to feel that nothing is off limits comedy wise?

[Heathcliffscathy]

when I think of things that have really made me laugh some of them would be VERY offensive to some groups (mostly religious, and I believe in god)...I'm thinking about Sarah Silverman, Dennis Leary's no cure for cancer, Chris Rock etc etc.

Comedy is about offence to a certain extent isn't it as the funniest things are the ones that are closest to the bone, laughter relieves anxiety and therefore the graver and most serious something is (like the nazi's for eg) the funnier it can be (vis the producers for eg).

Dave Allen had it in for Catholics and my catholic mother used to weep with laughter at him. Derek and Clive take the piss about Cancer to great effect.

Now there are some 'comedians' that I think are shit: Bernard Manning springs to mind...but I don't think that banning them or censoring or protesting is the way forward, just don't view!

There are threads on here regularly about topics that mner's feel are off limits to comedy, most especially special needs. But I'm pretty sure that many special needs adults wouldn't appreciate being singled out as something that cannot be a source of humour...the ability to laugh at oneself including the tragedies and limitations of our lives is really important isn't it?

I maybe totally wrong, and maybe it's only ok if it is a special needs person doing it?

Are we talking about a particular comedian's specific joke here? If so, we would all need to see that joke to be able to comment.

I am not sure whether I am being included in these comments about being a coward and a bigot and pretending jokes have no influence.

but why pick on the vunerable?
there are plenty of better targets out there.
celebs, politicians, bigots.

so DP would you like people making jokes at your dc's expense, however much it hurt them and led to them being bullied, would you still get the joke?

Stupid people will always pick on easy targets 2shoes.

I don't want censorship, can't even see how that would work.
but there should be limits to what is deemed acceptably.
sadly this thread proves that people care more about their right to lol

I think jokes about any subject can be funny. I find Big Bang Theory hilarious, and it is clearly humour with austism at its heart. But the 'autistic' and minority characters are funny in their own right, not merely the butt of jokes that are nothing more than abusive. Jokes about racism can be hilarious, jokes about the holocaust etc - it is not the subject that should be off limits, but I think people are right to be angry about humour that leads directly to discrimination, bullying and worse. I doubt anyone (with perhaps one exception here) would defend jokes about 'smelly pakis' or 'nignogs' - this sort of thing was common when I was a child, and is now very, very rare, thankfully.

2shoes;

Little Britian took the piss out of disabled people with special needs.....( as well as other groups. )

it's probably one of the BBC's most successful comedy shows in recent years.

People laugh at the disabled. I'm sorry, but they do.

bollocks to the communist shite... democratic societies censor all the time and noone bats a fucking eyelid.

The Little Britain sketch worked because Andy wasn't actually disabled - just fat and lazy and his carer Lou was a caricature of a woolly, hopeless social worker type.

DaftPunk, wasn't the joke, that the guy wasnt disabled. But just liked sitting on his arse?

cross post with nancy66

daftpunk I lol at you I am sorry I really do, come on DP answer the question.............

so DP would you like people making jokes at your dc's expense, however much it hurt them and led to them being bullied, would you still get the joke?

The office;

left the woman in the wheelchair halfway down the stairs during the fire drill because she was too heavy.

Dp I do find it rather amusing that you are on here defending your right to find anything funny, when yesterday you were appalled by a joke made by a poster and happily declared your disgust.

So is your argument that things are fine as long as you find them funny?

There are things that society considers offensive. We have a watershed and things that are considered offensive are not allowed to be shown before the watershed. Movies are given ratings to take account of possibly offensive material. Some things are so offensive that they are by common consent, not allowed to be shown in public. There are laws that prevent certain types of offensive material.

Most people feel and understand that jokes made at the expense of disabled people are offensive and harmful. They harm society because they normalise these offensive ways and can lead to mistreatment of disabled people. People who make such jokes should not be given any public platform. They can make these jokes in private, but not in a public space, because they are harmful to the community.

People who think that these edgy comedians are about free speech are kidding themselves. These edgy comedians pick on easy targets, they are cowards. They know full well there are certain things that they are not allowed to say, and they never say them. But they pick on disabled people and pretend that they are standing up for free speech.

the office was taking the piss out of the staff member, not the disabled woman... that's obvious.

here we go again another interesting debate Hi jacked by an "all about me bigot"
same old same old

Again, I think The Office joke about the girl in the wheelchair was funny because it highlighted David Brent's stupidity. In the same way he was always trying to befriend the black buy in the office - wanted to be PC but always failed miserably. The joke was on him.

If I was in the audience where a comedian told one gag after an another about disabled people then i doubt I would find it amusing - as it wouldn't be witty or cleverly observed.

But somebody mentioned Ricky Gervais's quip about M.E - and I did laugh at that. 'Twas funny.

In the 70's when racist comedy was accepted, do you all believe that censorship is what led to it no longer being acceptable?

Because I think it was just society educating the masses. Soon those comedians just became an embarrasing throwback to another time.

Right now we know that where racism isn't on and why we still accept the disabled being taunted. I think censorship just hides the problem, I think educating people would work better.

The joke was about David Brent's awful stupidity, laziness and complete lack of social skills. There was a brilliant scene with the woman in the wheelchair where he pulled out her chair so he could sit at the table, and it was so clearly portrayed as something that nobody should ever do to a disabled person (who was clearly intelligent, nice, socially skilled, and not a bit like David Brent), so it was actually quite educational.

Has DP said why suicide jokes aren't funny but disabled jokes are yet?

Joan Rivers is funny about her husband's suicide.