel because of it, I think that people generally take themselves too seriously and in a lot of cases being exposed to "offensive" material is probably good for people. I think its like a vaccine against getting offended by trivial nonsense that isn't worth worrying about.

I think either an insult is inaccurate ("your mother is a whore", "I]minority group[/I is stupid") and getting annoyed is as infantile as the insult itself, or it is accurate, in which case the real problem is your own insecurity rather than something someone else is saying.

In the real world, dealing with friends, family and so on, I'm not going to say to a rape-victim "that's irrational so I'm going to ignore your protests". It's entirely reasonable to ask people not to say things that could be taken as offensive. If your relationship is worth anything you'll probably be able to accommodate each other.

Rereg 104

Yes I think there is, namely genicide.

eyeball kid

IvySlayer wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't tell a rape victim to do one.

Slightly off topic, but what does 'to do one' mean? Never heard anyone using it before.

Gbear

eyeball kid wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but what does 'to do one' mean? Never heard anyone using it before.

An abbreviation of "Do a runner" I suppose?

"**** off", pretty much.

kunst nugget

Rereg 104 wrote: »

Yes I think there is, namely genicide.

There's that famous quote 'Comedy is Tragedy Plus Time' so while you might find recent events to be untouchable in terms of being made jokes about, cracking a joke about something like World War One is not going to carry the same capacity to offend because it happened so long ago.

Tbh, I think you can joke about absolutely anything, the context of the joke and its intention are the important things.

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/06/25/comedy-plus/

lahalane

Esoteric_ wrote: »

It's not a matter of controlling yourself. I don't find rape jokes funny, full stop. I've heard tonnes of them, and I doubt I will ever find one funny.

That said, I don't really care if people make rape jokes, I just won't laugh at them.

I find it hard to control myself sometimes. If somebody makes a witty comment out of the blue about a certain situation, rape included, then I can't help it if I recognise this comment as clever and funny. I might not laugh but I will be able to admit if it was a funny comment or not. Maybe that's just me.

*

I sometimes think that either everything should be funny or nothing should be. Why should some things be wrong to joke about and other stuff fine?

Of course, the situation has a lot to do with it. In my OP I said 'let's assume these jokes are told amongst friends' so this thing of 'victims overhearing' doesn't come into it. If you are in your own house then this won't happen.

I was just wondering something about the people who find certain subjects 'unjokeable'. Is it just that you don't want to hear that type of humour or is it that you don't think anyone ever should joke about them, even when you won't hear about it?

Legs.Eleven

I hate jokes of any kind. Funny stories and general funniness (not in the form of jokes) and back and forth silliness/stupidity but jokes are ****e.

lahalane

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

I hate jokes of any kind. Funny stories and general funniness (not in the form of jokes) and back and forth silliness/stupidity but jokes are ****e.

If somebody asked me to tell them a joke it'd take ages to even think of one. They're not something that I have to deal with very much. Most of the humour I encounter is all the other stuff you mentioned. Added with a bit of outrageous ignorance just to get cheap laughs out of the fact that 'you can't say things like that'.

Laughing is something that I enjoy doing so I'm not too worried about where the source of amusement comes from really. Does that make me a bad person in other peoples eyes? I'm not sure if I care really...

certifiedcrepe

I guess it's really personal with what we've dealt with and been affected by in our lives. For example someone could make a joke about a car accident or suicide and the person they tell it to could be very displeased if they lost someone in that way or had suicidal thoughts/was in a traumatic car accident.
I really don't like jokes about suicide, rape, child abuse and if jokes are made at a person's extent due to a disability or a physical deformity, but I guess that's more verbal abuse than joking.

I do believe in making light of bad situations, but there is a line.

Vito Corleone

What I hate is people who will make fun of certain "touchy" subjects but then will get all pissed off if people make a joke about a "touchy" subject that affects them.

See it on here a lot.

my my my

don't joke about the best before date of ham