Or is Jimmy Carr just a misogynist arse hole?

[VioletCharlotte]

This week I went to see Jimmy Carr's live show. A friend of mine had tickets and asked my go along at the last minute as their mate dropped out. Now I've never really had an opinion on Jimmy Carr, he's just someone I've never paid much attention too, so didn't really know what to expect.

Most of the 2 hours were filled with cracks about rape, special needs children, blind people and women. I came away feeling quite sad that this is what's considered comedy. Friend (male) says I've obviously had a sense of humour bypass, but AIBU in thinking actually it's just not funny and Jimmy Carr is actually just a massive idiot?

He's just an updated Jim Davidson.

I turn off the TV when he's on and would never pay to see him. Horrible man.

his joke about a severely disabled child is fucking funny

Absolutely fucking hilarious! Suggest you check out his Madeline McCann material as well. So wrong but so funny! Clearly the many thousands of other people there thought so too. I once went to see Frankie with a wheelchair basketball team with a mix of disabilities, they were killing themselves at his ‘disablist’ jokes. Some people clearly get it and some don’t.

I do find him funny, but completely understand that he's not everybody's taste. No one is. Some people do like to be offended by everything to be fair.

You can laugh about everything, but not with everybody.

Why are people tripping over themselves to point out how intelligent and intellectually bright someone is, by way of 'explanation' for a particular brand of fairly vile material?

'He knows what he's doing.' 'He's really intelligent, you know.' Oh right. Crack on then.

But jokes matter - they can shape how people see the world, and what they think of as acceptable. I read a really powerful piece a few years ago aimed at men who make/laugh at rape jokes. It pointed to research that shows that convicted rapists believe themselves to be incredibly normal - they tend to think that all men do what they do, and they were just unlucky to be punished for it. While you might be laughing at a joke because 'no one really thinks that', you're encouraging the person thinking 'yes, this is what we all think really'

Yes, this.

Oh it's postmodern hate speech.......so we can pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves we are better than the racist misogynist comedians of the past like Jim Davidson and Bernard Manning. Aren't we clever

And this.

Are you taking the piss sharklovers?

yes, fucking hilarious

Some people clearly get it and some don’t

That's what they say about Mrs Brown's Boys.

Comedy, eh?

He is very funny

He is a very good comedian- good delivery with clever, well written jokes

Always thought he was an arse. My opinion deteriorated considerably when he made a joke about The National Deaf Childrens Society......

So why no racist jokes then? Probably frightened of getting beaten up. Racist would include men wouldn't it? Women and disabled people don't tend to do that. Bloody coward.

He is a very good comedian- good delivery with clever, well written jokes

Yes, those jokes about children with Down syndrome all looking the same and the ones about rape being surprise sex are so clever...

I'm guessing he's bluer live than he is on tv? You can add Al Murray's pub landlord to the list.
Ironic comedians attract actual misogynists who arent in on the hilarious joke. At that point they become a parody.

Okay. Let's post his jokes and see how long they stand.

'In 2009, Jimmy joked about amputee serviceman during a stand up gig at Manchester Apollo when talking about the large amount of them from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He said: "We are going to have a f*ing good Paralympic team in 2012."

Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of the British Forces, slammed the joke and called it "completely disgraceful." Jimmy later apologised and said he would raise funds for the Help for Heroes charity.'

How can anyone find that funny?

I found the paralympics joke both funny and positive

British soldiers are awesome and them suffering injury/ disability wont stop them being awesome

jokes matter - they can shape how people see the world, and what they think of as acceptable. I read a really powerful piece a few years ago aimed at men who make/laugh at rape jokes. It pointed to research that shows that convicted rapists believe themselves to be incredibly normal - they tend to think that all men do what they do, and they were just unlucky to be punished for it. While you might be laughing at a joke because 'no one really thinks that', you're encouraging the person thinking 'yes, this is what we all think really'.
This is pretty much what I was going to say. Only one group of people think that all men are rapists and that group is
.. rapists themselves. Rape jokes just serve to validate their beliefs. And really, anyone who finds humour in an act that takes away someone's humanity and destroys their life is a vile creature.
No such thing in this context as "just a joke"
As a woman, I'm pretty sick of being the punchline. As a disabled woman I'm doubly sick of it.
If you can't see that these attitudes are damaging then... Good for you I guess. Hope it doesn't come back to bite you .

What about his jokes about rape and disabled children araiwa?

He's talented and funny but that doesn't make it OK. The gang rape joke for example is beautifully constructed but it's still no way for a decent human being to make a living.

Warren Mitchell used to tell stories about people coming up to him congratulating him on how right Alf Garnett was and how he "told it like it is". Mitchell's conclusion was "ha ha what an idiot, so much less clever than us, the joke's on him" but of course the joke was on kids like Sanjeev Baskar who said that the playground was always rougher for non-white children the day after Til Death Us Do Part had been on.

What do nine out of 10 people enjoy? Gang rape. What is rape anyway, he asks, but "surprise sex"

How can anyone think those are funny?

I agree.

I don't get how these people are 'comedians' but if 'normal' people spoke like this, there would be uproar, and so there should be. Since when is humour taking the piss out of disabled kids and rape victims?

Yes, hilarious

Here's another of his..
Why are they called Sunshine Variety coaches when all the kids on them look the fucking same?’

He's still making a living with his controversial jokes, so there's enough public who find him funny. If no-one was willing to pay to see him, live or on tv, he would disappear.

It's your right to dislike him, and to criticise him, and it's their right to pay to watch him. I am glad we live in a country where we are able to do both.

The 9/10 gangrape joke is an amazing joke-perfect construction with a great twist/ punchline

Yes the great thing about that beautifully constructed joke, Purple, is that the vulnerability of disabled children gives them no comeback. It's fucking genius really (or a cheap laugh for the sort of people who picked on the 'thick kid' at school)

He definitely steers clear of racist jokes but you can bet that those who love him and think that he's 'fucking hilarious' will also like a racist joke as well, between friends that is.

My ex told me the rape 9 out of 10 joke. I told him 'That joke isn't funny anymore' in reference to a Smith song he loved.

He's like a 2nd rate Bob Monkhouse but perhaps I'm just showing my age?

You are but he is. Monkhouse at least had the excuse of different times / different mores and I don't think Monkhouse was actually vicious.