Are there any topics that you believe are off-limits for jokes?

[Fox12]

Nope. Humor is a natural and HEALTHY way to deal with trauma and darkness. Life's a piece of shit. Wheather it with a smile.

I just read an autobiography by a holocaust survivor. And you know what? It was funny. It was dark, and disturbing, and sad, and... really really funny. I don't think of starving holocaust survivors yelling cat calls to women in the womens camp, but apparently it happened. The prisoners called it the Arabian market because some of the shaved women had colorful bandannas. The narrator cracked jokes the entire time. This was how he coped with the trauma he saw every day. The ones who didn't crack jokes didn't last very long. As far as I'm concerned anything can be humorous. It doesn't always work, but theoretically, it can.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I think George Carlin was right.

There's no such thing as an 'off-limit' subject, anything can be funny, it's just the execution of the joke.

This I agree with. Its tough, one has to have a great mind for comedy. There are great comedians who know exactly how to deliver a joke, no matter how screwed up it might seem, and have it come out as gold. However, there are a lot more who don't understand what comedic tact really is.

 

[King Billi]

Make a joke about whatever you like.

Just don't always expect me to laugh at it.

 

[Grizzly_Bear_1]

I don't care how bland, socialist, and politically correct someone claims to be. Everyone has at least snickered at a joke they know they shouldn't.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

None but you want to time your jokes right.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

You can make a joke about anything. Dead babies, rape, murder, etc.

But there is execution, and time and place to take account for.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Usually no. It's all in the execution that makes offensive jokes offensive in the first place. If I can tell someone is making jokes with a clear intent to go after one group in a malicious manner, I find the humor annoying. I feel there is a way to make just about anything funny, but don't get all high and mighty if someone dares to find your jokes offensive/mean-spirited/tasteless etc.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Its all about context. I make at least one racist comment to my asian friend every time I see him. He's cool with it. I hope.

I wouldn't however, go up to a guy who survived the holocaust and make a hitler joke. I might make the same hitler joke to my friends, but I figure you can joke about what you want as long as you aren't intentionally or knowingly hurting someone.

 

[Shadow flame master]

I would say yes, but i don't get rilled up by much to begin with.

All I'll say is to be careful where you tell your jokes unless you want to be dead in a ditch.

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

As just about everyone else is saying, it depends a lot on the context in which you're saying the joke. But it also depends on what the joke is. That's where a lot of racist and sexist jokes fall flat for me at least. I've heard a whole slew of "Back in the kitchen" jokes, and... there really isn't a joke to most of them at all. It's just a call to look at how edgy you are with your sense of "humor".

Reminds me of when my friend's older brother called the new owners of a gas station a "Bunch of chinks". Apparently it was a joke intended to get a rise out of somebody. Situations like that, it's not the topic that's the problem, it's that you're mistaking offensiveness for humor.

 

[Godhead]

It's never so much a question of "Can I joke about this" but rather "Should I joke about this". You can joke about anything that you can imagine, but it's probably best to stop and think about the situation you're in.

 

[omega 616]

Everything is on the table, just about all the time.

Look, make jokes about horrific things all day long (I'll explain why in a sec) but don't tell rape jokes to a woman who has just suffered it 'cos that's not a joke at that point, it's just rubbing salt in the wound.

I think making jokes horrific things is important 'cos it helps with dealing with things. Like the OP joking with his/her friend about her cerebral palsy ... its not making fun of her, it's lifting the mood.

I think Jimmy Carr is one funny fucker but Franky Boyle is just a prick. They both tell the same kind of joke but Jimmy puts a joke in it, Franky just says disgusting shit and people laugh out of shock ... in a "did he just say that" kind of way

 

[mysecondlife]

You certainly have to know your audience.

I joke with my roommate of 6 years about everything, sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. My sister on the other hand gets sensitive when it comes to anything religion. I pick my topic of jokes carefully depending on who I'm with.

I'm fortunate that my circle of friends are people that don't intentionally try to offend and don't easily get offended. Mutual understanding of each other is definitely important.

If I am the audience, anything cruel happening to helpless animals are off limits. Everything else is worth a shot (I think).

 

[Twintix]

While I believe nothing should be sacred, I do think that there's a time and place for everything, and try to have some tact. Joke around all you want with your friends, but remember your company: Not everyone will appreciate your jokes, depending on the topic and the person.

You don't tell dead baby jokes to a woman who has miscarried.
You don't tell rape jokes to someone who's been raped.
You don't tell murder jokes to someone who's just lost a loved one to a murderer.

So, joke if you want, but choose your jokes and timing carefully.

 

[Dizchu]

I've always felt that jokes at the expense of those that have been victimised/disadvantaged are in poor taste. For example rape victims, the disabled, transgender people, people like that.

Jokes at the expense of those in positions of authority or people who have done bad things? We need more jokes like this. Stewart Lee did an excellent routine where he mocked a tabloid journalist for making fun of a sex worker that was murdered. It's not only funny but it's deeply engaging and has extremely dark themes while being catharsis against some ignorant {insert expletive here}.

That's why I think there's such a thing as a good rape joke. Make the joke about the rapist and it can be fantastic.

The Onion did a great satirical article about the Steubenville rape, though it wasn't particularly funny just extremely unsettling and sarcastic. Though comedy's not all about laughing out loud, it's also about making us face absolutely disgusting aspects of humanity.



Or you know...

farts are funny

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

I wasn't talking about that particular joke.
(Although I still think them being both male changes the tone. And I don't find that funny. I'm not offended by it either, but unless you make it a bit more than just cartoon characters raping each other can't say I find it humorous.)

