Liam Neeson: I've contracted AIDS... From an African prostitute... I'm riddled with it. (Life's Too Short skit)
- Thread starter HStallion
- Start date
- Status
It’s hit or miss. I wouldn’t say this is the best part but it’s up there.
It’s like Warwick Davis does Curb Your Enthusiasm, it’s actually quite good but it kinda peters out near the end. I think Gervais and co. go into these (like Idiot Abroad) without having a long-term plan in case they catch on.
Okay. I wish I would have had more time with my uncle, who died from AIDS when he was 30. I’m glad Ricky Gervais won’t be stopped from his laughs though, and is heroically pushing back against people like me who get offended when the deaths of millions of young gay men is turned into a punchline.
Maybe try and have some empathy for people who have been horribly hurt by things like this instead of making it more important that you get to crack a joke. Those tweets are really fucked up.
Well I guess I can give it a try at least. Thanks for the feedback.
AIDS isn’t the punchline. It’s Liam Nelson’s complete inability to not take himself seriously. He’s taking the piss out of pretentious actors.
Also, I’m sorry about your uncle. No one should go through that.
Last edited:
AIDS is nowhere close to the punchline of any joke in this skit.
Is it too much to ask people not to joke about having AIDS? Even if it’s not the “point” of the skit? Apparently yes. Enjoy your thread folks, apparently people dying is not more important than a giggle. I’ll just block this and all the trash humans in this thread.
That’s your prerogative. I didn’t write the joke, I just explained it to you after you misunderstood the scene.
Yeah I remember this skit. Probably the funniest 3 minutes that Gervais has ever been a part of and he's not even the funny part of it.
Click-bait title aside, Life's Too Short was a pretty good show. Even if, like most Gervais led series, it kinda overstays its welcome.
interesting, replace "african" with certain other words and their would be bans everywhere. cool shit era.
Era also gave Liam a pass for saying he scrawled the streets wanting to kill a random black person...
The gag is that Liam Neeson cannot execute comedy. It's pretty clearly stated that the subject matter of the joke he's trying to tell and the punchline are unnecessary and way too heavy for his execution, that's the joke. The joke isn't AIDS nor African people are funny.
Last edited:
That’s what gets me. The inconsistency. But to be fair this is from someone that isn’t familiar with the sketch but is aware Liam Neeson wanted to beat random black people to death on the street at some point in his life.
AIDS and African people are a component of joke. A bit of absurdist seasoning to this bland ass sketch. I dunno, I’m just always weary when white people bring up black people in their jokes. Doubly so when it’s HIV/AIDS and Africa...
Last edited:
It's not the first time I've seen it but's massively depressing to see how much era is okay with punching down and saying it's okay to mock and belittle everyone... Especially if it's white men doing it. whether it's trans people, POC, he physically or mentally disabled etc, they don't care about us and happy to shit on us if it means they can have a joke at our expense. The fact that some actually decided to reply to you with some "gotcha" tweet about why punching down is good is depressing.
Surprised I haven't seen someone complain about "the progressives", saying people who didn't like the joke should get harassed, declaring people who didn't like this joke must be liberals or being patronising because we MUST not understand what a joke is (all of which I've seen posted on ERA in the past year).
Did he own up to that?
Telling straight out how ashamed (of himself) and horrible his thought process was?
Fuck Neeson and the people in this thread who think straight ass while male actor Liam Neeson being awkward at telling a joke at the expense of AIDS patients, gays, and black people is hilarious 
. All that was missing was that an African fucked a monkey. This thread needs to burn.
. All that was missing was that an African fucked a monkey. This thread needs to burn.
Last edited:
That would be amazing.
I always thought Nielsen's face looked like he was making comedy even in dramatic roles and the opposite is true for Neeson in this sketch.
It would work
I love Ricky Gervais' comedy. Especially the material produced with Stephen Merchant. I've been to one of his live shows.
People saying that AIDS and African prostitutes aren't a key component of the humour here because they aren't technically the punchline are being wilfully obtuse.
White, Gen X comedians like Ricky Gervais, Seth MacFarlane, Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle have built whole careers around leveraging taboo subject matter for laughs, and have enjoyed the plausible deniability that comes with being an erudite satirist as they do it.
It reminds me of the college frat boys who suddenly became professors of satire over night when defending the blackface in Tropic Thunder. "No, no, we are laughing at the concept of blackface". At least be honest with yourselves.
People saying that AIDS and African prostitutes aren't a key component of the humour here because they aren't technically the punchline are being wilfully obtuse.
White, Gen X comedians like Ricky Gervais, Seth MacFarlane, Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle have built whole careers around leveraging taboo subject matter for laughs, and have enjoyed the plausible deniability that comes with being an erudite satirist as they do it.
It reminds me of the college frat boys who suddenly became professors of satire over night when defending the blackface in Tropic Thunder. "No, no, we are laughing at the concept of blackface". At least be honest with yourselves.
Last edited:
Yeah. "I've got full-blown AIDS" is probably the funniest line to me too.
I'm sorry you lost your Uncle to AIDS.
Those tweets are not "fucked up" and Ricky Gervais isn't wrong (about this anyway).
It's the context, not the content. A joke about AIDS isn't necessarily at the expense of someone who has AIDS or has suffered from AIDS. You can joke about anything and NEVER punch down. As far as dangerous topics go, there's going to be somehow who has personal tragedies related to most things. You don't say that they can't make a John Wick movie because people who have lost family to gun violence may be triggered. Likewise a joke about gun violence.
I'm really sorry for your uncle but I think you missed the meaning of the second tweet. He isn't making joke of your uncle or people that has died from AIDS, other people in the topic have explained that.
My grandfather died of COVID and I will never be offended if I would stumble in a similar skit with that as subject of the joke, because it's not about people that has died from COVID, and surely it won't be about my grandpa.
With you premises you can't joke about anything, because there will always be someone offended by something, even like a car accident. I mean, we should never joke about Hitler then, right?
No, that's not what comedy is about, it's all about how you make that joke, and the funny part in this case would always be Liam trying to be funny by talking in a serious manner of something that isn't if taken out of context.
Theres something so absurd about the phrase "I've got full blown aids" but when its delivered so deadpan it's just perfect
- Status