The Limits of Joking

[john9blue]

And if you think there are, watch Daniel Tosh and you will be proved wrong

Danile Tosh is a toilet-head.

why?

[jonesthecurl]

And if you think there are, watch Daniel Tosh and you will be proved wrong

Danile Tosh is a toilet-head.

why?

Tbh, I was surprised when I saw his actual stand-up routine. He was excellent. But his insipid, nasty Tosh.O show with its obsession with people humiliating and hurting themselves is dull as well as yucky. And his comments on the stuff he shows are unfunny and unecessary. The show would be as (un)funny if you just showed the clips and gave him the boot.
Personal taste of course, but that's how I feel.

[jonesthecurl]

And you could improve it further by removing the clips as well.

[jonesthecurl]

And then the credits and the commercial breaks.

[Funkyterrance]

he was just trying to get attention...

There. You've nailed 99% percent of comedy as a profession, xeno.
Ricky Gervais is somewhat unique though in the way that he seems to not care about the huge demographic that is actually driven away from him as a comic as the result of questionable material. When this happens I chalk it off to a comic's ego being bigger than his professional common sense. He also happens to be one of my favorites but he would be higher up the list if he kept some of his material to himself since while it doesn't necessarily offend me personally it no doubt makes a lot of people feel badly when they hear it.
Evidently there are no limits to comedy just as long as the comedian can maintain a jestful demeanor and the audience is sufficiently numb enough to not realize that the next joke could very well be offensive to their personal sensibilities.
Using questionable material is a numbers game it seems and the people who are turned off in the process are simply acceptable losses to the comic in his/her pursuit of success. Either that or the comic is recklessly sharing his/her personal idea of funny at the expense of others. It's a very selfish attitude any way you slice it. Just remember, its all fun and games until you get hurt.

Doesn't this criticism equally apply to Lenny Bruce?

I'm not sure BBS, I don't know who Lenny Bruce is.
What's the comparison?

You can talk as an expert on what 99% of comedians do and you never heard of Lenny Bruce?
Count yourself disqualified.

Are you implying that Lenny Bruce makes up more than 1% of comedians?

[jonesthecurl]

he certainly was a seminal figure in the developement of comedy.
comedy today wouldn't be where it is without him. Look him up.

[xeno]

I just want my comedian to provide a smart social commentary. Is that so much to ask

[Frigidus]

Speaking of Daniel Tosh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxfDnq9ORIs

[clangfield]

he was just trying to get attention...

There. You've nailed 99% percent of comedy as a profession, xeno.
Ricky Gervais is somewhat unique though in the way that he seems to not care about the huge demographic that is actually driven away from him as a comic as the result of questionable material. When this happens I chalk it off to a comic's ego being bigger than his professional common sense. He also happens to be one of my favorites but he would be higher up the list if he kept some of his material to himself since while it doesn't necessarily offend me personally it no doubt makes a lot of people feel badly when they hear it.
Evidently there are no limits to comedy just as long as the comedian can maintain a jestful demeanor and the audience is sufficiently numb enough to not realize that the next joke could very well be offensive to their personal sensibilities.
Using questionable material is a numbers game it seems and the people who are turned off in the process are simply acceptable losses to the comic in his/her pursuit of success. Either that or the comic is recklessly sharing his/her personal idea of funny at the expense of others. It's a very selfish attitude any way you slice it. Just remember, its all fun and games until you get hurt.

Doesn't this criticism equally apply to Lenny Bruce?

I'm not sure BBS, I don't know who Lenny Bruce is.
What's the comparison?

To quote Irish funster Sean Hughes: "If comedy was the Civil Rights movement, Lenny Bruce would have been its Martin Luther King".
You have to see everything in context though. Jim Davidson and Freddie Starr used to be funny (and I did see them both live), now they're just ridiculous. Racist, sexist, homophobic jokes were all the rage until the eighties; but then slavery, invasions and 'bringing Christianity to the savages' were the thing to do for many hundreds of years.
Adam Hills is currently doing a great TV show called "The Last Leg", looking at the funny side of disability - if you don't know him, he's an Australian, who has an artificial limb below the knee. Is that beyond the Pale, or okay because he's the one telling the jokes? Bob Monkhouse was telling jokes about his cancer and impending death until the end - is it okay to joke about death? Does it become okay if you're the one who's dying? Example:
The doctor rang and told me I'd not got long to live. I said "How long?" He said "Ten..." I said "Ten what, weeks, months?" He said "Nine... Eight...Seven..."

Not funny to someone suffering, or who has a relative who's suffering, yet it would have been a shame not to have heard it - then made up your own mind.

[JBlombier]

How do you know your sister is on her period?

- Your dad's cock tastes like blood.

I don't see why there should be limits. You can always walk out the door, discuss it or punch the guy if it went too far.

[tkr4lf]

How do you know your sister is on her period?

- Your dad's cock tastes like blood.

I don't see why there should be limits. You can always walk out the door, discuss it or punch the guy if it went too far.

I agree, though. There shouldn't be any limits. As Carlin said... "I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." If your feelings get hurt, well, deal with it. Or don't. I suspect it doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.



Also, Daniel Tosh is hilarious. His show may not be the best, but his stand up is pure gold.

[Lootifer]

he was just trying to get attention...

There. You've nailed 99% percent of comedy as a profession, xeno.
Ricky Gervais is somewhat unique though in the way that he seems to not care about the huge demographic that is actually driven away from him as a comic as the result of questionable material. When this happens I chalk it off to a comic's ego being bigger than his professional common sense. He also happens to be one of my favorites but he would be higher up the list if he kept some of his material to himself since while it doesn't necessarily offend me personally it no doubt makes a lot of people feel badly when they hear it.
Evidently there are no limits to comedy just as long as the comedian can maintain a jestful demeanor and the audience is sufficiently numb enough to not realize that the next joke could very well be offensive to their personal sensibilities.
Using questionable material is a numbers game it seems and the people who are turned off in the process are simply acceptable losses to the comic in his/her pursuit of success. Either that or the comic is recklessly sharing his/her personal idea of funny at the expense of others. It's a very selfish attitude any way you slice it. Just remember, its all fun and games until you get hurt.

Jonsey has already said it better than I can, but nonetheless...

The difference between a good comedian and a bad is not the level of their grotesquness, but their intent: If you genuinely believe that 99% of comedians are just there to get attention then you have simply seen 99 bad comedians and one good one.

Good comedians (including Ricky) intended/try to make people laugh. Granted Ricky only cares about making a certain portion of the population laugh.

In fact I like a comedian all the more when they personally offend me; it means that they clearly understand their audience (within reason of course - the afrementioned coon joke in a a bar in [insert predominantly black community here] is not what im talking about).