If there is one group of people in our society who often get a pass when it comes to discussing taboo or inappropriate topics, it’s comedians. Making people uncomfortable is part of their schtick, and often while testing material on real audiences, part of what they’re doing is seeing how far they can push an envelope.
If you ask these 14 people, though, there are some topics that should be off-limits to absolutely everyone – comics included.
14. There was no punchline.
Exactly. Like that guy who got kicked off SNL for making racist jokes against Asians.
If you actually listened to his jokes, they weren’t funny. I don’t think he even had a punchline. Just racist.
13. Seriously, who thinks that’s funny.
That’s my problem with most offensive/edgy humour tbh. Most of those jokes aren’t even really funny. If the entire point of the joke is that it’s a racist (or sexist etc) joke, it’s not actually funny.
And of course if you say so then “oh you’re too sensitive” – no, you’re just not funny! I have laughed at all kinds of offensive jokes if they are actually *jokes*.
12. Know your audience.
Comedy is subjective, there should be no limits. However it is still a good idea to keep in mind who the audience is.
I think it’s a mutual trust thing, both the comedian should know the audience and the audience should know the comedian.
I will not sympathize with someone who is offended at jokes Bill Burr makes and then simultaneously goes to a Bill Burr performance a few weeks later.
11. Applause isn’t laughter.
Exactly. Comedy is a no-bullshit business. You can go see your friends’ shitty band and hoot and holler like you’re actually enjoying it but it’s very hard to fake laughter.
I think there are several comedians who are huge who suck—my evidence in arguments is “listen to how many times people applaud instead of laugh.”
You’re not funny, people just agree with what you said.
10. There’s a science to it.
depends on the structure of the Joke
you can laugh: about it , or with it , or at it
if you laugh at someone or something on the other hand , you reeeaally gotta know your audience
9. That’s why he’s one of the greats.
Nothing should be off limits, but Chris Rock gave a good rule of thumb on Talking Funny that you should joke about what people DO, not what they ARE.
8. He’s not wrong.
I think at one point during Bo Burnham’s special Inside there was a whiteboard where he was planning jokes with a flowchart and it had “is it mean” and “is it at the expense of a disenfranchised people or group” go automatically to not funny.
7. Don’t pick the low-hanging fruit.
I was listening to a podcast with British comedian James Acaster and he said that while you can make jokes of anything, and nothing is strictly off limits, he thinks certain jokes should only be made if they’re really good.
He told a story of taking the piss out of a guy in the audience who was heckling once, and it turned out the guy was special needs. People were laughing, but he didn’t feel good at the end of the day.
His philosophy is make the jokes that make you feel good when people laugh, don’t take the low-hanging fruit jokes just because you can.
6. You do’t want to hurt people.
Plenty of lesser male comedians make thoughtless and mean rape jokes without considering the likelihood, given the statistics, that a good percentage of the crowd has been sexually assaulted.
Never a good idea to make your audience have flashbacks to a trauma.
5. Be careful with the dark humor.
This isnt like ig stand up comedy type stuff, but I hate when people ask “do you like dark humor?” And I’m like “yeah” then they show me someone get their head torn off in a freak accident.
That’s not dark humor. You showed me someone get decapitated and laughed.
4. It’s pretty creepy.
Filming homeless or mentally ill people without their consent.
Filming *anyone without their consent.
3. Make it relevant.
There just some people who think saying something grim is a punchline in itself without any actual humour needed. Like the crappy comics and unfortunately some young teens think pedo is a hilarious word or thing to say… no thank you! Mostly for the fact it makes kids think its a fun and trivial thing to say.
Frankie Boyle is possibly my least favourite comedian because, while some of his lines are funny (albeit dark and uncomfrotable) he usually goes for the darkest and most controversial thing he can say in a given scenario even if its not really relevant or funny.
His dark jokes are fine but theyre ruined for me by the fact he clearly tries to make everything as dark and controversial as he can, and sometimes they end up being funny, rather than being as funny as possible and sometimes theyre dark and controversial
2. A different, but correct, answer.
I was going to say “nothing” but that’s been covered thoroughly, so I’ll go with stealing another comedians jokes.
1. Turnabout is fair play.
I’ve noticed that the people who claim to be “equal opportunity offenders” get the most upset and offended when you manage to find something that triggers them.
I’m going to have to think about some of these.
What would you add to this list? Let us know what you think in the comments!
