Best Medium for Issues.

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Edmund Blackadder

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OK, i've been thinking about this thread for a while now and would just like everyones opinion.

While watching some splendid comedy shows, occasionally they tackle some very serious issues, be it personal, political, social well basically whatever so I was wondering...Do You think Comedy is the right meduim to tackle these issues?

Is there some subjects that should never be used in a comedy show, are there some serious issues that only work in comedy?

What are your thoughts on this and do you have any examples?
 
You know me, I will laugh at and mock everything. One of the most important things about humanity is our imagination. Art in all its forms is vitally important. It can open doors to new ideas and advance our understanding of existence. Look at Da Vinci what advancements he made, and understanding of our universe because of his imagination.

When you put restrictions on art, you are giving power to the wrong thing.

Its like putting censors on a nasty word(sounds like stunt - That's what you call word play, baby!). By censoring it, you give it its power, its power to offend.

There is no thing too sacred to me. Comedy gives you an alternative to get through tragedy without the constant reminder that life sucks.

ANYTHING that restricts our freedom to me imaginative is a bad thing. Our great gift that separates us from the chumps of the animal kingdom, our ability to create.

I do not think that comedy undermines the enormity of a situation, I think it shines a torch into dark shadowed corners that some forms of medium are afraid to embrace.
 
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StuckinTraffic
And what better way to actually REACH people?
I used to believe that comedy has some natural boundaries, jokes about ethnic minorities or whatever, until I saw the Family Guy episode of South Park. Sounds absurd, but they're right, dammit - either all of it's okay, or none of it is.

It's self correcting anyway. So long as we ignore comedy that offends us it doesn't have an audience, but I no longer really believe we should formally restrict what topics are fair game. That said, just as it's their right to offend you, it's your right to be vocally offended.
 
Me personally I used to believe that although everything SHOULD be open to comedy that there were topics that didn't lend themselves to it.
For instance Paedophila.
I just could not imagine an episode of something being really funny IF the central theme was about the molestation of children...that was until Brass Eye.
It didn't make fun of paedophilia or paedophiles but the Hysteria surropunding it and how sometimes we in seriousness take things to far.
Loved the changing of the British Isles to the Paedoph Isles🙂
 
There should never be any restrictions made upon art, be that comedy or whatever else. The act of doing so limits freedoms in ways that you could not imagine and it would be a dangerous road to travel down to try and find the best place to limit such things. Better to allow everyone the freedom to express themselves as they choose, obviously providing that expression does not harm anybody else, and let yourself choose to ignore what you personally do not like.
 
Hmmm, i think if done right, with an 'appropriate' issue, comedy is a great medium for serious issues. Hey if your not gonna laugh about it your going to cry about it right?
 
Restrictions are bad!

It's like when I try to do my stand-up routine on the holocaust. Ok, I say stand up, a large part of the act is me rolling on the ground, gasping for air as I replicate the effects of Zyklon B infiltrating my lungs and penetrating into my central nervous system as the life is slowly choked out of me. Each second an agony, my lungs filling up with blood, thrashing about like an ant dropped in acid, reaching out for some act of compassion. Hoping upon hope that my torturer has one small shred of humanity, that its all a test, that each blink won't be my last. My final moments on this earth spent in excruciating agony. My last breath spent shrieking in utter absolute misery, and then darkness, and then nothing.

It goes down a treat.. the act not the gas. Hey, there's a helluva lot of talent required to keep that big plastic nose attached to my face.

Too much? It's never enough, BABY! MORE, MORE
 
I guess it's easy to say we're all pro free-speech as a concept, but I can't deny that a really racist joke does make me queasy.


Hurrah for Brass Eye, although IMO, The Day Today was funnier... and terrifyingly true to modern television journalism.
 
I think the Aristocrats thing is a bit different, because the object is to outrage.

Something like a Paddy Irishman joke, I can appreciate the wit involved, but I can't help cringing because they do reinforce stereotypes. Even if some of them are bloody funny.
 
Jill_Valentine said:
I think the Aristocrats thing is a bit different, because the object is to outrage.
Click to expand...

Not quite. The point of the joke is to test the Comic. Its more about pushing their limits and seeing how far they can go. The joke itself is rarely told to a regular audience.

The point of me putting that joke here though was because I didn't want to open a thread simply for it, and as the content of this thread is the use of Comedy and its potential boundries, it seemed to fit.
 
J
Jill_Valentine
Fair point.
Jill_Valentine said:
I guess it's easy to say we're all pro free-speech as a concept, but I can't deny that a really racist joke does make me queasy.
Click to expand...

What do you mean "really racist"?

Tell me which joke of these two that you find most offensive.

So, anyone know where the highest concentration of Jews was during WW2?

(Pause for effect.)

In the atmosphere.

I prefer this joke.

What bothers you more, racial intolerance or stupid niggers?

Ok, you know what, that's just not nice. Let me rephrase it.

What bothers you more, racial intolerance or uneducated niggers?
:angel_gun
Some jokes are just classy... unfortunately I don't know any of those ones. 😀

Joking aside..(What do you mean that's a matter of opinion?!) I never understood why someone can be offended by words. By something I say. I figure, if I say something and you're offended by it then you have the problem, not me. Say you go to this site, type 'beheading' and click on one of the videos I bet you'll realise being offended by something I say is a bit absurd really. By they way, I don't really recommend clicking on that link and looking for a beheading video. In fact, DON'T. Disobey my previous command. Protect your eyes!
 
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StuckinTraffic
You are my .... something. I haven't figured out exactly what yet.
Richard Pryor used to use... that word... a gajillion times an hour in his act. After he went to Africa, he declared that he would never use it again, and, aside from all the drugs and self destruction, what's a good enough rule for Richard Pryor is a good enough rule for me.

What I mean by racist joke... I used to work in an office with some devastatingly tactless former British soldiers. Among themselves, or rather, when they decided that for some reason the rest of the open plan office couldn't hear them, they used to make jokes about shooting Taigs, which would have gone down like a lead balloon given that they were in Dublin.

Bizarrely enough, they were nice blokes otherwise, I just don't think it ever occurred to them that Irish Catholics are never really likely to warm to jokes about killing Irish Catholics for fun. I don't think they were trying to offend anybody, they just forgot that THEY WERE IN DUBLIN. I didn't hold it against them beyond the quite astounding stupidity evident.

Also, when I told my boss to type his password, he actually typed the word "my password". Then I remembered that once upon a time he'd been trusted to carry a gun around and I screamed and screamed and screamed.
 
Way I see it is that the Joke is not the problem nor is the teller of the joke, its the audience.

The best joke in the world will fail to some people and if they are the ones that you are telling, you won't get a laugh.

Also its the audiences understanding of a Joke.

Take for instance Ali G.

He is a joke, a satrical commentary on how alot of people perceive Black/Youth culture(amongst other things).
Two types of people laugh at him.
The people who get the joke as its intended and find it amusing AND the people who watch him make slurs against everything, don't understand its mocking them and laugh because he just said 'iz it becoz I iz black'.
 
Actually, after reconsidering the real meaning of this thread, I'd have to say that the best medium for issues would be Derek Acorah.

Honestly, you can go to that guy with any problem and he always has some helpful advice to offer. The guy is a gem!
 
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Schillaci
I've no idea who that is, but I get the joke.
Haven't seen that one, BotD, but I have seen the incredibly funny "Most Farted". If you haven't seen it already then you need to check it out. Seriously hilarious! 😀
 
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