Comedy for the Easily Offended…

Published on by theorangutanlibrarian

Well, if you are easily offended, this post will either make you lighten up, or more likely make you want to kick my ass. I recommend the former 😉

Right now there are a lot of free speech debates raging in the UK, partly thanks to various speakers (of all political persuasions) being shut down on campuses and partly because a youtuber who goes by the name of Count Dankula was convicted of making a “grossly offensive” joke (a video called “m8 yer dug’s a Nazi”). No this is not an April Fool’s prank, I live in a country where that’s real news. If you want to know my opinion, it’s basically in line with this:

Honestly, I don’t care if you find the video distasteful or not (although, I’m Jewish and I found the original video funny, so there’s that) because guess what? Humour is subjective and it was a JOKE! But if you don’t care about this guy’s free speech, flip it round and think about what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot. Imagine you’re the one making the joke and some sob decides to lock you up cos they didn’t find it funny. First they came for the comics…

Meanwhile Buddha the dog gets off scot free… DO YOU SEE HOW RIDICULOUS THIS IS?! So since the comedy police are out in full force, I’ve decided to share some of the most OFFENSIVE HUMOUR I could find on the internet:

Humanity– Ricky Gervais has been a bloody hero lately and I watched his latest comedy special on Netflix and it was a riot. And it’s bound to offend people within the first 5 minutes.

Steven Hughes– since we’re talking offence taking, I’m pretty much obliged to put this on here.

Sasha Baron Cohen– there are *so many* examples, I didn’t know which one of his many, many characters to pick, so I just went with one clip.

Curb your enthusiasm– likewise, there are umpteen examples I could have used, this one just happened to be appropriately about offence-taking.

Chris Rock– frankly I just wanted the opportunity to “research” his old bits- I thought lots of people would have a problem with this one so I put it on here 😉

Bill Burr– if you’ve survived this far into the post, boy do I have the most offensive humour for you

Andrew Lawrence– he’s so offensive, some schmuck tried to get him banned from the beebs. Here’s him talking about it:

Okay, that’s enough comedy for one day. I’ll leave you with a “sedate” quote from the reputable Chris Ray Gun: “life’s a joke and tragedy’s the punchline”. So lighten up!

Be honest- how many of you want to kick my ass now? If you answered no to that- do you have any comedy recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments! (If you answered yes, here, have a banana and chill out 🍌 😉 )

82 thoughts on “Comedy for the Easily Offended…”

  5. so wait, some dude got convicted of an offensive joke and your response wasn’t “hey, shitty joke, but still, yuck at the legal censorship” but “ewwwww, social justice warriors, let’s laugh at shitty jokes”? That’s honestly a bit confusing

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      1. but how is “censorship is bad” – I think we can all agree on that – the same as “don’t police humor”?

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          1. I was reading “police humor” as “criticize humor”, so you can change that phrase, oops. But why is “don’t criticize humor” – that seems to be the message of your post – the same as “legal censorship is a bad and negative thing for our society”?

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            1. Sorry, I’m finding your comments a tad confusing. I’ve made it abundantly clear that the message is don’t police humour (aka legal censorship) as I said in the post “I don’t care if you find the video distasteful or not”- I don’t care about criticism & never said I did

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              1. well, yeah, but the post is a bunch of offensive comedy shows with a bunch of stuff about how you want people to get over themselves if they find it worthy of critique? I’m finding that a bit confusing.

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  6. Louis CKs standup on Netflix. I forget what it’s called exactly but you’ll die laughing and Dave Chappelle’s standup as well! I’ll have to watch some of yours that you posted. I think most comedians do it right but like you said, most ppl are easily offended over everything these days, lol.

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  9. In all fairness, knowing Ricky Gervais, some of the stuff in his comedy special would probably make me *triggered* lol but after making this post and ending it with a Chris Ray Gun quote, you are my favorite book blog 😂😃

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  10. I gotta say, had an argument with my husband today, its the middle of the night, trying desperately to put my baby to sleep so i can get at least one good decent hour of sleep. This has not been a good day .. but your post made me laugh at 3 am 😂🤣😂 so thank you 😍

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  15. Either I´m really weird or utterly cool because I actually had to laugh at all of them! 😉 😀 And no, I definitely don´t want to kick your ass! Humour is important to handle certain things, to give them perspective in a way. And Johnathan Pie´s so right about it all! (Love that man btw 😉 ).

