The final taboo of comedy?

[SenseOfTumour]

Now, we've mostly all heard dead baby jokes, jokes about disabled people, blacks, gays, terrorists, death, 9/11, Josef Fritzel, the holocaust, etc.

Even on stage, there's people like Louis CK pushing the boundaries by making jokes about hating his own kids, and there's Ricky Gervais making ironic jokes about the starving in Africa etc.

I was thinking is there anything comics won't talk about.

The I was watching the new Stewart Lee Show on BBC, and he took that final step, he's actively making fun of other stand up comedians, and at least to me, somehow getting away with it.
I realise he's not to everyone's taste, but it's interesting to me that it felt like 'whoa, you can't say that', whereas if he'd taken any of the topic from my first paragraph I'd hardly have blinked.

So, I wonder, is ridiculing your peers the final taboo of comedy?

Or do you think it's something else?

 

[teisjm]

I've seen that before... If they've been on tours togeather before and know each other they won't mind each other making fun of each other... and TBH they're commedians! they know it's a joke.

It's nothinig new in Denmark at least

 

[sky14kemea]

well they never mention...
they wouldnt dare say...

yeah i dont think there's anything a comedian wont make fun of, it depends how brave the comedian is and how well the joke is put together though

 

[IHaveNoCoolness]

I don't know if ridiculing other comedians is the last step of comedy... People have been doing impressions for ages, and Parody movies have been around for decades and decades... I wouldn't even say that making fun of other comedians is even that new The Simpsons and Family guy have both made Jeff Foxworthy and Carrot Top jokes just off the top of my head. Years ago...

There will never be a final frontier of comedy as there will always be current events to make fun of. There will always be new tradgedies and taboos to exploit as comedic devices... people will make fun of Iraq next, or the presidency of Obama... it will just continue

 

[julesville]

That does sound like an interesting bit, making fun of other comedians. I don't think I've heard that before. It's certainly a fresh idea, but I don't know if it's taboo.

How about making fun of dieing children or AIDS patients? Or how about making fun of famous people who are actively dieing, like people who are really sick and probably won't live.

 

[retro himself]

Not exactly what I would call a peer, since it's not about mocking your peers, but mocking other comedians who do comedy, so it's kinda mindboggling, but it's not quite about peers.

 

[Clashero]

Robin Williams talked about EVERYTHING on his stand-up show at Broadway, with such gems as "Where did all this jewelry from 1939 to 1945 come from?"
"They were zappin' retarded people every other week! Come on Timmy, go sit on Santa's lap - BUZZZ!"
"Jamaica may make an atomic BONG!"

 

[ThatsBitch3n]

I dont care what they make fun of, but they need to put it in an amusing way. If they just come out and say "Fuck you, Africa!" instead of forming it into a joke, they arent a comedian, they are racist.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

But Africa is a country

You did not just say that.

Frankie Boyle pushes the limits of taste a bit too.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I guess I was surprised when for instance, he said 'I realised on my last tour, just how hard it is to improvise material on the spot, like Eddie Izzard pretends to do, it's far easier just to pepper your set with ums and ahhs and make it sound like it.' Of course, it's meant as humour, but still, it seemed pretty dangerous in context.

I'm guessing it's not so much making fun of other comedians, but making fun of popular, respected comedians.

There's an extended piece about Bill Hicks in his latest show, during which he has a go at 'all American comedians being the same'. 'I particular like the themed 'USA' nights at comedy clubs, so I can hear the same set sometimes 4 or 5 times in a row.'

Again, he's playing on people's expectations, and I find him very funny, although he's an acquired taste.

 

[Cliff_m85]

Now, we've mostly all heard dead baby jokes, jokes about disabled people, blacks, gays, terrorists, death, 9/11, Josef Fritzel, the holocaust, etc.

Even on stage, there's people like Louis CK pushing the boundaries by making jokes about hating his own kids, and there's Ricky Gervais making ironic jokes about the starving in Africa etc.

