Sensible Erection | Daniel Tosh Made a Rape Joke

Saturday, 14 July 2012

Daniel Tosh Made a Rape Joke - Internet Exploded

quote [ Seriously, what is a rape joke, why do you tell one, and how do you apologize for one? ]

Personally, I thought what he said was kind of funny. As a heckler, you have to expect to be destroyed by the person with the microphone in the meanest way possible. Research what you are going to see. Thought this would be good for SE since these issues have been discussed a lot recently. More related stuff in extended.

Spiritually, a followup to http://www.sensibleerection.com/entry.php/86629

Rape and retards: Doug Stanhope talks Daniel Tosh and humor in PC USA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB0a5VBo_FM&feature=plcp

Stanhope Tweet Rape Joke Followup
https://twitter.com/DougStanhope/status/222860481864544257

Oswalt Tweet Rape Joke Followup
https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/223154902371811328
https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt/status/223194046825381889

Jeselnik Tweet Rape Joke Followup
https://twitter.com/anthonyjeselnik/status/223172033347981312
https://twitter.com/anthonyjeselnik/status/223094201947140097

Another Response Putting Tosh in a Negative Light (I really don't agree with this one, with the dicks being chopped off being the same)
http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-12-12-14-37-the-best-response-weve-heard-to-daniel-toshs-misquoted-rape-jokes/

15 Rape Jokes That Work (Silverman's second one on there is easily the best)
http://kateharding.info/2012/07/13/15-rape-jokes-that-work/

[humour] [by bltrocker@12:48amGMT] [+6]

Comments

afrasr said @ 12:56am GMT on 14th Jul
Yeah, the usual.

Heckler (usually feminist type) stands up and cries about being insulted and offended.

She is rightly made fun of by the comedian, goes home and writes about it on her blog, which sees a massive traffic spike.

News orgs get a hold of it.. and create storm in a teacup.

If she didn't like it, she was free to fucking leave.

It's about censorship.

Everything is up for grabs, or nothing is.

sanepride said @ 1:05am GMT on 14th Jul
Um, no this is not even remotely about censorship. Unless of course you are advocating censorship of the 'feminist type' writing about it on her blog.

afrasr said @ 1:24am GMT on 14th Jul
No, I am not pushing for censorship of anyone !

She is free to bitch in her blog, but Tosh is free to make off colour jokes as well.

Free speech works both ways.

feldenglas said @ 1:54am GMT on 14th Jul
I don't think any reasonable person is saying that these kinds of jokes shouldn't be made. I think the argument is that when they are made, it is typically without any awareness of how hurtful and damaging they can be.

willrogers said @ 2:29am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2]
But virtually all but the blandest, most trite and cliched Vaudevillean jokes will offend someone. Making jokes about crazy religious people will piss off those crazy religious people. Making fun of censorious moralizers is going to offend those moralizers. Making fun of a politician is going to offend that politician and his/her supporters. What makes one group or person open to comedic criticism and others off limits, other than personal preference and bias?

This isn't to say that you have to like all jokes or agree with them or contribute your time and money towards those comedians who perform jokes that offend you, just that the rubric of "it offends someone" is so broad and vague and encompasses so much of comedy that it's functionally useless if we actually want to have any comedy.

feldenglas said @ 3:01am GMT on 14th Jul
I'm not talking about offending people.

That seems to be a deep misconception that a lot of people coming down on Tosh's side have, that this is about someone being offended. I think that demonstrates how little they understand about what a seriously crippling, traumatizing thing that rape can be. What I said was how hurtful and damaging these jokes can be.

I don't know if we can draw a line here, or if we should. All I know is that this is a problem that is rooted in a truly profound level of ignorance and insensitivity. That's all.

happiest_sadist said @ 9:27am GMT on 14th Jul
In what way exactly is it "hurtful and damaging"? Where is the damage? Where are the wounds?
People who are merely offended by jokes and other content frequently call it hurtful, damaging or harmful.

