Poll: Daniel Tosh threatens Woman with Gang Rape

[Eccentric Lich]

She should've known what she was getting into going to see one of his shows. He deals in shock value all the time.

While rape itself is a terrible act, I'm of the opinion that nothing is off-limits for humour as long as there's no overtly malicious intent. Tosh was just doing a bit and that woman made herself a reasonable target the second she decided to heckle him.

Normally I just ignore these topics but the profound stupidity in your poll prompted me to post. Why did you bother to make a poll with one answer? Were you trying to be clever and falling flat on your face or are you still sore about some recent rape in your past? (pun very much intended)

 

[Ramzal]

snip

Here's what you're missing:


Your complaint is the skill with which the jokes are delivered. We haven't even seen or heard the jokes, so we can't comment on that. Tone of voice, body language, it's all part of it. Both his and hers. The only body language and voice context we have is the kramer guy from Seinfeld's video and that is a horrible context: His voice and body language are hateful, angryda

We don't know the situation of tone of voice and body language for Tosh and the woman who heckled. She may have had a very balanced, polite interruption (think morgan freeman), she may have sounded crazy and unbalanced (think ms. crabtree from southpark).

Things like this make all the difference.

But if we were to agree that skill matters we come to the next hurdle: How can a comedian get a good well-tested rape routine, if you can only do a rape routine if it's well-tested?

How can a comedian become a good dark humor comedian if he doesn't dare first be a bad dark humor comedian?

As for your appeal to emotion it doesn't hold for me. The prevalence of rape isn't part of the equation. Nobody is speaking out in favor of rape. Nobody is saying rape is fine or natural. That's why it's such a non-issue to talk about it. Our morals are aligned: we all think rape is horrible.

That was why it was funny when he said "Rape is hilarious". Because everyone knows it's horrible.

We could definitely talk about how we can prevent rape in the future. But a comedy club is not the place for that. That's where we talk about how we can stop the prevention, because it's making it harder to rape people.

Sorry if you don't find this very funny, I guess I don't have a well-tested routine yet.

How to get a well-tested routine, huh? Well, here's a hint:

1. Before writing down a joke, ask yourself, "Is this joke more likely to make victims smile, or perpetrators?" The duty of a satirist is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and rapists don't need further reassurance [http://dbzer0.com/blog/feminists-dont-think-all-men-are-rapists-rapists-do] (seriously, read that link).

2. Try actually polling some sexual assault victims on the matter. If you know more than half a dozen women, there's probably one of them who has been assaulted. Oh, and if they don't feel comfortable enough around you to admit it, that's a big hint as to whether or not you're qualified. But go ahead and ask. Try respecting their feelings before you ask, and don't act as though they have an obligation to drop everything and provide you with objective unemotional feedback.

3. Scale it back unless and until you become popular enough that people are willing to turn out in droves to see you, specifically, rather than just you as part of a whole lineup of comedians for the night. Sorry, but it's true. In a mixed lineup in front of a mixed crowd, you should tone it down. And if you never achieve that popularity on your own, well, that's a sign that you should stick to topics with less baggage.

4. For the love of all that is good and decent in the world, LISTEN TO FEEDBACK.

As far as #1 goes, Family Guy made an episode that basically used women with down syndrome as a joke. Sarah Palin wasn't too happy about this and said that this is a mockery of women who have down syndrome and it should be taken off the air. The interesting thing about it? The woman who voice acted FOR the girl who had down syndrome in that episode HAS down syndrome. Her response to Sarah Palin?

"Sarah Palin, and people like her have no sense of humor."

If a woman who has down syndrome can willingly voice act for an episode like that--find it hilarious--and look at people trying to defend her when she doesn't need defending...what makes you think anyone has to stop and think if a joke would make victims/people living through something sad? If people who have down syndrome can laugh at this episode of family guy, or people who have been raped before can laugh at Tosh joking about rape...what makes you think you have to defend them?

 

[RamirezDoEverything]

The poll seems a bit biased....

Jokes are jokes, not a serious thing.

I don't get why people are so damn sensitive about any subject, in the big scheme of things nothing Tosh says is going to mean anything.

 

[Sylocat]

snip

Thank you for all your assumptions. I asked you not to make it about my personal experiences, but you did. I've been raped. I was eleven, the guy about 25 or 26. It happened 9 times before my parents found out. The guy as far as I know hasn't been charged/arrested. It has given me some problems and I deal with those. No one but the guy himself has ever given me the impression that this was a normal thing.

