Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To find ‘jokes’ about Maddie McCann upsetting?

226 replies

Helendee · 17/04/2019 12:45

I saw a clip of Frankie Boyle demonstrating his sense of ‘humour’ by making what I find to be shocking jokes about Maddie.
The audience seemed to find it hilarious but I find it crass and distressing.
Please tell me I am not alone!

OP posts:
Luaa · 17/04/2019 12:45

No, I'm with you!

makingmiracles · 17/04/2019 12:48

He is a disgusting human, he makes jokes about disabled people and people with special needs too. Other comedians manage their careers without Doing so so I fail to see why he needs to, so I’ve just concluded it’s just who he is and that’s not a nice person.

User59720gpwn82210 · 17/04/2019 12:51

I can't stand him so would never watch him. I also feel for the McCanns and would not appreciate jokes at the their expense or at the expense of those who are disabled, less able or have special needs.

Pumperthepumper · 17/04/2019 12:54

People like to convince themselves they have a dark sense of humour and are being really edgy by saying, or laughing at, things that basic human decency should be appalled by. He’s made a career out of these people. He’s hideous and so are they.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 17/04/2019 12:57

This is a man who makes "jokes" about disabled children- he's vile!

TigersRoll · 17/04/2019 12:59

Ricky Gervais makes jokes about children with cancer! Watched his humanity show and there were jokes about cancer, missing children, cot death and all sorts. Unbelievable

SileneOliveira · 17/04/2019 13:01

Madeleine. Not Maddie.

And Frankie Boyle is distasteful full stop. Nasty little man who's really not funny.

wellhonestly · 17/04/2019 13:01

YANBU, I find it distressing too. I went to a Frankie Boyle live show years ago (had never heard of him but friend bought tkts for a crowd of us) and it had quite a few "jokes" of this nature, tasteless and not funny.

PortiaCastis · 17/04/2019 13:02

The mans an arsehole who showboats at other peoples expense to gain attention for his low gutter licking self, better off ignored and he may possibly crawl under his stone

SileneOliveira · 17/04/2019 13:02

Oh and my favourite Frankie Boyle story - makes a huge play out of being slightly to the left of Stalin, politically. A real man of the people and a champion of the underprivileged working class.

Used to see him regularly hanging out in our local David Lloyd club sipping on his latte.

Lovestonap · 17/04/2019 13:04

Frankie Boyle is vile. You could argue that I'm just not his target demographic but I find ALL other comedians funny to some degree, its just him I can't stand.

I also find McCann jokes upsetting. I saw her name as an answer on a cards against humanity set and immediately removed the game from the house. I Imagined how I would feel seeing my own daughter's name as the butt of a joke.

missteddy · 17/04/2019 13:12

Yeah I have a sick sense of humour most of the time but I really don't like Frankie Boyle , he's vile, I think jokes about an innocent missing child are disgusting, also when celebs die and there is a joke on social media about it the NEXT day! I mean ....give it a while at least. So disrespectful.

Original poster
Helendee · 17/04/2019 13:15

I hardly think it matters if I use the diminutive of the poor girl’s name!

OP posts:
PlainSpeakingStraightTalking · 17/04/2019 13:16

Frankie Boyle is a lady part.

Original poster
Helendee · 17/04/2019 13:17

Thanks for the replies.
I acknowledge they I am incredibly sensitive and quite naive in general but it’s good to know most of us find Boyle and his peers to be distasteful.

OP posts:
Lifecraft · 17/04/2019 13:18

Ricky Gervais makes jokes about children with cancer! Watched his humanity show and there were jokes about cancer, missing children, cot death and all sorts. Unbelievable

It's unbelievable that you watched his show, surely knowing full well that he jokes about anything. It's not exactly a secret. Same with Frankie Boyle.

I sometimes wonder if people forget they have an OFF button on their remote control. There are lots of things I don't like watching. So I don't watch them. I don't go out of my way to watch stuff I know I won't like and then moan about it.

eddiemairswife · 17/04/2019 13:18

helendee Her parents have pointed out that they always called her
Madeleine.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 17/04/2019 13:19

The point of him is that he is vile. He strides right into areas that our increasingly PC world shuts away, often refuses to acknowledge. That is one of the reasons humour exists, to allow us to explore even the most extremely distasteful topics.

I don't like much of his humour but am self aware enough to know that some if it rings true with me, makes me laugh at the awfulness of the sitation - that catharsis of humour, especially black humour.

Whilst I wouldn't go to see him (or many other comedians) I can't agree with all the epithets here.

DesparateDino · 17/04/2019 13:19

I don't like it either. I don't like Frankie Boyle. I remember years ago him taking the mick out of downs children. Disgusting man.

Thebatmother · 17/04/2019 13:21

There can be humour to be found in all sorts of dark and unlikely subjects but this isn’t one of them. It’s disgraceful and beyond low to use Madeleine or any other missing person as sketch material.

Aeroflotgirl · 17/04/2019 13:22

I don't like it either, it is very bad and says a lot about the type of person telling the joke. I have seen jokes shared on FB about Madeline Megan. It is just distasteful.

CherylCheshire · 17/04/2019 13:23

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Lifecraft · 17/04/2019 13:26

There can be humour to be found in all sorts of dark and unlikely subjects but this isn’t one of them. It’s disgraceful and beyond low to use Madeleine or any other missing person as sketch material.

Can you give us a list of the dark subjects that are acceptable to joke about, if any missing person is off limits. So no jokes about Lord Lucan. How about missing animals? Is a joke about Shergar acceptable?

When people start telling us what subjects we can and can't laugh about, depending on their own moral code, I can't take them seriously.

TheInvestigator · 17/04/2019 13:27

It's comedy. It's not meant to be serious. And if you say "it's ok to make jokes about "normal" people and the silly things they do but it's not OK to make jokes about disabled people and the way they do things", then you're applying double standards.

It's either ok to make jokes or it's not, but you can't say it's fine for one groups but wrong for another group. That's not equality.

Tinkobell · 17/04/2019 13:28

Yes he's an utter toe rag. I found his gags about Jade Goody a few years back just jaw dropping. I don't get why the audience laugh....sheep herding instinct I guess; because the lines themselves aren't actually funny. Boyle has a weird obsession with orifices that most people grow out of aged 14 or so.