Laughing
Well-known member
Different senses of humour festa. Humour is like music, there isn't a right or wrong. Christopher I have all of toyahs picture discs, what was I thinking.
Edinburgh Fringe and Jerry Sadowitz
- Thread starter Abel Tasman
- Start date
Chutney
Well-known member
I've always felt that to some extent he flips between playing straight and playing himself as a character. We laugh AT misogynist Jerry, but then laugh WITH righteously furious Jerry. Then oh look, here's racist Jerry, what a funny idiot. Phew, indignant Jerry's back, I like him much better.
It was always uncomfortable, but he just about got away with it. Maybe the balance is off right now though, or maybe bad Jerry just isn't that funny anymore.
Me and a couple of mates were contemplating his tour a few weeks back, but dates and locations were a bit off. They were pondering which ones we might be able to get to when it occurred to me that I couldn't really be bothered making much of an effort to go see him. And maybe that's also part of it, the act just feels a bit tired now.
Make it a censorship issue if you want, but it's not a hill I can really motivate myself to travel to the base of, let alone climb it and die up there.
It was always uncomfortable, but he just about got away with it. Maybe the balance is off right now though, or maybe bad Jerry just isn't that funny anymore.
Me and a couple of mates were contemplating his tour a few weeks back, but dates and locations were a bit off. They were pondering which ones we might be able to get to when it occurred to me that I couldn't really be bothered making much of an effort to go see him. And maybe that's also part of it, the act just feels a bit tired now.
Make it a censorship issue if you want, but it's not a hill I can really motivate myself to travel to the base of, let alone climb it and die up there.
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Decent_Left
Well-known member
Every time I’ve seen him, he was pretty clear there was a “character” bit and a this is me bit throughout. But I’ve not seen him since 2015 so I’ve no idea what his routine is now and how he strings it out.
Every time I did see him, afterwards I always came away thinking that was difficult but very funny.
Every time I did see him, afterwards I always came away thinking that was difficult but very funny.
festa5
Well-known member
Agree of course. Apart from Mrs Brown's boys. It is 100% wrong to find that funny.
jonny_greenings_sock
Well-known member
It’s an interesting debate. What grates massively for me about this and all of cancel culture in general is the rank hypocrisy of dressing it up under the banner of inclusion and creating safe spaces, because it’s actually about as exclusionary as you can get. Removing people you deem unacceptable and taking away their space to say stuff, and pretending that you’re doing that so others can have the space to be themselves safely. Why is one valued higher than the other?
You’re either for freedom of expression or you’re not. There shouldn’t be a moral judgement on which expressions should be allowed to be free; that’s the same as cancelling all the shows by women or trans performers or Asian performers just because they’re Asian, but in reverse.
The whole entertainment industry is on a hair trigger about it and I’m cynical enough to know that some of it is driven by “values”, but a lot of it is driven by not wanting to be the target of a pile-on - ie profit and business reputation.
In this case, it’s Jerry Sadowitz. He’s not exactly a brand new comedian who the venue have taken a chance on and the audience members are going in blind. He’s been doing the same schtick for 30 years, everyone knows exactly what they’re signing up for - particularly the promoters.
Is it “good”? Is it “acceptable”? It’s not for me to judge. I’m not a big fan of Sadowitz and much prefer Frankie Boyle for that knife edge offensive comedy, find him much more clever and witty. Do I find it offensive? Yeah, going on media reports I possibly would. Does that mean I feel so “hurt” by it that I’d want to remove the right for anyone else, who might be massive fans, to see him? Definitely not, I would never assume that my standards had that level of self importance, I chose to buy the ticket and I’m one audience member in thousands.
Also the joke with all these types of comedians is that it’s almost unspeakably offensive, that’s the punchline. I like dark comedy because it’s cathartic to enter a space where you can say that **** that you shouldn’t even be thinking. That opening of the Pandora’s Box of the worst of humanity makes me laugh, whether it’s Larry David or Sarah Silverman or Dave Chappelle or Bill Hicks or South Park or Louis CK. The idea of being told what I’m allowed to find funny based on the current social delicacies is absurd, I find that much more offensive than a Jimmy Carr joke.
Should these “extremist” entertainers, whether it’s Jerry Sadowitz or Katie Hopkins, who I personally find incredibly offensive, be banned? Nah. Should venues book them? Up to them. Should audiences see them? Up to them. Should people complain if they see something that really offends them? Sure, of course. You also have the choice to walk out and do something else you enjoy more like people have been doing since the dawn of theatre with the ancient Greeks. Does that mean the entertainer should be removed and de-platformed? No, one person’s feelings aren’t more important than someone else’s, and for every person who sees Jerry Sadowitz and is appalled, there might be 40 more who saw the best show of their lives.
You’re either for freedom of expression or you’re not. There shouldn’t be a moral judgement on which expressions should be allowed to be free; that’s the same as cancelling all the shows by women or trans performers or Asian performers just because they’re Asian, but in reverse.
The whole entertainment industry is on a hair trigger about it and I’m cynical enough to know that some of it is driven by “values”, but a lot of it is driven by not wanting to be the target of a pile-on - ie profit and business reputation.
In this case, it’s Jerry Sadowitz. He’s not exactly a brand new comedian who the venue have taken a chance on and the audience members are going in blind. He’s been doing the same schtick for 30 years, everyone knows exactly what they’re signing up for - particularly the promoters.
Is it “good”? Is it “acceptable”? It’s not for me to judge. I’m not a big fan of Sadowitz and much prefer Frankie Boyle for that knife edge offensive comedy, find him much more clever and witty. Do I find it offensive? Yeah, going on media reports I possibly would. Does that mean I feel so “hurt” by it that I’d want to remove the right for anyone else, who might be massive fans, to see him? Definitely not, I would never assume that my standards had that level of self importance, I chose to buy the ticket and I’m one audience member in thousands.
Also the joke with all these types of comedians is that it’s almost unspeakably offensive, that’s the punchline. I like dark comedy because it’s cathartic to enter a space where you can say that **** that you shouldn’t even be thinking. That opening of the Pandora’s Box of the worst of humanity makes me laugh, whether it’s Larry David or Sarah Silverman or Dave Chappelle or Bill Hicks or South Park or Louis CK. The idea of being told what I’m allowed to find funny based on the current social delicacies is absurd, I find that much more offensive than a Jimmy Carr joke.
Should these “extremist” entertainers, whether it’s Jerry Sadowitz or Katie Hopkins, who I personally find incredibly offensive, be banned? Nah. Should venues book them? Up to them. Should audiences see them? Up to them. Should people complain if they see something that really offends them? Sure, of course. You also have the choice to walk out and do something else you enjoy more like people have been doing since the dawn of theatre with the ancient Greeks. Does that mean the entertainer should be removed and de-platformed? No, one person’s feelings aren’t more important than someone else’s, and for every person who sees Jerry Sadowitz and is appalled, there might be 40 more who saw the best show of their lives.
It was worse than that.
The Pleasance Theatre Trust statment stated “opinions such as those displayed on stage by Sadowitz are not acceptable”.
Jokes are not opinions. Its an act you dumb ****..
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