I found most of the jokes and comedians mentioned during the lecture on this subject funny and entertaining and nothing mentioned offended me in anyway, although I understand that this may not have been the case for everyone. However, whilst I was sitting there one memory did spring to mind and, as he wasn't mentioned in the lecture, I will use it as a personal case study for my blog.
I'm talking about Jimmy Carr.
As a rule, I do find Jimmy Carr's humour funny and entertaining. He makes me laugh, maybe not a very hard thing to do I admit, but it meant I went out, watched his DVD's and became quite a fan of his about 2 years ago. So it was logical I went to one of his live shows in 2008.
Like many comedians, Jimmy Carr's comedy is reactionary. It relies upon an audiences' reactions to subjects mentioned within his jokes to make them laugh. If you get the wrong crowd and tell the wrong joke you may as well call it suicide, stand up suicide anyway.
I found this link to some of Carr's most memorable jokes:http://www.funny-haha.co.uk/Joke.asp?J=1193 In this collection alone he touches upon reactionary and "sensitive" topics such as the elderly, poverty / third world victims, the homeless and homosexuality, to just mention a few. For me I can find these jokes funny and have laughed at them. I don't believe this makes me or Carr a bad person, however you may not feel the same. Depending on who you are and what you believe in you may or may not find these jokes funny and that's what I mean when I say that a "nasty comedian" is not a universally agreed term when applied to any one comedian. So back to me and Jimmy...
For much of the show I found him hilarious and was having a good laugh and a good time. Well I was, until about two thirds of the way through and then he made a joke about diabetics and their need for sugar. (I've searched and searched for this joke online, but I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I'm not the only one it offended and that's why you can't get a hold of it. But anyway...) This hit a nerve with me and I didn't laugh for the first time all night. Diabetes is a subject I am very sensitive to as one of the closest people to me is a sufferer. It's not funny. It's not a joke. It made me feel ice cold and I looked at the figure on the stage with harsh and disapproving eyes. It was in that moment I realised how offensive Carr's jokes were to anyone with a connection to one of his subjects and I understood why so many people I'd talked to recently had disapproved of me going to see him live. For the rest of the show I felt uncomfortable and guilty for laughing at anything he said.
There is the debate that reactionary jokes like these aren't and should not be offensive as long as the comedian telling them does not say that any claims made within these jokes are true, e.g. blondes being dumb etc. However, I do not entirely agree with this. As I have proven above, it is easy to be offended by such jokes if they are meant light-heartedly or not. Because of one joke alone I would now consider Jimmy Carr a "nasty comedian" and it has tarnished my view of him despite still being able to laugh at some of his material.
It's not like I hate Jimmy Carr or anything now, in fact I still find him funny and would probably go to another of his shows if a friend made the suggestion. I was lucky enough to go and meet Carr after that live show and despite everything I'd experineced during his set, I enjoyed meeting him and had a good laugh at some of the jokes he cracked while talking to me and signing my ticket. He is a funny guy, I can't deny it, I just can't watch him now without feeling a tinge of offense despite how hypocritical and silly it may sound.
If asked, I would say Carr is a "nasty comedian", but it's totally my personal opinion and I know many people who both agree and disagree with me.
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