Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Bad Taste
Our dear friend Marcy at Lost in Your Inbox recently asked the musical question "Is it really crass to post songs about [the Minneapolis bridge collapse]?"
This got me thinking about the whole issue of bad taste in comedy. I think comedy is a universal and intensely useful reaction to tragedies of all sorts and should be used liberally. As one sage put it "Tragedy is the question. Comedy is the answer."
In fact, I would bet any money that the bridge collapse survivors themselves were cracking jokes at the time. One can easily imagine a bunch of cold, wet survivors, huddling under blankets on the shore, and suddenly one guy says "Oh great! Now I'm going to be late for my meeting!", to the great amusement of his fellow survivors.
Some would suggest that we have to draw limits around comedy and say you can't make jokes about this or that. The structure of comedy itself suggests this can't and shouldn't be done. Two of the key principles of comedy are surprise and juxtaposition (often expressed together as the principle of Reversal of Expectation). This suggests that making light of a bridge collapse is inherently funny, because we don't expect it.
This is a lesson our species learned early on. When apes of any sort are annoyed at something or just want to get an easy laugh, they fling feces at it. As comedy, this just works on so many levels. While the fascism of hygiene has all but eliminated actual feces flinging from human comedy, thank heavens this heritage is preserved in our language. As evolved as we allegedly are, we are still apt to fling verbal feces in the face of annoyance or amusement.
During my days writing a comedy fake news blog, I was accused of bad taste many times, but many more times I had positive comments on the jokes. I came to accept, as I think most stand-up comedians do, that pushing the envelope of taste is simply a risk you must take in comedy.
But it is definitely a risk. Comedians regularly crash and burn because they went just a little too far over the edge. The brilliant but ruined Mr. Andrew Dice Clay comes to mind.
Still and all, I have to admit to some limits myself. I almost never make or laugh at jokes about Nazis or Jews, because the whole topic just makes me very uneasy. But that's just my personal limit; I'm sure there are many who find such gags hilariously funny.
Anyway, enough warm up. Here's some of my favourite bad taste jokes from yesteryear:
Q: What was the last thing to pass through JFK's mind? A: A bullet
[During the assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan, his press secretary James Brady suffered severe brain damage from a stray bullet]
Q: What did James Brady say the day before he was shot? A: A guy needs to have a hole in his head to do this job.
Q: What did he say the day after? A: I have half a mind to quit.
Q: What does a 70 year woman taste like? A: (with a shrug) Depends...
And on that feces related note, allow me to turn it over to you, dear readers. Here's your opportunity to tell those awful awful jokes which you privately find terribly funny. No holds barred. Feel free to post anonymously if you prefer.
posted by Mentok @ 9:44 a.m.,
6 Comments:
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At 3:26 p.m.,
Rick said...
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My luck to be first - harkening back to the 80's, after the space shuttle blew up...
Q: What does NASA stand for?
A: Need Another Seven Astronauts.
(Seems like the current crop is more Astronaughty than anything else!) -
At 3:36 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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That reminds me of that classic Letterman Top 10 list, Top 10 punchlines to NASA jokes, one of which was:
"I said Venus ... VENUS!" -
At 6:42 a.m.,
Rick said...
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Just to twist the knife while I have it in...
Q: How did they determine that one of the Challenger astronauts had dandruff?
A: They found his head and shoulders.
OK, I'll stop now. -
At 10:46 a.m.,
said...
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oh my word. i'm ashamed to admit that your photo-illustration just about had me peeing my pants. that's too funny.
i'm terrible with jokes, so i can't remember any to share, however it looks like you two have probably got enough to keep it going for god knows how long! -
At 11:07 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Marcy - well, it's been awhile since I got the "peeing my pants" reaction. Thanks!
Now since you've invited us to carry on, here's my favourite longer, shaggy-dog joke:
A Senior Associate at Wal-Mart is training a Junior Associate on the subtleties of salesmanship.
"The trick is when someone comes in for one thing you try to sell him something that's related. Watch me."
A customer approaches and asks the S.A. for help finding some grass seed.
"You need a hose with that?" asks the S.A.
"Oh sure I'll have to water it, why not?" says the customer.
"How about some fertilizer?" asks the S.A.
"Oh, yeah, what am I thinking, need fertilizer," says the customer.
"How about a lawn-mower?" asks the S.A.
"Wow, you know, I hadn't even thought of that. Here I'm planting this new lawn and I don't even own a lawn-mower yet. Yes, thanks, I'll take one," says the customer.
The Junior Associate is amazed. The customer had come in to buy a $2 bag of seed and walked out with hundreds of dollars worth of yard equipment.
"OK, now you've seen how it's done, you try the next customer," says the S.A.
The next customer comes in and asks the Junior Associate for help.
"My wife sent me down here. Can you tell me where the tampons are?" says the pissed-off, shame-faced customer.
"Sure, here you go sir. Would you like a lawn-mower with that?" croaks the Junior Associate uncertainly.
"Lawn-mower? Why the hell would I want a lawn-mower?" barks the customer.
The Junior Associate says:
"Well, I figure your weekend is fucked anyway. You might as well mow the lawn."
Ba-dump-chee! -
At 2:56 p.m.,
said...
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that is such a guy joke! funny, though, and probably accurate. : )
