Daniel Tosh rape joke

[The Sandman]

Lots of comics push this limit like this, the difference is, Daniel Tosh is a fucking hack. This guy sucks balls.

yes yes yes!!

+1000000

The comic is irrelevant, the question is whether or not it's okay to make such jokes

You do contradict yourself with this point though.

If it was funny, there wouldn't be a problem. Simple.

What you find funny and what I find funny may be two totally different things.

I'm asking if there is anything off limits in comedy? Some people may laugh at a rape joke by one comedy but get offended by one from a different comedian because they are not a fan of that particular comedian.

Oh totally - did you find this funny? It was a poor attempt at humour - it was crass, but without even being remotely funny.

There's nothing off limits about comedy - if you're worried about being offended, take yourself out of the theatre or simply don't watch it. Find something you do enjoy.

[Dazey]

Lots of comics push this limit like this, the difference is, Daniel Tosh is a fucking hack. This guy sucks balls.

yes yes yes!!

+1000000

The comic is irrelevant, the question is whether or not it's okay to make such jokes

You do contradict yourself with this point though.

If it was funny, there wouldn't be a problem. Simple.

What you find funny and what I find funny may be two totally different things.

I'm asking if there is anything off limits in comedy? Some people may laugh at a rape joke by one comedy but get offended by one from a different comedian because they are not a fan of that particular comedian.

Should that subject be off limits? Of course not, nothing's off limits at a comedy show. Was it funny? Nah, it was fucking shite and really just lazy.

[Dan H.]

No, I didn't read the quote and laugh.

But I don't think he deserved this much grief for saying it. He's a comedian. That's what they do.

[Dazey]

This is what he should have done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PdKpR9qNtg

[TeeJay410]

Well I did some more research and am now firmly on Tosh's side on the matter.

The story broke on tumblr and has no recorded evidence of context or audience reaction, what he said before and after, nothing. It was then reported, on tumblr, thirdhand by a friend of the girl. Oh, the girl is anonymos btw. Now certainly something happened, Tosh wouldn't apologize for no reason. However the jist of it is, Tosh is a world famous comedian, everyone should know his material. She must have known the sorts of things she'd be hearing. So, she is presumably willing to at least sit through if not laugh at his racist and homophobic jokes, but when it came to be her turn she was just outraged. So then she heckled, by her admission.

She heckled. That's where discussion should stop, anyone who heckles more or less deserve what they have coming. Now was what he said funny? I have no idea. I have no context to pull from, and I'm not sure I should trust a third hand account by someone clearly with the intention to make Tosh look bad.

As far as if rape jokes are funny? Well, hear it from one of the greats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUVjZPVj1Pk

[Forsaken]

Lots of comics push this limit like this, the difference is, Daniel Tosh is a fucking hack. This guy sucks balls.

yes yes yes!!

+1000000

The comic is irrelevant, the question is whether or not it's okay to make such jokes

You do contradict yourself with this point though.

If it was funny, there wouldn't be a problem. Simple.

What you find funny and what I find funny may be two totally different things.

I'm asking if there is anything off limits in comedy? Some people may laugh at a rape joke by one comedy but get offended by one from a different comedian because they are not a fan of that particular comedian.

Should that subject be off limits? Of course not, nothing's off limits at a comedy show. Was it funny? Nah, it was fucking shite and really just lazy.

Exactly!

This is what he should have done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PdKpR9qNtg

Man, Hicks was on a whole different level. What a legend.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Forsaken

[Death Star]

I want to be a stand up comedian. I am writing material and I am writing a stand up bit on creationism, so would that offend Christians? Yes. I think it would offend some Christians. What about joking about 9/11 or the Holocaust? Would that offend people?? Yes it would, but do comedians have a right to joke about this stuff? I say yes. People are overly sensitive and touchy about everything. I can understand if someone is making a 9/11 joke and someone in the audience was a 9/11 survivor or knew someone who died in the attack, but I can't understand someone telling a comedian he should "shut up" for talking about 9/11 when it hasn't affected that person personally. Just like the Holocaust jokes. If someone is Jewish, is or knew a Holocaust survivor that I can understand how they could be offended but if you are neither of those people, then I can't understand how that person could get offended by that.

I think comedians do this stuff to see how far they can go until someones button is pushed.

[bran]

if you dont want to be offended dont go to a comedy club, comics bust everyones balls about everything so if your thin skinned dont go

[Estranged Reality]

My first thought when I saw this 'news' was that George Carlin did the same joke, better, many years ago. Bill Hicks did far edgier stuff. People are only going after Tosh because he's become a Comedy Central sensation and is now as famous with the younger generation as someone like Dane Cook was years ago. For lack of a better word, he's 'mainstream' now, so he's gonna be under a closer eye than usual.

He's done more offensive jokes in his older standup specials, i.e. the ones from before Tosh.0 existed. He's only getting blasted because he's famous now.

[KBear]

When something is either true or false but we cannot tell...by assuming you know which, in the absence of evidence, that is perception. Therefore, perception is clearly flawed, since it's just as possible that your perception is based on the false reality as it is based on the true reality. It's jumping to a conclusion. This is, for example, what we do not want cops to do when they investigate a crime. Once they *think* they know who did it, just arrest them and stop investigating. So it may work that way in this world for some things, but not if we hold ourselves to a higher standard.

Police cannot arrest without probable cause.

That's right, they must investigate and form a likely scenario. But it must be based on something substantial. Evidence, which must be documented.

The issue really isn't about whether something (intent) is true or false, the issue is whether something that is highly offensive to some should be said in the presence of those who would be offended. For example I'm not Muslim so I don't believe in Muhammad or his teachings, but regardless of whether or not he is truly the last prophet of God is irrelevant. It would be highly offensive of me to disparage Muhammad or the Muslim religion in the presence of Muslims, period.

It's not the same kind of scenario in Tosh's case though. You can easily tell when you are in a room full of Muslims. You can't easily tell when one person in a room of dozens was raped.

I tend to agree with what AxlisOld said.

Rape isn't funny? Then don't fucking watch a guy who makes rape jokes. If you get offended, just stay inside your cozy little bubble and never venture out into the world. Sunny, you don't want to be called the "N word," don't talk to people who say it. People that force their values on others are why people get so pissed off about religion or the government getting involved in their lives. Tosh has freedom of speech the same way anyone else does.

Do people have the right to be offended? I think this was just a Canadian thing, but the song Money For Nothing by Dire Straits was censored because of the word "f@gg0t". Someone complained and now that word is bleeped when played on the radio. It is utterly ridiculous but what we are saying is that one overly sensitive person's sense of entitlement supersedes everything else.

I do think there are times when we shouldn't tolerate offensive language but the measuring stick probably shouldn't be the most sensitive person in the room. Then there is the fact that we are talking about a comedy club here, not exactly the safest place in the world to air your grievances.

By the way, making light of rape is not something that has just recently become unacceptable in society. It's been unacceptable for at least 25 years, which is why this original cover art was replaced:

The above cover art is widely available today. I actually bought a copy with the above cover at HMV, probably the largest music store in the nation. It's a recent Geffen reprint of the album.

I get wanting to ban stuff like this. And there are plenty of topics that I would consider out of bounds, that if joked about I probably wouldn't laugh.* But I don't think the answer is banning everything that will offend someone. If we are talking about something that offends just about everyone, now the case for banning is a lot stronger.

* I don't find rape funny, but I have to admit the Carlin clip above got a laugh out of me. A nice illustration of how one can take the edge off a serious subject when in that particular context.