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  16. See I live in the same country as you but I have no idea about any of the free speech debates going on (sometimes I question whether I am that unobservant or if I should just watch the news more), but I loved this post. I don’t think my sense of humour is easily offended so I’ll hopefully end up enjoying most of these videos. 🙂
    Great post. 😀 ❤

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    1. Don’t worry- you’re not the only one- I think I only know about it cos I’m dorky 😉 (funnily enough though, I only knew about the original story from Philip Defranco- a US youtuber). Thank you- I’m glad you enjoyed it! hehe I’m just kidding round about that stuff, but if you survived this post, then there’s no way you’re easily offended 😉 😀
      Thank you very much! 😀 ❤

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  17. Wow I didn’t even know about these raging debates. That Steven Hughes video is such a perfect response though. If you’re offended, so what? Decide it’s a bad joke and move on, don’t start a legal battle. People seem to like an excuse to stir up outrage and drama though 🙄

    The positive side is that it prompted you to put together this post, because I laughed pretty hard at some of these videos!! 😀 You also reminded me I want to watch that Ricky Gervais show on Netflix, I haven’t seen it yet. So thank you 🙂

    Speaking of potentially offensive comedy, I was reminded of this Tim Minchin one – not sure if you know it already? It’s one of those you have to wait a bit for the ‘punchline’/chorus 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw

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    1. hehe no worries, I only know about a lot of these because I watch/listen to *a lot* of different things (speaking of, thanks for that podcast link, it’s so relevant!). I so agree with you- just call it a bad joke and move on. I mean, there used to be all sorts of debates about whether things were offensive or not without things going into the legal territory and I just can’t fathom why.

      Thank you! I’m glad you thought so! 😀 I did want to turn it into something positive, so I’m really glad some of the videos made you laugh 🙂

      Oh gosh I love Tim Minchin! That’s a good one!! Ahh that’s one of my favourites!! Awesome pick!! 😀

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      1. Hehe well I must confess I’m also bad at keeping up to date with current news so I appreciate it when more well-watched/listened people update me 🙂 Great you liked the podcast!! I generally enjoy all their episodes but I thought that one was particularly good and relevant.
        And exactly, debating is fine but it’s just crazy to send it into legal territory!!

        Yes I really did enjoy those – I also watched that Gervais show last night and laughed so hard! I can see why it might offend though, he seems to delight in provoking a reaction 🙂 He made really good points though about the targets and context of jokes and about laughing through the sad things in life. I like the fact he doesn’t seem to back down or lose his sense of humour, no matter how much people criticise… in fact, it seems to spur him on!

        Awesome, I’m glad you liked that one too, it’s a classic!! 😀

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        1. Fair enough- I keep telling myself I’m gonna cut back, cos it’s a bit much sometimes. It was really good!! Yeah absolutely! I’ve no problem with criticism and debate- but it’s the legal element I have a problem with.

          Ah brilliant! hehe yes- it’s very offensive. Yes I think he’s very thoughtful underneath his provocative humour. Yeah for sure!

          Definitely! 😀

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  18. I am so glad reading this post! I often find political correctness has gone a step (more I’d say) too far. It’s not healthy for freedom to confuse humour and satire with offensive speech.

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  19. I’m old school, I’d rather just chuckle and move on then get all uptight over every little thing. It really does seem these days that every time you turn around someone is angry over what seems so small to me, lighten up people. 🙂

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  20. A thing I noticed is that people freaking love to be offended nowadays. As a seventeen year old, that’s really concerning to me because I’m technically part of this “offended” generation but?? I don’t see myself ever doing this?? Being hateful is not okay, but if the joke is reasonable and CLEARLY a joke, then there you have it. You know what I’m saying?
    Great post 😀

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    1. hehe gosh I really relate- I’m in my twenties and am technically a millennial… but I just don’t get offended by everything so easily! I completely agree with you- it’s not cool to be hateful, but a joke’s a joke and even if people get offended, it’s not the end of the world.
      Thank you! 🙂

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  21. Oooh, this is a contentious post! Personally I find Jonathan Pie either absolutely nails it or takes it one step too far but when that happens it’s just a bad joke, not the end of the world. What does concern me is how people react to satire by treating it as reality to push their own extreme agenda (at both ends of the spectrum). I guess you can’t stop people being idiots though ☺

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    1. hehe I know- I’ll admit I was nervous about making it 😉 Fair enough- I think you’re one hundred percent right- even if it’s a bad joke, it’s not the end of the world. That’s an interesting point about satire- in my perspective satire is supposed to simultaneously push the boat out and be a double edged sword- so the best satire should be self-satirising as well. I mean, there’s no reason not to criticise or deconstruct a joke/satire, just don’t arrest people for it! I think you put it perfectly- you can’t stop people being idiots 😉