And why should we not analyze why we find things funny?
Humor is absolutely used as a tool for oppression, or for marketing, or propaganda.

aside from the fact that analyzing a joke makes it excruciatingly unfunny?

Humor is funny, it's inherently designed to make people feel good. Honestly i think ascribing something sinister to a giggle says more about you than it does about the joke itself. you're definitely entitled to your opinion but I don't think just because you find a racist joke funny doesn't mean you're a racist. I laugh at all kinds of things that in other situations would be highly offensive but when a whole room full of people are laughing at the expense of a not real person what's the harm? laugh all you want about the hunter in that last joke you can't hurt his feelings because he's not real. we are not oppressing him. i've seen in my life sooooo much good done through humor and people being brought together over a good laugh the idea of using humor to "hurt" people is wholly alien to me.

 

[Guffe]

No, nothing is off limits.
But there is a time and a place and a group of people for everything. I do some rough jokes myself, some of my friends don't seem to handle some of my joking so well whilst others do. So basically, depending on the situation!

 

[Ranorak]

I hate to invoke the slippery slope argument, but in this case I think I will.

I honestly think that either everything is alright to make fun of, or nothing is.

If you start banning topics from jokes because they're offensive, say arson, murder and jaywalking, you'll only end up making the list bigger and bigger. Soon people will find more and more things offensive, and more and more things get added to the list. This is not some weird speculation, we're already live in a culture that has to change the names of stuff because people find it offensive.

I just don't get the big deal about being offended.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not a stranger to being the target of jokes. I'm a rather big man, not exactly fat, but I'd never be mistaken for a boulimia patient. And yes, sometimes I feel offended by fat-guy jokes. But that's it. I am offended and nothing happens. Within the hour (maybe a few) I've forgotten about it.

Everyone has something or the other that can be abused for ridicule. And everyone is at some point offended by a joke.
So, in the end, I stand by my believe that if you start banning jokes because of content, you'll only end up with people afraid to offend someone and the quality of humour going down the drain, AKA, almost every sitcom on the tv.

HOWEVER!

There is a flip side.
Telling a joke is ultimately about making people laugh. Going to a funeral of a dead child, and spewing out your greatest dead baby joke will not give you a chuckle, no matter how hilarious and though provoking it was.
And no matter how much wit and charm you put into that All Muslims Are Suicide Bombers joke, you'll not make a person who takes that serious laugh.
Sure, you can (and should) still be able to make that joke, but at that point you're just offending people for the sake of offending and not trying to make a joke.

So, TLR

Either everything is alright to make fun of or nothing is, but as the joker (Ha-ha-ha) know your audience and try to adjust your jokes accordingly.
If you don't you'll be about as successful as a ventriloquist with a deaf audience.

 

[Lieju]

aside from the fact that analyzing a joke makes it excruciatingly unfunny?

Does knowing how a dish is made taste it any worse? Does understanding the biology behind affection make you love your child any less?
I want to know how things work, and I especially want to understand human social structures.
And bonding via humor is a very important part of it.

Humor is funny, it's inherently designed to make people feel good.

Not everyone however, and it's never just about making someone feel good.
It's about social bonding, giving context to your relationship, and sometimes about dehumanizing certain groups.
For example, a scene I witnessed a while ago:
A daughter told her mother she had rented her apartment to a black couple.
The mother then went on to joke about how that was a mistake since those black people were savages who'd shit on the floor and build a fire in the kitchen.
Rest of the family joined in in the ridicule, partly to make fun of them weird foreign folks that just aren't like US, and partly to embarass the daughter and her choice to rent out her place.

Honestly i think ascribing something sinister to a giggle says more about you than it does about the joke itself. you're definitely entitled to your opinion but I don't think just because you find a racist joke funny doesn't mean you're a racist. I laugh at all kinds of things that in other situations would be highly offensive but when a whole room full of people are laughing at the expense of a not real person what's the harm?

Why do you find a racist joke funny, then?
And even if you don't, even if you just laugh as a some kind of social act without actually holding those beliefs yourself...

You're still partly promoting racism.
Racism, sexism, homophobia etc aren't things you decide to do. You don't go and put your blackface on to commit some racism, those are attitudes deeply seeped into the culture.

Another example.
My mum's husband doesn't usually tell jokes like that,definitely not to me, but when he is with his friends, they tell homophobic jokes to each other. As a part of male bonding. 'Look at us, how heterosexual we are'.
My mum confronted him about it, and he said "It's okay, I don't really think that."

They why are you ridiculing being gay?
You're just a part of the problem, promoting a thought that gay men are not manly, that they are worthy of ridicule.

It would not be a problem if the society wasn't already telling gay men that.
Besides, what if one of those men was gay or bi? How'd they feel when the group they are a part of (a group of work-friends, I might add) are brought together by showing disdain for what they are?

laugh all you want about the hunter in that last joke you can't hurt his feelings because he's not real. we are not oppressing him. i've seen in my life sooooo much good done through humor and people being brought together over a good laugh the idea of using humor to "hurt" people is wholly alien to me.

You have never heard of propaganda?
You have never heard of ridicule used to bully people?

Humor can be absolutely used to ridicule, and understanding it and why you laugh at things is important.
(And there are people and things that deserve to be ridiculed)

It doesn't matter if the person in the joke isn't real, if the punchline still is for example 'rape is funny when it happens to a guy'.
In the bear-joke you told it's not just that, it's the ridiculousness of the situation etc.

 

[QuietlyListening]

I wouldn't say it's inherently harmless, as others seem to imply. But it's not inherently harmful either. As previous posters have said, it's all about context. You can tell a joke about race without telling a joke that's racist. That said, if your joke is racist, then don't be surprised if people react negatively.