I agree, people should not be ignorant and insensitive. It's a terrible thing. People shouldn't rape others either. Making jokes, even stupid, unfunny, tasteless ones, doesn't rise to the level of "hurt" or "damage" as rape, torture, immolation, drowning, or any number of the awful things that ignorant and insensitive people do to each other.
Forcibly preventing people from making those jokes is arguably more hurtful and damaging than making the jokes is. Of course, no one here has argued for forcibly preventing the jokes. All that's happened here is an asshole made an allegedly shitty joke (I have not heard the actual joke yet, only the foofooraw about it, and I would appreciate it if someone could produce the actual text) and another asshole decided to make a stink about it.
No one got raped.
No one got physically hurt.

arctan said @ 10:09pm GMT on 15th Jul
The people defending Daniel Tosh are the ones puzzling me. He did an awful set that included him saying something awful. As a result, people are calling him awful and telling other people not to go to his shows, because they'll be putting money in the pocket of an awful person.

All of this is well within the province of the free market. No one is actually saying what he did is the same as rape, because then they'd be saying he should be PUT IN JAIL, when what we are actually saying is that we hope his career as a stand-up comedian fails, because we don't like him.

Which is, y'know, not that big a deal. Plenty of people who are 1,000% nicer than Daniel Tosh fail at stand-up comedy just because they're not good at it, without ever revealing themselves to be loathsome human beings to boot. A successful stand-up career is not something you are owed in the Bill of Rights.

eIfish said @ 11:05am GMT on 14th Jul
So you're saying that it's not that people were offended, it's that people were mega-offended, and that's worse somehow and mega-offended should be treated specially.

This feeling of hurt and damage is what 'offended' means. Don't you think Fred Phelps feels exactly as violated when someone suggests homosexuals deserve equal rights? Or that Intelligent Design is made up? Levelling massive artworks is not something one does because one is a bit if a dick; do you not think those Buddhas would have to be causing people to feel hurt and damaged for them to feel that destroying them is a reasonable course of action?

Why do you get to be the one that decides which cases of offence are reasonable and which should be trivialised?

feldenglas said @ 11:24am GMT on 14th Jul
I'm not going to try any harder to convince you than I already have. You're wrong, and if you care to correct yourself you can do a little bit of research and learn the difference between hurt feelings and retraumatization/vicarious traumatization.

As a psychotherapist, much of my work has been with juvenile male rape victims, and I assure you that when one of those jokes were made in the residence, the response was good deal stronger than one would find in a simple case of hurt feelings.

You reference intelligent design, Phelps' fallacies, and other ridiculous notions as things that offend you. That tells me that you're somebody who holds data and intelligence in high regard. I'd encourage you to go with that, do some research into what rape is, its impact on human lives, and then ask yourself some of the same questions you just asked me.

pleaides said @ 1:57pm GMT on 14th Jul
I've come in a little late to the proceedings, but it seems to me that you've missed the point by some distance. I bow to your expertise as a psychotherapist of male rape victims, but I feel that as a recipient of such treatment myself I can testify that the mere awfulness of the act ought not preclude the comic's trade. I account no currency at all to those who claim supreme 'mega offense' over the comments that this idiot made.

It seems to me that this guy is a fucking idiot who wouldn't know 'funny' if it popped up in his soup. Still, those who claim to take offense on my behalf never thought to ask me about it. I was a young man when I was assaulted, and I resent you taking my experiences as a proximate excuse for preventing bad jokes on my behalf.

I tried to watch this guy's routine but I couldn't find it, so take my remarks with a grain of salt. Let this clown be decried for not being funny rather than us rounding on him for his choice of material.

mrcucumber said @ 3:37pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
I had a good friend raped at gunpoint. He was a young adult at the time. He never told me he was raped until about a year after wards. I only knew he was shot in the head by an assailant and left for dead when he returned home from the hospital. Quite a traumatic event.

I've lost touch with him for a number of years but if I had to, I'd guess he wouldn't be in favor or banning rape jokes. That doesn't mean anything, just anecdotal.

theolypse said @ 7:34pm GMT on 14th Jul
Your, uh, first sentence...

mrcucumber said @ 7:36pm GMT on 14th Jul
Yeah yeah. I know. I read it after posting and wished I could change it. Thanks for pointing it out...not.

arctan said @ 10:14pm GMT on 15th Jul
Making judgments is what human beings do. You're saying that because I can't make a scientifically quantifiable argument that a machine could objectively say was correct for my stance that Fred Phelps is an asshole who has it coming and rape victims are not, that that stance is indefensible.

