Jokes and where to draw the line

seun said:

So where do we draw the line?

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september 10.

William Haskins said:

september 10.

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That says it all.

If one goes far enough back in history, there's a tragic event associated with every day of the year. If we insist on deifying every tragic day, we won't be able to mention any of them sans the proper hushed and reverent tones.

Ol' Fashioned Girl said:

If one goes far enough back in history, there's a tragic event associated with every day of the year. If we insist on deifying every tragic day, we won't be able to mention any of them sans the proper hushed and reverent tones.

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I agree. Some people were born on September 11th.

Celia Cyanide said:

I agree. Some people were born on September 11th.

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My sister was. She says they need a birthday card for people like her. It should say, "Sorry about your birthday."

seun said:

Does it? Should we apply that to any situation like this and avoid any comments that could be taken the wrong way even if there is no intention to cause offence?

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it was a joke. get it? if we can't joke about september 11th, then the line is the 10th. just shy of the offending date?

hello? is this thing on?

q: what was the last thing going through mr. jones' head when he was working on the world trade center's 90th floor?

a: the 91st floor.

seun said:

I'll get me coat. (Rep point for whoever gets that reference).

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The Fast Show!

Rep point, please.

September 11th is my wedding anniversary. I'll be damned if I'll stop people from joking about that.

William Haskins said:

it was a joke. get it? if we can't joke about september 11th, then the line is the 10th. just shy of the offending date?

hello? is this thing on?

q: what was the last thing going through mr. jones' head when he was working on the world trade center's 90th floor?

a: the 91st floor.

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Excellent! We must find the humor in the most tragic situations - it helps us to cope. The "every year" reference was spot on - and very amusing. It wasn't making fun of the people who died; that's ridiculous. Nor is Mr Haskin's 90th floor joke making fun of the people who died.

But it is putting tragedy into the common experience, making the human bond of being able to smile and assimilate tragedy and go on rather than be stuck in grief forever, immobilized.

And there is plenty to laugh about where use of the date itself is concerned. Yes, it *does* appear on the calendar every year and will continue to do so. There are millions of people who share it as a birthday, a wedding anniversary; many other fine and joyous events happened on that day. We can't take the date itself and turn it into a sacred and untouchable thing - it doesn't belong to anyone and the tragedy could have been on any day. The date itself is not the tragedy.

I find jokes which go over the line quite diststeful and avoid controversial humor whenever possible.

People need to understand the limits of common decency.

Now, that's funny.

Haggis said:

We must protect Cartilage

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i see you're still protecting catilage

If it's not horribly gross and offensive, I probably won't laugh at it. Which could help explain my career as a humorist...

I have a friend born on April 20th -- Hitler's Birthday. When she celebrates her birthday, she gets to celebrate Hitler, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the international time of day to smoke marijuana. One year, we gave her a cake with a marijuana leaf drawn on it with the caption "Happy 4:20".

That's easy. Everyone draws their own line. You stop when someone asks you to stop. That said, the person who's asking you to stop needs to realize that everybody has different standards. That's the ultimate common decency, IMO.

William Haskins said:

it was a joke. get it? if we can't joke about september 11th, then the line is the 10th. just shy of the offending date?

hello? is this thing on?

q: what was the last thing going through mr. jones' head when he was working on the world trade center's 90th floor?

a: the 91st floor.

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LOLOLOL

Can I pull out my "Need Another Seven Astronauts" book yet?

I believe that the best jokes are intrinsically tasteless and non-PC, and that's why they're funny. I understand that and most often I don't mind them. There are times I do think the intent is malicious (say, an extremely racist joke) and I do think people have the right to be offended if the joke offends their sensibilities. To each his own, I guess. I'm sure if we tell the same joke to a 9/11 survivor or family, they won't find it funny at all. Are you going to say "you are just too sensitive, just because your husband died in the Twin Tower doesn't mean it's not funny"? Nah, you say you're sorry -- then you probably turn around and tell the joke to someone else who finds it funny.

That's why some comedians are huge success because they know how to walk the line. I once went to a comedy show and this guy was just clueless and offensive and they booed him off the stage. The audience is always the final judge.

Exactly. There is no definable line for humour. It moves based on who's listening at the time. And you can never tell what people will laugh at until after you've told the joke and they either laughed or they didn't.

I live by this line, which is why I quote it so often:

"Comedy is an agreement between you and your audience that you are, in fact, funny."

Anything can be funny in the right crowd. Or terribly not funny in another.

maestrowork said:

That's why some comedians are huge success because they know how to walk the line. I once went to a comedy show and this guy was just clueless and offensive and they booed him off the stage. The audience is always the final judge.

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You were at the Michael Richards set?!?