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  22. I’ll have to look up the Ricky Gervais Netflix show. My favorite comic is currently probably Lewis Black, and he frequently offends people, so… I guess I’ll be laughing with you about this post instead of getting annoyed. 😉

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  23. Hahaha yaaass Chris Rock!!! The man’s a legend. I know back in high school Russell Peters was a pretty popular dude for what he’d say in stand-up comedies! But maaaan… that’s some peculiar climate you got there. Must be fun living in those conditions. 😀

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  25. This entire debate is so weird for me.
    I mean, I know I’ve had people who’ve said some utterly horrible things to me personally and then claimed that ‘it was just a joke’ like that meant I wasn’t supposed to be hurt about being called names.
    On the other hand, the ‘I was joking’ argument simply allows everyone to decide whether or not it was funny and move on. Like, ‘oh you were offended? Well, the joke fell flat in general, we’ll make better ones in the future.’
    Jokes are such weird things, like they are literally laughing in the face of other people’s misfortunes so often, and sure there’s ones that you may not like but that’s what they’re for! They’re meant to get you to question things you’ve taken for granted, and that’s the most amazing thing about them!

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    1. I think that’s a fair point and on an individual basis, I’ve certainly had similar experiences. In this instance, the original video was framed (at the beginning and end) as a joke- so the judge had to accept the prosecution’s argument that context and intent didn’t matter. And I think that’s it’s perfectly fine to discuss whether something was a joke or whether it was funny etc- however, the second that people start facing prison time for making a what they considered to be a joke, there’s going to be a serious problem.
      But yes, jokes are funny things (no pun intended 😉 ) They’re there to lighten the mood and to alleviate stress a lot of the time. And yes, they can certainly make you think!

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      1. Yeah… As you say the video was so clear about the intention to be a joke that I agree that the worst anyone ought to have said is ‘It wasn’t very funny.’ Certainly not ‘You’re being sent down’!
        I always find it interesting when people tell me jokes I find… questionable, to simply ask why it is funny or what the punchline means. I know that explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog as the saying goes (it’s not funny and the frog dies), but it can really help me either realise that it’s referencing something I didn’t catch, or amount to something like ‘Everyone knows women can’t drive properly!’ (Random example, but common.)
        Which isn’t offensive so much as simply not true, and thus not funny, and at the end of the day, that’s the important part of any joke!

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        1. Yeah for sure- I really wouldn’t have cared if all that it amounted to was people disliking it (as vocally as they want)
          hahaha I’d never heard that “dissecting a frog” analogy- brilliant! 😉 And yeah for sure. Either I’ll go “okay, not funny” or “ohhh” (presuming it was something I missed)

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          1. The dissecting frog saying is handed down all the way from ancient Greece! This is how I end up doing weirdly well in pub quizzes…
            Yeah, I’m totally with you, the most that should have happened is people deciding that they didn’t find it funny.

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  26. Very interesting post. What I always wonder, if it offends you (proverbial you), then just don’t watch it. It’s a bit like capitalism, if you think a company is crap, don’t give them money, don’t support them. But putting people in jail for these things is crazy to me. Sometimes, in fact many times, comedians are just using hyperbole to make a point. If someone doesn’t like it, hit pause or turn it off, or leave. Of course, there are degrees of hate speech I think should not be tolerated and people should speak out against those, but jailing people for what they say? Really, just throw some tomatoes at them and be done with it.

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    1. Oh gosh yes I really agree with you here!! If someone doesn’t like something, then they should just ignore it and not give it time/money. It’s absurd to me that they would want people punished for it. And yes for sure! And yeah, of course speak out if someone is being abusive or hateful, but jailing people is not going to be effective anyway in the long run. I for one, really wouldn’t have cared about this, had there been no legal action.

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  27. Ha ha ha!! I am definitely NOT easily offended… Usually I’m the one doing the offeninding, so thank you for taking up the gauntlet this time! You showed things from some of my favourite comedians! (especially Ricky Gervais… I’m in love with that man. Lol!) Cheers! 🍻💖

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  28. Pingback: Comedy for the Easily Offended… — the orang-utan librarian – WWW.noblelight.com

  29. People who are easily offended would be offended by their reflections in the mirror if they had no one else around to trigger them. Not exactly the crowd anyone should pander to. We should make them the subject of our comedy. They deserve to be ridiculed.

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