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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to find this " Best Gag of the Edinburgh Festival in poor taste?

418 replies

speakout · 19/08/2019 21:04

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-49389208

I have seen and read this "joke " repeated several times on TV in the past few days and find it in very poor taste. Newsreaders on TV have been chuckling. Tourette's can be a serious and debilatating condition and sufferers have huge challenges in everyday life. Surely we are a bit more grown up these days than to poke fun at people with a neurological condition?
Is is just me being stuffy?

OP posts:
Original poster
speakout · 20/08/2019 05:43

DearGoodnessIsThatTheTime

Thank you for taking the time to explain your situation, it was brave of you to speak up.
For those suggesting that I should get out more or unclench, I take a liberal approach to life, I have had a great deal of life experience, including some experiences I would rather forget.
Contrary to some comments I don't agree that there must always be a " victim " when it comes to humour, and we must consider the impact of our words.
Many people struggle on a daily basis, and while I can do little to help I can at least be mindful of their situation and not trample over feelings with big boots for a few seconds of amusement.
Some compassion for others is never a bad thing.

OP posts:
rainbowstardrops · 20/08/2019 05:43

It's just a play on words and isn't poking fun at anyone so I don't think it's offensive at all. I suffer with anxiety and depression but I wasn't even vaguely offended by the antidepressant joke - I thought it was funny!
Some people take themselves way too seriously

GPatz · 20/08/2019 05:55

'you should really check yourself'

Are people still saying this? Grin

NotVeryMatureForAnOldLady · 20/08/2019 05:55

I didn't find the antidepressant one hilairious but nor was I offended by it (I suffer myself, it was just a joke):

I liked this one best...

"What's driving Brexit? From here it looks like it's probably the Duke of Edinburgh" - Milton Jones

and then this one...

To be or not to be a horse rider, that is Equestrian" - Mark Simmons

BarberaofSeville · 20/08/2019 05:56

I have a family member with Tourette Syndrome. I think a joke which centres on the most distressing sign of the illness is offensive. Accuse me of being pearl clutching if you want, but perhaps you haven't comforted your crying child who would give anything to not have to shout out random words.

AlliKaneErikson · 20/08/2019 06:14

I’m not ‘offended’, as such, but as the mother of a 9 yer old who cried for hours in frustration yesterday as she can’t control her tics, I think it is in bad taste. They wouldn’t have got away with a joke about many other conditions. Tourette’s is no laughing matter, I can assure you, but is so often the butt of jokes.

Nearlyadad · 20/08/2019 06:28

In some ways it’s good that the joke was given the award as the publicity following it, including this thread, has shown that some people with Tourette’s don’t find the condition remotely amusing and so that joking about it is probably not on.

It’s complicated by those with Tourette’s that do find such jokes amusing and a source of comfort though.

ChiaraRimini · 20/08/2019 06:59

The Mary Whitehouse Experience we're making jokes about Tourette's back in the 80s and it wasn't funny then.
The Eton one made me LOL and is current due to the mess we are in thanks to Old Etonians.

Toastedstrudel · 20/08/2019 07:13

Well then we can’t laugh about anything can we?
Some Etonians might be offended by that joke or equestrians to the other one.

RottnestFerry · 20/08/2019 07:25

Did she explain why it made her sad? I'm still missing it.

Because she didn't think of it first.

CherryPavlova · 20/08/2019 07:25

You picked up your offence from the BBC news. It’s a bit of an overreaction and a tad humourless. I thought it was quite funny.
Most Tourette’s are classified as having minimal or mild impact and many children grow out of Tourette’s. Very few have Coprolalia- the shouting of offensive words. Some of that shoutout is behaviour rather than symptomatic and controllable. That In itself is quite funny. Teenagers getting away with obscene shouting random things because they can.
Most people with Tourette’s have tics that are physical and many are also autistic.

BarberaofSeville · 20/08/2019 07:31

Well then we can’t laugh about anything can we? Some Etonians might be offended by that joke or equestrians to the other one

Well not really. Horse riding and going to a posh school don't generally cause intense distress.

whateverhappenstheremore · 20/08/2019 07:35

It's funny

LagunaBubbles · 20/08/2019 07:40

It's just a play on words, noone is laughing at disabilities ffs.

BarberaofSeville · 20/08/2019 07:43

If they aren't laughing at the disability, then what are they laughing at? What's funny without the central premise?

bellabasset · 20/08/2019 07:54

I heard it on the breakfast news yesterday morning and I heard it as tourettes rather than florets- maybe I misheard Steph McGovern's accent.

I don't personally know anyone with Tourettes but it must be a devastating illness.

PuppyMonkey · 20/08/2019 08:20

the central premise is simply that florets rhymes with Tourette’s - and you get broccoli florets and cauliflower florets.

KUGA · 20/08/2019 08:25

Whats funny to one person isnt always funny to another.
I found it mildly amusing.
We can`t all have the same sense of humour.

BarberaofSeville · 20/08/2019 08:50

the central premise is simply that florets rhymes with Tourette’s - and you get broccoli florets and cauliflower florets

Eh? The central premise is that people with Tourette Syndrome may have vocal tics which make them say words out loud, over which they have no control. And then that the word floret rhymes with the name of this syndrome.

I find it offensive, others don't. Whatever.

MarshaBradyo · 20/08/2019 08:52

It’s so mild as humour I wonder how it won, maybe delivery counts

YouSayPotatoesISayVodka · 20/08/2019 08:54

Humour is so subjective. I thought it was a shit joke (as in not funny) and I’m not offended by it. But that doesn’t mean people who find it offensive are in the wrong.

I imagine the organisation that are asking for an apology are probably sick to death of people making fun of Tourette’s when it’s really not funny at all.

MsJuniper · 20/08/2019 08:55

I think it's a crap joke and don't see the need to make jokes about disability or health conditions in 2019. It's not about being professionally offended but Tourette's has been the butt of many jokes for many years. It's old hat and it doesn't match the moves that have been made in recent years to make comedy that is more inclusive.

The cowboy one was funnier.

fortunatelynot · 20/08/2019 09:00

I think that views like yours are a sad reflection of the society we now live in.

alittleprivacy · 20/08/2019 09:30

The whole list is a bit rubbish though
They are all a bit 'meh' aren't they. Witty, yes, but the best gags of the Edinburgh Festival? Yesterday I was talking to my brother about him installing a toilet in his workplace. He said he'd like to but it's not his number one priority. I said it's actually a number one and a number two priority. I thought I just made a (literally) shit joke. Turns out I could have been shortlisted at Edinburgh.

Lumene · 20/08/2019 09:33

Sign of the times. The biggest social taboo these days is offending someone. Comedy is going to be focusing on pushing those boundaries that’s part of its role.