This is fucking stupid. Clearly the answer is not that ALL feelings of offense are reasonable or, conversely, that ALL feelings of offense are trivial. It means we have to make our individual judgments and defend them on an individual basis, hence the thing I posted above about why Tosh's humor is fucking creepy because it's the humor of a bully.

And of course people can disagree on this shit, which is why we have freedom of speech and I don't get to legally censor anyone. But being free to disagree means being free to loudly and vigorously defend your position -- it does *not* mean that if I think Tosh is a horrible disgusting prick I should shut up and be quiet and not make things difficult for him because he is somehow owed my respect just for being a stand-up comic.

pleaides said @ 1:40pm GMT on 14th Jul
THIS

arctan said @ 10:02pm GMT on 15th Jul [Score:2]
Since I am not setting myself up as the Lord Chamberlain and declaring I have the right to actually legally censor anyone, obviously this is all personal perception and personal bias, but:

If you can't see that there is a HUGE FUCKING DIFFERENCE between mocking people in power who are doing bad things and mocking people who are powerless to stop bad things being done to them, I'm not sure it's even possible to have any kind of critical conversation about comedy -- or anything -- with you.

The very best comedy is the comedy that most offends those who have the most power and who are most misusing it. The jester speaking the truth to the king.

The very worst comedy -- not worst as in "fails at getting laughs", but worst as in "gets the most laughs from people who are genuinely bad human beings" -- is the comedy that most offends those who have the least power and are most victimized by it. The bully kicking sand in the face of the little kid.

Both of these forms of comedy are "offensive" and therefore more meaningful and important than comedy that's just wordplay and "Ha ha farting is funny".

But they're poles apart from each other. Just like there's a world of difference between "celebrating violence" when what you're celebrating is someone standing up against those who murder innocents and when what you're celebrating is the actual murdering of innocents.

From everything I can tell Tosh's bullshit "shock" humor is the same kind of gleefully pushing people's hot buttons that are sources of pain and hurt for them and basking in the privilege of being able to hurt people and get away with it that is the lowest, scummiest, ugliest, nastiest kind of comedy -- the province of asshole trolls and 4chan. I feel no need to wish him success and any failure he gets -- lost bookings, protests shutting down his performances, etc. -- he deserves.

And yes, that is completely and entirely because he offended people who didn't deserve to be offended, not because I have some blanket policy on the idea of "offense". I'm against him and on the side of, say, Stephen Colbert blatantly insulting President Bush because blatantly insulting is *good* when it's something you're doing to a powerful person who's hurting people and *bad* when you're doing it to a powerless person who's been hurt.

It is not fucking rocket science.

Naruki said @ 2:47pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:-1 Flamebait]
I don't think any reasonable person
Congratulations, you just offended about 95% of commenters. The other 5% mistakenly think you meant them.

snowfox said @ 7:11pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:4 Underrated]
You've made it clear that you want my attention. Well, you have it. You can have all of my attention that you want. But I will not give you negative attention anymore. I never should have given you negative attention. No one is perfect. I have bad days too.

Every attack against others betrays your insecurity. I know because I am also insecure. Much of SE's core user base knows that I suffer from severe anxiety and that I have a deep fear of rejection and humiliation. I am here to understand you if you're brave enough to let me.

If you'd like to talk, you can PM me. I promise whatever you say will remain between us and I won't judge or belittle you in any way.

I honestly believe that you could be a kind and open person. I think you fear being wrong and preemptively lash out against others to make sure you never have to admit to wrong-doing. I know that it's embarrassing and hard. I can't imagine what's happened to you to make you this way, but I believe you can do better. And if you change, decent people will accept it and will not rub your nose in the past. Anyone who would is indecent.

Take the courageous step. Maybe no one has ever said this to you before, but...

I believe in you.

Naruki said @ 12:14am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:-2 WTF]
Junior, I wasn't talking about you. At least, not meaningfully.

It seems your math skills are as fucked in the head as the Texas legislative branch. 95 + 5 = 100%, Gunga Dim.

I was talking about everybody.

Why you feel the need to assume you are everyone is... something you should see a therapist about.

snowfox said @ 3:04am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
It was your other comment, which was very obviously about me. My offer stands whenever you want to let down your defenses. I know it's a scary thing to do, but you can do it.

