The comedy of Daniel Tosh has been all over the headlines lately. But his comedic talents have nothing to do with the attention he’s getting.
According to a blog post which described exactly what happened, a young woman in the audience was singled out, as many comedians do. But Tosh suggested it would be “funny” if she “got raped by, like, five guys, right now.” Sadly, there was laughter after he delivered his punch line – which just goes to show you how little we care about those around us.
Comedy of late rely on inappropriate subject matter in order to get a laugh from their audience.
Maybe my idea of what’s funny is too childish in nature, for I rarely see the humor in jokes which require sexually explicit language or even race to make us laugh.
While many have said comedic styles are all in the art of good old fashion fun and entertainment, my question is where does it stop?
If a comedian makes a “joke” about homosexuals, African Americans, those who are obese or even about someone getting raped, doesn’t that send a message out to the audience and the world? Hell if comedians can joke about it, why can’t we right?
We are so naïve in this world. We really don’t understand how the voice of those doing all the talking influences the impressionable minds of those wandering the world just hoping to fit in.
And while you might just think it’s all for the sake of fun and entertainment, I’m not so sure you’d be laughing if your wife or daughter fell victim to an abuse which now is part of a comedians repertoire.
But society will let Tosh go with a slap on the wrist, because after all he makes us laugh. Unfortunately what you’re laughing at really isn’t that funny.
Famed comedian Steven Martin once said that, “Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.”
