Why is the "punching up/punching down" stuff the go-to for people when talking about comedy now? And of course there's "value" in punching down since plenty of comedians who do it are at the top of the profession. How do you even punch up if you're a world famous millionaire comedian? Endless Trump jokes?
Like who? Jeff Dunham? Larry the Cable Guy?
I understand your question, but my answer is essentially, it doesn't matter. Whatever you find funny isn't likely to stop being funny, regardless of the amount of people that are offended. You could condition yourself over time to feel guilty about laughing at something that's considered to be offensive, but that's not the same as not finding humor in something just because other people don't, or because you shouldn't.
Came here to post this. Drawn Together was my jam. Went back now and watched some clips on YouTube. It is still pretty damn great.
Chris Rock, Jeselnik, Bill Burr, Chappelle, just to name a few of my favorites.
Well that sidesteps the question but the humour is less about “women drivers” and more in the context of Caitlin transitioning meaning that her accident retroactively reinforces the stereotype.
Never heard Jeselnik but you think Rock, Burr, and Chappelle make a career out of punching down?
Insult comics in general. Joan Rivers was a fantastic at this.
That's a pretty reductive way of thinking about things. People laugh at things for all sorts of reasons. People find things funny for all sorts of reasons: sometimes it's because they're racist or sexist and enjoy hearing people make fun of women and minorities.
They became wildly successful by being funny and that includes "punching down" jokes.
If people are laughing at jokes then they find it funny. Unless of course they're laughing to be polite or whatever but I doubt someone is going to pay to see a comedian that they don't find funny.
Yeah, there's indeed some bad shit in that show if you rewatch it with today standards, but one of the things I liked the most from it was the "what the fuck" nature of some of the jokes.
You can't say "you shouldn't be in comedy" while naming successful comedians that do what you're criticizing.
Crackheads are hilarious but making fun of them is most certainly punching down.
I think they're here to be offended.
If the reason you're successful is for telling jokes that solely make fun of people less privileged than you, then yeah, you probably shouldn't be in comedy. And you should take a long, hard look at your fanbase.
Frankie Boyle is just a shite, watered down Jerry Sadowitz rip off
If there's a market for it, there's a market for it. No single person is the arbiter of comedy. You can think it's tasteless, crude, destructive, or any other pejorative, but if there's a sizable number of people laughing, then yeah they kind of should be in comedy because, well, there's a sizable number of people laughing.
Absolutely, trashing each other with this kind of humor is pretty much the norm with most of my friends.
But there's also a way to be funny that does involve that. It's a comedian's job to be funny, not inoffensive or righteous, so as long as they're that then they probably should be in comedy.