Naruki said @ 5:43am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:-1 WTF]
My OTHER comment. Not this one. And you replied to THIS one with some retarded attempt at psychobabble because...?

Don't get me wrong, it's cute that you think I am that mentally and emotionally insecure as to feel pressured or bullied by you. But you ARE a raging lunatic that has drama queened more than once and whom I cannot even offer helpful advice to without pressing one of your crazy buttons.

So don't hold your breath on whatever offer you pretend to have made me being accepted. I didn't bother reading it very closely because of the aforementioned "raging lunatic" problem, so even if I were as stupid as you think, I couldn't act on it.

Do go on about how you plan to do something you are mentally incapable of doing, though. That's always a hoot.

snowfox said @ 7:04am GMT on 15th Jul
I'll be waiting whenever you're ready to drop this silly defensive act. It's not that hard. No one will laugh at you.

Naruki said @ 8:58pm GMT on 15th Jul
More...

snowfox said @ 9:11pm GMT on 15th Jul
I'm sorry you feel that way. =( I know how it is.

Also, for what it's worth, that incident of me not trusting you in that post I made -- I apologized for that in that same post. I even put up a cute picture for you. I guess you never saw it, or else you would not have alluded to it elsewhere. So I'll say it again -- I'm sorry.

Naruki said @ 1:27am GMT on 16th Jul [Score:-1 Troll]
I think you need to look up the word apology and see how it differs from what you did.

More...

arrowhen said @ 4:55am GMT on 16th Jul
If you guys have to do this in public, could would of you at least link to the backstory so I can know what context you're acting like idiots in?

Naruki said @ 11:50pm GMT on 16th Jul
Beats me. As I already mentioned, I was not even talking about her here, she just jumped in with the same old "I'm a victim!" rage fest.

snowfox said @ 6:58am GMT on 17th Jul
Still feeling defensive are we? You called me out once in this post, it was not unreasonable to think you'd done it again. I'm sorry I assumed. Just who were you referring to then?

Naruki said @ 1:57pm GMT on 17th Jul
This question was answered immediately upon your unwarranted arrival in this thread. Go back and read.

snowfox said @ 7:00am GMT on 17th Jul
More importantly, where was the rage? Where did I claim I was a victim? You already admitted you didn't read my comment but you feel justified in assuming its contents. Are you feeling ok?

happiest_sadist said @ 6:23am GMT on 17th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
I think they should get a room.

Specifically, #sensibleerection on esper.net

OK, technically that's a channel but WHATEVS.

snowfox said @ 5:19am GMT on 16th Jul [Score:1 Informative]
My apology:

"Thanks for clearing that up. Sorry for doubting you, Naruki."

And cute picture.

Apology - a written or spoken expression of one's regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another (courtesy of dictionary.com)

I'd do more, but where would I find a notary at this hour?

Naruki said @ 11:51pm GMT on 16th Jul [Score:-1 Troll]
"cute picture" AKA insult is why your "apology" wasn't.

Almost there. More...

snowfox said @ 6:57am GMT on 17th Jul
I did not intend it as an insult. It was something nifty I had just found and I thought you would enjoy it. I had no idea you would read into it like that.

And try saying "more please" if you don't mind.

Naruki said @ 1:58pm GMT on 17th Jul [Score:-1 Flamebait]
Sorry, I just lost interest. Honestly, this has never happened to me before...

snowfox said @ 5:24pm GMT on 17th Jul
How does that make you feel?

Naruki said @ 1:12am GMT on 18th Jul [Score:-1 Overrated]
Not as bad as a Texas attention whore, so I guess I'm good. :-)

snowfox said @ 2:13am GMT on 18th Jul
Very funny ;)

cb361 said @ 9:10pm GMT on 18th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
I wish you two would hurry up and either kill each other or fuck. The suspense is killing me.

damnit said @ 8:09am GMT on 15th Jul
don't have kids.

arctan said @ 5:18pm GMT on 15th Jul
And people are free to wrote news stories calling him a gigantic douche and not see his shows.

That too isn't censorship, it's free speech and the free market.

