Oh-kay.. I've scrolled through the reams and reams of comments on this post, trying to make sense of what's actually being claimed/suggested/whatever... and here's my two-penn'orth, for what it's worth. Some of you may decide it's as worthless as those of other people you've called hideous names in your quest to be 'right'... I can live with that, you don't know me so it's not like you'll be saying anything THAT personal.
There's a certain area of Jimmy Carr's humour that I personally find very difficult to deal with. It's to do with a certain 'crime against women' (apologies for not being more specific than that, but I have had some pretty nasty experience of 'it,' and have been left with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result, one of the symptoms of which is being unable to say, write or type the actual word for 'it' without getting upset.) I have seen a lot of Jimmy Carr's standup on tv and YouTube, and I will admit that there have been some of his jokes on that subject that triggered flashbacks and made me cry the first time I heard them. These reactions, however, were involuntary and reflex reactions to horrible memories that I can't always suppress in time to make them unnoticeable to others (somewhat embarrassing but unavoidable I'm afraid.) Once I'd got over the 'shock' of hearing those jokes the first time however, on hearing them again I found myself more able to look at them from a different perspective. I saw the audience members' expressions of horror and audible gasps and couldn't help but think "Well as long as they're still doing that, society hasn't completely gone to Hell. If they'd all just laughed at it, then we'd be in trouble."
I actually agree with what you said, TigerseyeMum, in your very eloquent paragraph about a single joke being taken out of its original context. I think that deconstruction is what Jimmy Carr does - hits people rapid-fire in the face with the unacceptable prejudices that truly do exist, in the hope of making them look at them and really examine them. If he fails in his approach to reach the stupid people who already have nasty views on a subject... well, true, he hasn't made things any better, but is it really fair to say he's making them worse? Those people already were the type to bully and abuse, it's not like he just put the idea into their head.
I can't claim to know him personally, but from the interviews I've read and heard with him he seems like a very friendly, liberal and courteous man, completely different from his cold and sarcastic stage persona. Yes, obviously he could just be 'faking niceness' for the purpose of remaining popular with his fans, but you could accuse anyone and everyone of that to a greater or lesser degree, famous or not. Yes, he's quite obviously had some 'issues' in his past, but people can change once they've confronted such things, and the fact that he has also trained as a psychotherapist suggests to me that he's probably more aware of the workings of the human mind than many, and that's what he's using in his routines when he sets out to shock people with their own reactions to taboo subjects.
I also sympathise deeply with parents, friends, relatives etc. of those with SN and LD; I can't think of anything more heart-wrenching than seeing someone you care deeply about being bullied and abused simply for being 'different.' I can see why some of Jimmy Carr's material would make you angry and hurt you profoundly. Bullying anyone is wrong, and bullying those who are unable to fight back is worse than wrong.
What I CAN'T see though, is why you're all shouting at each other on the internet, insulting those who refuse to see your point of view (not all of you, I hasten to add, but you know which of you have been the bandying the old 'c-word' about like it's going out of fashion...) How is attacking others on this forum for not feeling the same level of passion as you do going to help matters?
You really want to feel like you're fighting the cause for SN people? Well, why are you calling people like TigerseyeMum insulting names in pages and pages of internet back-and-forth then? Why aren't you going on Google to find out the contact details of Jimmy Carr or his agent, and explaining your point of view calmly and rationally in a letter to him? Of course he might ignore the odd one or two - but he'd find it a lot more difficult to ignore tens, or hundreds of them. And you never know, he might even write back - or, heavens above, actually concede that maybe you're all right and drop the jokes you've objected to. Ripping into him and calling him a c* on an internet forum isn't going to make him think you're worth listening to - but a well-written, persuasive argument for your cause in a personal letter just might. Public pressure DOES work - especially if it's done in a mature and civil manner.
Just a thought...