When Comedians Go Rogue and Tell Jokes

Jimmy Carr is the latest comedian to get into trouble

I like Jimmy Carr. I like his brand of humor. His smugness. I know what to expect with Carr and it’s never a touchy-feely joke designed to sit on the fence. He’s like a softer version of Ricky Gervais. He’s offensive if you were looking for offense. In fact, most of his routine is highly offensive.

This brings us round to the Jews and the Holocaust.

I’ve written at length about why a liberal sprinkling of Holocaust comparisons is bad. I’ve posted why people who feel they are living like Jews in Nazi Germany are offensive and stupid. I should be angry and disgusted with Carr with what he said. I’ll get to that in a moment.

Looking at the bigger picture, my main question is why now? Why has Carr’s show ‘Dark Material’ only now been recognized as offensive? Why has it taken this long for people to speak out about Carr’s jokes?

With Dave Chappelle, there was an instant backlash. People couldn’t wait to condemn Chappelle’s gags as hate speech. Writers were tripping over themselves with posts after posts of sanctimonious bullshit either defending or condemning Chappelle.

But Carr? Nothing but silence.

His Netflix special was released on Christmas Day. It’s taken over a month for Carr to receive the kind of backlash publicity he can only dream about. He has always had an air of desperately wanting to offend and be an anti-hero. Now, Carr’s finally got his moment.

The timing? A week after Holocaust Memorial Day.

Am I being too cynical?

What better way to publicize the day than to pick on a low-level comedian with a cult following? Carr the sacrificial lamb is now the target for Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, the Auschwitz Memorial, and Hope Not Hate. Throw in David Baddiel, spokesperson for all Jewish entertainers and every joke about Jews, and you’ve got yourself a cancel culture storm brewing.

I’m against censorship of any kind. As much as I detest hate speech, it should still be allowed in society. Promoting hate speech is a different matter. I believe context is everything. Talking about gassing Jews dressed as Jihadists and broadcast by right-wing fanatics should rightfully be banned. Comedians starring in a Netflix special labeled comedy, not so much.

Context is everything.

What did Carr say?

Carr began the performance with a trigger warning.

“Trigger warning. Tonight’s show contains jokes about terrible things. Terrible things that may have affected you and the people that you love. But these are just jokes. They’re not the terrible things.”

It was towards the end he launched into his ‘educational’ piece on the Holocaust.

“When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of 6 million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine. But they never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis.

No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.” Jimmy Carr-Netflix.

That was his least offensive material on the show.

Does a pre-warning make it any better? Probably not. But again, you know what to expect with a Carr performance. You know he’s offensive. You know everything and everyone is a target. The viewer has a choice to switch off. I never watch Chappelle. I don’t find him funny. I can’t be offended by him because I don’t watch him.

So what’s the agenda here? Should we censor comedians? Ban his words? Burn his books? Drive him out of town so we can never laugh at his horrid jokes again? What about new laws that would hold the broadcaster to account? Laws that would allow the government to fine and lock up the CEO for allowing offensive behavior on our screens.

Where would that end? Who would deem what offensive? Is the director responsible? The stage-hands for helping? The many following orders from pre to post-production? Everyone involved with the extermination of the Jews was trialed, no matter how small a role they played in the concentration camps. Are comedians on the same level?

That’s the problem with censorship. There are too many offended people. You can’t possibly please every group.

It was amusing to hear the UK culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, condemn Carr and wonder if new laws could be passed to make sure such hideous jokes never air again. Dorries tweeted in 2017 “leftwing snowflakes are killing comedy”. When she was confronted with her own words her reply, “Well, that’s not comedy,” was comedy gold.

This all feels suspiciously like a storm in a teacup brewed by a slow news day. “The world lacks outrage, we need another shit-storm! What? Jimmy Carr? Who the fuck is Jimmy Carr?” demands the Editor. “He said something about the Holocaust.” “He’s antisemitic?” “Well…not exactly.” “What do you mean? Can he be canceled?” “It was against gypsies. And yes…he’s on Netflix.” “Perfect.”

Who will be our moral guide to comedy? The tabloids? Culture secretaries? The offended minorities? Religious institutes? Politicians? We need someone in charge to stop the world from making bad jokes.

I like Jimmy Carr. Jimmy Carr is funny.

Cancel culture is not. Neither is censorship.

Further reading