There was a time when I was really frustrated with taxes and fines and paperwork in general, I asked my dad how he dealt with the "stupid government" (my words at the time) and he said: "Well at least they're not trying to fuck you up the ass. Not literally, that is". I've never laughed harder in my life.

I believe humor is good medicine. For me it is, at least. It's not your or anyone else's problem that I was raped. I'll deal with it myself and I don't need the country be turned into one giant support group. And I definitely don't like it if comedians are told what jokes are or aren't acceptable. I certainly don't want people to give me extra latitude on this forum or in this topic, now that they know.

But you kept assuming, so I need to tell you, assumptions really suck. Stick to the topic in the future without making estimates about personal lives.

Well, my apologies. All I know is that the arguments in this thread show up very often in comfort-of-safety posters, but I still shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.

Although since you say you don't want extra latitude, I'll point out that you didn't address my other points, either.

She should've known what she was getting into going to see one of his shows. He deals in shock value all the time.

While rape itself is a terrible act, I'm of the opinion that nothing is off-limits for humour as long as there's no overtly malicious intent. Tosh was just doing a bit and that woman made herself a reasonable target the second she decided to heckle him.

If we're not allowed to tell comedians what jokes are acceptable, why are we apparently allowed to tell the audience what feedback is acceptable? If your definition of "Free speech" is the ability to say whatever I want without repercussions, well, that cuts both ways [http://jezebel.com/5925186/how-to-make-a-rape-joke]. Oh, it's a tradition for the audience to shut up and deal with it? Well, it's a tradition in comedy for the status quo to get mocked rather than reinforced, and if a comedian chooses not to live up to that basic tradition, it's rather odd for her to be pilloried by a bunch of armchair comedians.

 

[KILGAZOR]

It's ironic because you told viking97 that he doesn't know enough about comedy, when in fact you were the one unable to pick up on the humor he was using. He wasn't being serious when he said "daniel tosh isn't funny, this is an accepted fact and anyone who disagrees isn't in on this reality thing." He was exaggerating how unfunny he finds Daniel Tosh is. When someone says something that appears stupid, please be sure that they are trying to be literal with their statements before you try to correct them.

The problem with being witty over the internet can be dissected into two problems.


1: I can't hear the smarmy tone that implies your BSing.

2: For something you say intending to sound stupid and obviously joking, there is someone else out there who truly believes that.

That's why its difficult to be funny when writing a blog or written review.

daniel tosh isn't funny, this is an accepted fact and anyone who disagrees isn't in on this reality thing.

I think you need to read up on how comedy works and the differences in human beings and how they think.

*facepalm*
>tells me to read up on comedy

>doesn't get very obvious sarcasm

Sorry, Khazoth, it looks like it's 2 against 1 on this matter. I think you need to get your sarcasm detector checked.

 

[Eccentric Lich]

snip

snip.

She should've known what she was getting into going to see one of his shows. He deals in shock value all the time.

While rape itself is a terrible act, I'm of the opinion that nothing is off-limits for humour as long as there's no overtly malicious intent. Tosh was just doing a bit and that woman made herself a reasonable target the second she decided to heckle him.

If we're not allowed to tell comedians what jokes are acceptable, why are we apparently allowed to tell the audience what feedback is acceptable? If your definition of "Free speech" is the ability to say whatever I want without repercussions, well, that cuts both ways [http://jezebel.com/5925186/how-to-make-a-rape-joke]. Oh, it's a tradition for the audience to shut up and deal with it? Well, it's a tradition in comedy for the status quo to get mocked rather than reinforced, and if a comedian chooses not to live up to that basic tradition, it's rather odd for her to be pilloried by a bunch of armchair comedians.

You're allowed to tell the audience what feedback is acceptable when you're giving a performance at a place of business. Is the club paying her to give her opinion on the matter? No? Well then maybe she should leave the floor to the man who WAS hired to stand up and talk. Heckling is disruptive and it's rude to the other customers who went there to see him. I don't care what kind of joke he was making or whether it was good or not. I'm just saying that it's really dumb to go see a comedian known for trying to shock people when you have such a thin skin and it's just plain asinine to make a poll with three responses that all mean "no." Polls are there either to gather data about people's opinions or to provoke a discussion. Well if all answers are "no", you're not getting data. As for starting a discussion, a really shitty way to do that is to scream "I'm right and no one can disagree."