I was thinking is there anything comics won't talk about.

The I was watching the new Stewart Lee Show on BBC, and he took that final step, he's actively making fun of other stand up comedians, and at least to me, somehow getting away with it.
I realise he's not to everyone's taste, but it's interesting to me that it felt like 'whoa, you can't say that', whereas if he'd taken any of the topic from my first paragraph I'd hardly have blinked.

So, I wonder, is ridiculing your peers the final taboo of comedy?

Or do you think it's something else?

Are you serious? Making fun of comedians and celebrities isn't new at all. Ever heard of "Roasts". Dean Martin got roasted. Hell, the whole Rat Pack got roasted. It's still going on today, though Comedy Central has an odd way to determine who deserves a roasting.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Yeah, I have had to review my thoughts on this, I'd heard of roasts, however it's not something really done over here in the UK, and while some comics may criticise others, usually the new generation making fun of the old generation for their tacist/sexist material, its almost unheard of over here for one to have a go at the respected ones.

To give you an idea of what I mean, it would be like Dimitri Martin or someone like him, ripping on George Carlin or Steven Wright or Mitch Hedburg, although Dimitri is a smart comedian and could probably do it effectively, there's a sense that some people you don't take shots at, which is why I was surprised to see anything about Bill Hicks.

 

[Sevre]

Madeliene ( I think it's spelled like that) McCann jokes took it too far. Jade Goody not so much.

 

[freakyHippo]

One of the greatest things about Stewart Lee is he truely believes that nothing is taboo and pushes comedy to its extreems. I love his DVD 'Standup Comedian' where hes talking infront of an audience in Glasgow about how William Wallace, a national hero to the scots, is a homosexual peadophile. Even through the DVD you could feel the tension he created and its absolutly fantastic. Lee is willing to really push the boundries of comedy and IMO that makes him one of the best standups in the country.

I also agree with Lee that no subject should be taboo for comedy.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Isn't that like one of the oldest things in comedy?
Sorry to dissapoint but that doesn't seem like pushing the boundries at all.

 

[ChickDangerous]

I don't think there is anything taboo in comedy. I probably wouldn't think that making fun of other comedians was such a big deal, in some ways it could be even flattering.

I've seen comedians cover some pretty touchy and taboo topics in their sets, but for the most part it was artfully done in a way that didn't cause offense to anyone who might be inclined to take offense and was actually rather amusing and sometimes even presented a new and interesting viewpoint I hadn't considered.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Madeliene ( I think it's spelled like that) McCann jokes took it too far. Jade Goody not so much.

It's an interesting point, that you can guarantee the day after that story broke, and also the day after 9/11 (the ninth of December as Mr Lee maintains), that email traffic spikes as tired old offensive jokes make the rounds with a new twist, replacing old names and places with the current ones from the news.

I think this is where comedians do well, they can generally find something genuinely witty, if perhaps 'too soon' and offensive to some, to say about national tragedies, and can bring a smile or laugh, where the mass media would prefer us to all wade around in misery.

For me and I believe many people, humour, especially the darker edged stuff can be a defence mechanism to deal with the evil, nasty, cold side of life, and we're better for being able to diffuse tensions with humour.

I've linked this one before, but here's a clip of Stewart Lee in Glasgow, pretty much hitting every offensive thing he can find to say about the Scottish people, ending by calling their national hero a pedo. Yet, he has his audience in the palm of his hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-S8n8-9RU&feature=related

Because, of course, they're an intelligent comedy audience, and not a typical tabloid reading, complaint letter writing, reactionary.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

Madeliene ( I think it's spelled like that) McCann jokes took it too far. Jade Goody not so much.

I'm curious as to why you think they took it too far with those jokes?

I'll say that I haven't heard many of them apart from the one about world champion in hide and seek.

 

[freakyHippo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-S8n8-9RU&feature=related

sheer quality. This whole DVD is one of my absolute favourites