Dude, Not Funny!

[peruvianskys]

The way I'd put it is:

Anything can be the subject of a joke, but not everything can the punchline of a joke. If you're intelligent about it, even the darkest things can be the jumping-off point for clever or ironic humor - but when the entire comedic value comes from simply mentioning rape, a racist stereotype, or some kind of historical atrocity, then it's not funny at all to me. It's lazy and boring and obnoxious and shitty.

Patton Oswalt, for example, has some really clever jokes about rape and rape culture that I think are hilarious. They're about sexual violence, but the punchline is more than just laughing at the idea. The humor always comes from a position of, "Yeah, this is horrible, let's use humor to explore exactly how shitty the people who do it are." It's transgressive, but the boundaries it transgresses are those of the dominant culture; it's a guy using humor to challenge and criticize instead of just reveling in the shock value.

On the other hand, Daniel Tosh just spouting, "OLOLOL RAPE AM I RIGHT COME ON GUYS" annoys me to no end.

I guess the main problem I have with the more "controversial humor" that hinges on racism, sexism, shock value, and just general mean-spirited indulgence is that those jokes are actually safe as shit. Seriously, getting a bunch of middle-class, straight white men into a room and making jokes at the expense of the poor, blacks, gays, and women isn't "transgressive" or "edgy"; it's just lazy and boring. When prejudice and white privilege is the norm in your audience, the really risky comedy is anything that criticizes racism or sexism.

 

[DeltaEdge]

Being Christian, I am not particularly fond of jokes that I feel are demeaning to my faith. I'm not saying they shouldn't exist, as I agree that no type of joke should be off-limits just because someone has a preference against it, but I personally don't like those kinds of jokes. I don't really care if people make them in my presence, as 90% of the people I associate with are atheist/agnostic, so it's to be expected, but I probably won't laugh at that particular joke is all.

 

[Goofguy]

Not that it's necessarily out of bounds, but I have never heard one funny "dead baby" joke. And I had some friends who thought they were amazing comedians when they spouted off that crap.

 

[The_Echo]

By frequenting certain channels of the Internet, I've come to know the feeling of being offended as completely alien. I honestly don't know how to feels to find something offensive.

So of course, I can find anything funny as long as it's delivered well.

 

[Loonyyy]

Depends on the audience. Duh.

Telling an off-colour joke in mixed company will get you glared at, making it at a lads night might get you high fives. Making racist jokes about minorities won't go down well when talking to those people. Making jokes with swearing won't endear you to most grandparents.

Whether you're being funny or not depends on whether your audience finds it funny.

 

[FFP2]

Is it odd that the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title was Chie from Persona 4?

OT: Mostly rape jokes. Unless the comdedian's humour is generally really messed up eg. Louis C.K. I get really pissed off.

Also jokes about cheating in relationships. But that's mainly due to me being old-school.

 

[A Weakgeek]

I'd say that this is an unfunny offshoot of a funny form of comedy; the prank. It's just that this prank is bad because it actually has a high chance of causing real problems for a person.

Yeah, but that's not to say pranks can't be done right. There is a channel on YouTube called JustForLaughsTV that has literally hundreds of pranks done on the public that are funny for all involved. Sometimes they are shocking or awkward at first, but at the end they always reveal themselves and the people are given the chance to laugh with them. Some of my favorites are the Little People Express Post, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1wGqtnnbLE] the transforming Japanese girls, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CN_HrkBlRs] and the bus driving grim reaper. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_wxUHRr4-Q] And, just because it's so damned clever, instant water. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjm5pOu_PEw]

I love pranks like that, and it would be a delight to be on either end of it. Those people at Punk'd or Jackass could learn a thing or two from them. You can be funny and clever without actually putting people in danger or causing them problems. The best kinds of pranks are the ones that can be enjoyed by everybody, because unless you're a total asshole or sociopath, there's going to be an element of guilt that stymies the fun.

Bwha ha ha! This may be a bit off topic, but those examples were excellent choices. Bravo madam.

 

[rob_simple]

The only thing that can make a joke offensive, to me, is intent. If someone tells a joke to make people laugh then, even if I don't find it funny, I'll respect what they're trying to do.

It's when you start with offending people as a goal and then work backwards from there to think of the worst thing you can say that you start to look like a dick, because it's not about the humour anymore, it's just about you trying to get a rise out of people.

To me, the best sign that an 'offensive' comedian is doing what they're doing for the right reasons, is when they start laughing during their own routine:

 

[mokes310]

Chris Hardwick said it best (as well as many other comedians), that you can either be offended by everything, or nothing.

I tend to agree with this sentiment.

 

[Zombie Sodomy]

Nothing is off limits

 

[NightmareExpress]

Ignorance and malicious intent are what make the difference to me.
Otherwise, if you can't laugh at the darkest that life has to throw at you, why laugh at all?
Irony is a funny thing and there is fun to be had when you can connect some dots even if they are part of a horrible picture.

There's a time and audience for everything. That time is not immediately after a tragic event and it's also certainly not to anyone closely related to the victim of said tragedy. You can sincerely go fuck yourself if you get a ruse out of that.

 

[Korenith]

No, literally anything can be funny. The first time I watched Schindler's List I made jokes all the way through it.

There's an appropriate time and place for everything though, I'd never enjoy black comedy if I had to watch it with my grandparents or something like that...

Oh god, Schindler's List. You've reminded me, there's a bit where some Nazis storm a house and tell all the residents to stand up and there is this poor old guy stuck in his wheelchair. So they pick him up and throw him out the fucking upstairs window for being physically incapable of standing up.

I found that so damn funny. We were watching it in school for history class and my teacher was... Less than happy at me for laughing shall we say.

Isn't that The Pianist? The Adrian Brody film? Schindler's List is the black and white one with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes.

OT: It's all about the intent for me. Well and the skill of the person telling the joke. If they're good and they don't mean it nastily then anything is fine by me.

 

[RN7]

Humor is a very fickle god. Everything or nothing at all can be funny. It's just dependent on the person, and in some cases, the victim. For example, a former acquaintance of mine takes serious pride in screwing with people for his personal enjoyment, going so far as to attack their religious and personal beliefs, and to go out of his way to psychologically scar them or ruin their social lives. To me and most other people, he's just a jerk. To others, he's a comedian.

 

[greatcheezer2021]

humor with the right amount of moderation is great. people who just push it, just kill the punchline very veeeery slowly..

 

[Evil Raccoon]

I used to have some issues with the subject of death a while ago due to the passing of some people that were very close to me.
But death and me are cool now.