With Jim Davidson (on Hell’s Kitchen) the latest comedian falling foul of what is acceptable in today’s society, is there still a place in the future for stand up comics?

 

With all the comedians of yester year dying or retired, what subjects can you make fun of without offending anyone?

 

Race and gender remain firmly on the comedians' agenda, but do audiences still laugh at these subjects?

 

What subjects can todays comedians make jokes about?

 

If we can’t laugh then will we all become miserable buggers?

 

 

It seems mainly the older generation of comics where the problem lies. Jim Davidson just seemed very old-fashioned, and could'nt accept gay people as that is probebly the way he was brought it. That problem would'nt be anywhere near as much these days. There will always be people who get offended about something though at the end of the day.

Davidson is a VILE creature, like Manning he belongs in the dustbin of history

 

If Davidson os considered funny then god help comedy

 

There are plenty of good comedians around like Jimmy Carr, Peter Kay and so on who can be funny without having to resort to bigotry

Edited September 15, 200717 yr by Vic Vega

Davidson is a VILE creature, like Manning he belongs in the dustbin of history

 

If Davidson os considered funny then god help comedy

 

There are plenty of good comedians around like Jimmy Carr, Peter Kay and so on who can be funny without having to resort to bigotry

 

I agee. Davidson is extremly vile. I find Jimmy Carr very annoying, not a big fan of comics who do one liner jokes. Dara O' Brien is imo, one of the finest stand ups there is, he comes up with really intelligent jokes, are rarely curses etc. My personal favourite is an Irish comic (who I don't think is famous in the UK) called Tommy Tirenan, but he is quite controversial when it comes to religion etc.

Some older comedians find it hard to accept that the world has moved on. Material that was considered acceptable thirty years ago is not considered acceptable today. The late Bob Monkhouse was able to adapt his act to fit in with changing times. Bernard Manning didn't and Jim Davidson hasn't.

 

Politically incorrect comedy still exists but it's now more likely to be achieved by creating characters. Ricky Gervais has created David Brent and Andy Milman. But we laugh at them because they're deliberately created as dated buffoons.

it was punk that kicked out the 'old style' comedians whos staple diet for poking fun was 1 the mother in law, 2 black people, 3 gay people. the political savvy, free thinking and reasonable attitude the punk movement championed gave rise to 'alternative' comedy, which is now mainstream. id suggest that all of todays great british comedy has its roots in the alternative comedy scene of the late 70's early 80's. the young ones and blackadder, comic strip etc showed that you could be funny, very funny and clever with it without resorting to cheap digs at certain groups in society.

 

in answer to the original question.... tbh i dont know! surely anything is fair game for comedy but it depends upon how its done. is it possible to tell a joke that features a gay or black person without any racist/homophobic undertones?

So are only jokes about white, heterosexual, able bodied males acceptable now?

 

oh dear :rolleyes:

When I went to see Jimmy Carr live he said "If you have to look about the audience to check whos in the theatre before saying the joke, then you shouldn't say it!! :lol: " I totally agree, but if you are a good enough comedian then you should be able to make a slightly risky joke in the knowledge that both you and the audience understand that it is said in jest and is ironic.

I love Jimmy Carr because his routine (when he isn't just hosting a show on tv) is much more than just one liners; he breaks the show up with weird and wonderful stuff which is great. He says that what he loves most is when people laugh at a joke and then it sinks in that it isn't that nice and they then say "ooooh!"

I don't think that he is racist, sexist, homophobic or anything else because his jokes tend to centre around a word play or an observation and not actually on the person in question.

Edited September 16, 200717 yr by Bry

Personally I think comedy is one of the safest areas that will always be least affected by Political Correctness.

 

It is other areas of society that are more under threat from the PC brigade.

 

In 2006 a caucasian was attacked at school in my home town by a group of 8 Asians with bats. As a result he has brain damage and will never make a full recovery.

 

It even made the national papers yet not one paper called it a racist attack.

 

You can guarantee if the skin colours had been reversed the attack would have been reported as racially motivated.

As Rob said, the likes of Manning and Davidson were all pretty much killed off by the Alternative Comedy scene anyway.. There's a huge difference in what somebody like Sacha Baron Cohen does with his Borat and Ali G characters (also, see Chris Rock and his "I love black people, but I hate n****ers" routine..) and the deliberately offensive c**p that Manning and Davidson routinely came away with..

indeed... manning and davidson were/are racists, openly so, so when they told jokes about black people you knew it was meant to riddicule them, they used comedy as a weapon.

Davidson is a VILE creature, like Manning he belongs in the dustbin of history

 

If Davidson os considered funny then god help comedy

 

There are plenty of good comedians around like Jimmy Carr,

 

strange how jimmy carr gets mentioned here innit. wasnt it jimmy carr who sued jim davidson for using the same joke about fat people 'fattist, no i said shes the fattist'

 

isnt most of jimmy carrs material as bad as davidson, but obv as its said ironicly its alright.

With nearly 60% of the population being fat you can almost guarantee that they will begin demanding rights including the silencing of comedians

on their fat jokes.

 

I think the world is a different place these days.

People don't really liked being mocked, especially for things that are of a highly personal nature.

Once upon a time we could all laugh at ourselves and also laugh at others unfettered.

 

I think the really clever comedians are the ones who can still find material in subjects that aren't necessarily like school yard humour.

 

There is still a lot to laugh about the human condition that doesn't necessarily have to be demeaning or dehumanising to anyone.

Edited September 22, 200717 yr by Naomi Watts