What if anything, should be off limits in comedy?

Rape. Racial stereotypes.

It’s called a “comedy killer,” any word, phrase, or topic that’s tasteless and upsetting. An audience won’t laugh and will immediately turn hateful toward the performer. Examples are:

The Holocaust
Kennedy and MLK assassinations
Domestic abuse
Cancer
Sex crimes

Politicians underage children, babies dying, mentally ill or challenged people.

Depends on the audience.

Tig Notaro made a reputation for joking about her cancer. And she’s damned funny about it. But her audience knew her and her sense of humor, and they knew what they were going to hear.

Still, the comedian has to be intelligent. You wouldn’t make Holocaust jokes at a B’nai Brith convention.

I think I wouldn’t make my red line be subject matter. It would be gratuitous nastiness. Nastiness isn’t funny, no matter what the subject.

There was this 10 year old comedienne, complaining about how difficult dating is for her.
All her dates ended up in jail.

I’m not sure that there should be any predefined limits set for a comedian…they learn from their mistakes!!! I think that it’s up to the audience to let the comedian know when they have crossed the line with their brand of humor!!! When I was younger Andrew Dice Clay was all the rage. He was irreverent & immoral, but people loved him. At one point, he started making fun of disabled people. It didn’t come across as funny & the audience didn’t respond favorably. Clay decided that he was the comedian & knew more than his audience, so he continued bashing the disabled. His audience became pretty much non existent fairly fast. He went from being loved & on top of the world to never being seen within a very brief period of time. I was one of those who STOPPED watching him, but I don’t think he should have been censored in advance!!!

It’s the job of a comedian to point out the absurd. Sometimes the absurd is funnier than at other times!!! According to my parents, George Carlin should have been put away with the key destroyed, yet he came across as funny to the general public!!!

When Roseanne returned to comedy, I predicted she wouldn’t last long because the current climate has NO sense of humor!!! I fear that Eddie Murphy will meet the same fate. He was hilarious in his heyday, but what was funny back then is NOT acceptable now!!!

I say let the comedians live & learn…some will make it & some won’t…just do NOT censor them even before they get to try!!!

It’s a comedians job to ride those lines to the limit yet not cross them. Nothing should be off limits except for a certain context that can go too far. Defining that is hard but we all know it when we hear it.

Tell me which ones of these are the most offensive to you.

I say nothing should be off limits.
Although I can sometimes feel it (personally) very raw when a comedian makes jokes about rape, child abuse, or suicide, I feel that everything can be subject of a good joke or act.
Tonight we made a fictional conversation about a scene we saw in a restaurant (between the manager and the customers) which I’m sure would be found very distasteful by most, when published, but we all (three generations) laughed with tears.
And we all have had our burdens (some close to the subject of the joke conversation).
Sometimes it can work as a kind of mellower (if that’s a word) of raw hurt.

Domestic abuse.

See above. I figure it is self limiting. If the audience boos, or gets pissed off, the comedian knows they where out of line.

When to a charity comedy Fest for Breast Cancer and the the comedians jokes about Breast & cancer where uncomfortable for the whole female audience!
It wasn’t funny at all.

Nothing.

Comedians who make ‘offensive’ jokes (which is very subjective, by the way) are usually known for it. Anthony Jeselnik for example, makes lots of jokes about things people find to be sensitive, and he is known for it. Don’t go see him if you don’t like that.

I have jokes that I personally don’t like. I don’t read or listen to those jokes and I ignore people who make the jokes around me. I’ve found that when I speak up, some people do it out of spite so I choose to not react to them.

I make a lot of dark-ish jokes based on things that happened to me and things I’ve been through. That’s sort of how I cope with it and am very careful who I say them to because I know not everyone likes them. I feel that I, and I honestly do, I feel that I personally have the right to joke about those things because I’ve experienced it. I will, however, respect it when someone says (regardless of whether they have been through it as well) that they do not like those jokes. I will stop making them around that person and I will watch myself. As I said, I am careful who I would say those to because I respect and understand that people aren’t as receptive to that.
I am not an edgy person who offends people just for the hell of it.

@ragingloli -I confess to not watching the whole 13 minutes of the video, not because it was offensive as much as he was trying too hard.
He is more predictable than shocking.

@lucillelucillelucille I think a big part of making offensive jokes “work” is having a twist and not being predictable. I’m going to mention Anthony Jeselnik again because his jokes have a lot of twists and sometimes not expecting it is what makes it more funny. (Provided you already like that humor)

Indecency
Real life tragedies
Elected officials’ families
Hurtful words that you wouldn’t use but for the comedy….........it being comedy doesn’t make
hurtful words not hurt.

Talented comedians go out of their way to entertain….not offend.

@SergeantQueen- Things that I find funny vary.
I am watching one of Jeselnik’s videos now. He’s not especially shocking but is kind of funny:)

Nothing should be off limits.
Avoiding some topics or conditions shows favoritism.
At that point, you are picking on others.

I agree nothing should be off limits. At the same time, I’m not ready to hear jokes about Sept 11. Still, when Jeff Dunham brings out Achmed, he makes me laugh

@lucillelucillelucille yeah may not be “shocking” to everyone but funny nonetheless. Watch the Netflix stand ups if you can.

Presidential comedy should be off limits, it’s gone well beyond a joke.

It may be that the intent of the joke is more important than the subject. A joke poking fun of people of a certain race is most likely not acceptable, but a joke poking fun of racists may be.

This president is the biggest joke of them all so no reason to not use the opportunities laid out in front of them

@Pinguidchance
I don’t think people make enough jokes about presidents, whomever it is.