Is this funny?

[zazen999]

Just wanted to add that I think that there are much funnier people on this forum!

That reminds me; I wonder how Hey Wayne and Alison are doing at polishing up their act for Grapestock?

[Jax]

That's a problem with standup, people often find it funny until the jokes are about someone / something / a situation that affects them personally.

I don't like any humour that targets disability, race, ethnicity, religion etc etc and get accused of being too politically correct.

I accept that people laugh at it, but personally choose not to.

completely agree with the above post. I am a big fan of comedy but find frankie boyle abit much HOWEVER it does come across as though he was genuinely gutted that he had upset someone.

[organic]

I had a skim of the blog just to get the drift... here's my take on it as a regular at some of Manchester's comedy clubs (XS Malarkey, Beat the Frog and occasionally things like the New Material night at Comedy Store and Comedy Balloon when I've got the time).

If you go to a comedy night and expect any boundaries for good taste, disabilities, race, religion or anything else - you are in the wrong place.
I don't want that to give the impression I think absolutely anything is OK, I don't. However, if someone "crosses the line" and says something I think they shouldn't (and yes, I have had comics strike extremely close to the bone with me) - whether it's because they are using the comedy-stick to poke at religion (usually a fair-game topic for some reason), race (sometimes fair game, sometimes not, and almost always acceptable/not in an extremely inconsistent and hypocritical way), disability (pretty much always going to offend someone deeply but others not at all), sex (both kinds - usually fair-game except men making fun of women), sexuality (pretty much never OK when it could be called "homophobic" by some oversensitive types and pretty much always OK otherwise) or whatever, I'm not going to get in a huff about it... I'm certainly not going to start a blog to rant about it.

The simple fact is, if you're a straight, white, half English, half Irish, religious, pro-life, monogomous, male, ecologically minded, global-warming sceptic allotment holder who enjoys camping, sees bikes as transport rather than kids toys and would like to leave the city and live in the country... you're going to be offended at least a few times in a night at a comedy show. You know what though? You get over it.
You realise that everyone has their own outlook - that some things, presented right, are just funny - regardless of how offensive they are - and that the vast majority of comedians are highly opinionated and thoroughly offensive.

If you really can't cope with that you seriously need to think about avoiding any kind of live comedy that isn't performed by a childrens' entertainer.


On the topic of downs jokes. I wonder if the person who posted that blog laughed along when Frankie Boyle (a comedian I actually don't like for a whole host of reasons) was firing off his other "nasty" material.
Did she laugh when he joked about the inhabitants of council estates with a low-IQ?
Dis she laugh when he joked about the English?
Did she laugh when he joked about Jade Goodie and her death from cancer?

I mean - the audacity of going to a comedy night where you know the comic is a nasty bugger; where you want to see what material he's got that simply won't be broadcast; and then complaining when he hits a particular non-PC topic is really quite staggering.

I personally fit several "types" which comedians are able to berate without any fear of all but the most morally conservative letter-writers getting the hump with them about it.

What do I think about it?

I think you need to be consistent.

Either:
Accept that comics perform material based, in the main, upon people, what they are like and what they do... accept that all people and their peculiarities are fair game... laugh at the funny bits, don't laugh at the unfunny bits and enjoy your night out...
Or:
Insist that all comedians adhere to a strict and consistent code of practice which states they are forbidden to perform any material which is in any way negative about any group or individual, minority or otherwise.

If you opt for the latter, you'll be offended by any comedian who does more than Knock-Knock and Doctor Doctor jokes. I suggest you stay away from any venue advertising comedy - even if you've seen them on TV and thought they were funny, cute or a combination of both.

If you opt for the former then you will be offended sometimes, but you'll soon realise that everyone has the same rights as everyone else... and in my book that includes the right to have a comedian offend the living daylights out of you with absolutely no mercy shown.

Personally, I don't go in for the kind of comedian who makes cheap shots... so you can count on me not paying a single penny to see the likes of Stuart Lee (saw him once, it seemed like he told one bad joke over and over for what sounded like about 30 minutes, told another for what felt like 30 minutes more, indirectly called me "mentally retarded" in one of the rare funny moments of the show and then told the first joke again), Frankie Boyle, Russel Howard (good moments but still a bit "cheap" for me), Alan (crude) or Jimmy (like the playground idiot who thought he was funny) Carr and so on.

On the other hand - Bill Hicks (if he ever has a back-from-the-dead tour of the UK), George Carlin (ditto), Joe Rogan (off-the-planet kind of "not right" with some wierd views to rival David Icke but so funny he makes me weep) are all really offensive comics who've really dug into people like me in the past - and all of them leave me hurting from laughter.

There are no lines that should never or will never be crossed by comedians. If you think there are then I'm afraid you're going to be upset at some point.

Was Frankie Boyle's stuff about Downs funny? I really don't know without hearing it... it's my guess that being Frankie Boyle it probably wasn't to my taste and was probably bordering on some of the most offensive things that could be said about Downs... but being as comedy is so subjective I'd also guess that at least as many people would laugh their heads of at it as would start a new blog to rant about it.

[taff]

As Lee Mack said, it's pie,but it's not a pie, it's a pastie.

Have a look for that on you tube, I still repeat it to myself on occasion.....the occasion being at least once a week,maybe more, you do get some strange looks when you're doing it though...

[organic]

Taff, do you repeat it weekly when ordering/making/eating a pastie or just at any old time?

[taff]

Whenever anyone says something is like something but it's not. And just because it sounds funny....
I'm really annoying sometimes

[organic]

That sounds like as good a time to say it as any.

[vikkib]

Godwin's Law:
"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

Hahaaaaa! Genius!

[organic]

I feel stand-up comedians do sometimes breach good taste 'laws' and the result is not funny - I believe many who laugh in audiences are copying or catching contagious laughter, many laugh in embarrassment.

Not in my experience. I've seen loads of live comedy and it's really not unusual for a comedian who's in the process of "killing" turn instantly to "dying" when they cross a line and the crowd, almost in unison, stop laughing along.
A good one will backtrack, hands up and move on and get the crowd back on side.

By all means, target politicians, Y-front wearers and others who can talk back with equal articulation - leave the more vulnerable alone.

Most people really can't talk back with equal articulation, and most certainly not many of the politicians I've seen speaking.
I still think it's impossible to draw an intellectually sound line which allows more than knock knock and doctor doctor jokes and yet doesn't offend the vulnerable (or more to the point - offend sensitive people on behalf of the vulnerable).

The vulnerable have just as much right to have the mickey taken out of them as do the rest of us.

[HotStuff]

Just watching "Frankie Boyle Live" on Channel 4, very funny.

[Guttata]

So anything goes then? Jokes about blacks, queers, disabled, religion, Tories, the Army...anything?

I'm afraid I shall disagree with you and leave it at that. Some things aren't funny and are therefore not humour.

Yes.

Somethings aren't funny to you, other may find it hilarious. I can't stand Catherine Tate as a comedian or Little Village a couple of my friends find them absolutely hilarious, I laugh at The Good Life some of my friends don't see why it is funny.

Hence as has been said humour is subjective. People themselves will censor it by not going to the point the comedian will realise they are making no money. Also as organic has said if they go over an acceptable line while on stage they will know it.

There is a right to freedom of expression, no one has the right to not be offended however.

This lady knew what his comedy style is and still she chose to go. How many of the jokes did she laugh at? What made them less offensive?

I know people who would be highly offended at your use of the term "queer" to describe homosexuals they prefer the term "gay" yet I also know gay people who would slap them for being so prissy and tell them to get over themselves as you weren't using it in an insulting fashion. Again subjective.