There has been alot in the media recently about comedians and their joke that "ush the envelope". Since the Summer and the Brand/Ross vs. Sachs radio debacle there have been a number of incidents where the jokes of comedians have been called into question. For example Frankie Boyle's joke about the Queen and Jimmy Carr's veterans/paralympics joke (look em up if you want their not rally appopriate for a PG13 site). So should comedians have free reign over material? Is it a case of if you don't like it don't listen? Or do comedians have a responsibility not to offend groups or individuals etc. Bear in mind new BBc guidelines would ahve meant some scenes from classic comedies like Fawltey Towers, Blackadder and The Office would be oulawed. What do you think?
Free speech is effectively censored by the mood of the general public and the media. If someone crosses the line during a standup show, the negative response of the media and the audience is enough of a wake up call to the comedian that his jokes are out of order. No need to bring government into this.
As for the Jimmy Carr joke, it's really not a big deal. Most military personnel are the first to come up with jokes like that, and have a great sense of humour about it. It's only the pussy footing liberal media in this country who want to give the white middle classes a healthy dose of coffee spluttering every morning, who actually give a crap.
I do think that comedians should bear in mind that their words might offend, or even hurt, someone. But I don't believe that they should have a strict guideline of what they can say or what they can't say... I mean we just have to trust that comedians have, and will make use of, common sense. And besides that... people really have to learn how to take a joke XD
