I don't think this person understands Black Comedy, which is what Ricky focuses on. That's what he's known for, and chances are that's why her 13 year old kid liked him too.
this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2023
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I agree. When I've gone through terrible times, black comedy was such a relief. I would've felt worse if everyone was scared to make jokes for fear of offending me. Laughing at something takes some of the power away from it. "Why didn't you wish to get better?" comes across to me as a wink: of course you're wishing to get better and it sucks it's not that easy.
There seems to be some Ricky Gervais fan downvoting all the comments in this thread.
More than one apparently.
Edit: Interesting that none of these downvoters actually have the courage to defend a guy making fun of kids with cancer.
Plenty do. I suggest you read the comments.
They didn't when I wrote that. And none of them replied to me until now. And that was one person who didn't really justify mocking kids with cancer who you made Make-a-Wish videos for.
Wait he’s actually started going after kids with cancer? I thought we were just making fun of him because of his insistence on punching down because he’s not supposed to
You know the old saying - those you're not allowed to criticize are the ones with the real power. It's about time somebody speaks truth to children with cancer!
bro this was funny
In the video clip featuring the joke, Ricky Gervais – who is well known for making offensive jokes – goes on to say: “These are all jokes, right? I don't even use that word in real life, the R word. 'You just used it, Rick'. Yeah. In a joke. That's not real life, is it? I'm playing a role."
Jokes are not real life now? Is that the excuse for being offensive for fun?
This guy is not even remotely funny to begin with. People need to stop giving him a platform.
Shush.
I guess I learned today that he's not just an asshole, he's an ableist asshole. So that's new.
And it's not funny, just trying to be edgy.
Yeah, I'm really not getting what the "joke" is. Ha ha, kids with cancer are stupid? Netflix is so desperate for content.
It's getting a shocked laugh out of the audience by saying things he "shouldn't" say and then excusing it by saying it's a character or (as is often in Jimmy Carr's case) trying to deconstruct it as a meta commentary on what is acceptable in humour. Carr, at least, is a skilled joke technician and very knowledgeable about comedy (my Dad wasn't his biggest fan but thought his book was excellent and used it as a reference in his MA on the linguistics of humour) but it's still a fig leaf being deployed to tell the same punching down jokes that were being told in working men's clubs and the New Wave of British Comedy swept aside.
Taste is subjective but I'm not a fan - it's an excuse for pretty lazy comedy. Frankie Boyle was much funnier (IMHO) when punching up than he was when he was making jokes about Jordan's son.
It's also stale - we've no shortage of edgy comedians saying things for shock value. Sometimes a joke is just not funny because every other one has basically made the same joke. And if it's not funny all that's left is an insult.