Ankylosaur said @ 1:08am GMT on 14th Jul
Someone should murder Daniel Tosh, Doug Stanhope, Patton Oswalt, and Anthony Jeselnik because it would be funny if that were to happen.

sanepride said @ 1:36am GMT on 14th Jul
Now that might be considered censorship.

Ankylosaur said @ 1:49am GMT on 14th Jul
What if someone just knifes them in the spine so they're all paraplegics?

assbastard said @ 1:51am GMT on 14th Jul
Just have some women break off a chair leg and violently sodomize them with it on-stage while women hoot and holler in the audience.

damnit said @ 5:11am GMT on 15th Jul
and give them the chance to enjoy anal?

RhesusMonkey said @ 1:26pm GMT on 14th Jul
That would still let them talk though...

How about digesting scalding water, so it destroys their voicebox? Rip out their tongue maybe?

EPT said @ 1:50am GMT on 14th Jul
If done properly, it could instead be showmanship.

foobar said @ 1:21am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
Dude, that chip on your shoulder is bleeding all over the carpet.

arrowhen said @ 1:35am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:5 Funny]
Show us on the doll where the girl didn't touch you.

theolypse said @ 1:55am GMT on 14th Jul
Please carry on complaining about women who like not feeling threatened--it seems you're definitely not going to stop--somewhere else.

Really.

oxyrosis said @ 1:56am GMT on 14th Jul
you couldnt be more right with the steve hughes.

offense is personal and as such you as a person have the ability to leave whenever.

heckling a COMEDIAN is beyond stupid, it ALWAYS ends badly.

===
now watch Tosh's career skyrocket.

arrowhen said @ 7:26am GMT on 14th Jul
Goddamnit, I had a really fucking funny and insightful joke halfway typed up before I remembered that Bill Hicks was not, in fact, Mitch Hedberg.

Fuck you, reality!

theolypse said @ 7:35pm GMT on 14th Jul
It would probably be even funnier if you just went ahead with it, now.

mrcucumber said @ 3:42pm GMT on 14th Jul
That seemed.....stupid. All he did was yell and insult her with name calling like bitch cunt drunk cunt, cunt bitch.

Yeah. Classy.

Jimmy Carr, shown below, does a much more mature, witty, intelligent reaction to hecklers.

cb361 said @ 5:01pm GMT on 14th Jul
He pays them go away?

eIfish said @ 10:13pm GMT on 14th Jul
Jimmy Carr probably rehearses. He never ad-libs anything, and if you see him or his DVDs twice in three years, you'll have wasted a third of your money.

mrcucumber said @ 10:42pm GMT on 14th Jul
if you see him or his DVDs twice in three years, you'll have wasted a third of your money

that's how I usually consider most comics.

assbastard said @ 2:03am GMT on 14th Jul
See, there are a few ways that I've heard it went down... one was that she was in the process of leaving when she said "Rape jokes are never funny" at him, and then he said "Wouldn't it be funny if, like, 5 guys raped her right now? Like, 5 guys just raped her right now?" and the woman immediately went to the lobby and got the manager, who PROFUSELY apologized and offered her two tickets to a different night with different comedians.

The second was that Tosh was talking with the audience and asking them to tell him what to talk about. Someone said "Rape!" and Tosh went off on a tirade of rape jokes, and the woman started to leave and said "Rape jokes are never funny" to him, and he said "Sounds like you've been raped by 5 guys before" and she immediately went to the lobby, the manager apologized profusely, offered 2 tickets to a different show, etc.

bltrocker said @ 2:42pm GMT on 14th Jul
Hm. The second one definitely has more funny to it. I love the manager apologizing bit. You know he isn't really sorry if you're getting comped tickets instead of a refund. Ha.

willrogers said @ 2:13am GMT on 14th Jul
Yeah, that's not at all sexist or selectively biased.

There totally aren't hecklers from all walks of life who are self-absorbed assholes and it's not like a simple youtube search for "heckler" would reveal this.

Ankylosaur said @ 3:09am GMT on 14th Jul
Look at all the entertainment hecklers help create! They should be paid a commission.

willrogers said @ 3:31am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:4 Insightful]
I'd rather hear the comedy set the comedian has spent months of grueling work developing, rather than have the rhythms, flow, and timing fucked up by some drunk, self-centered asshole. When a comedian wastes time to deal with a heckler, only half the conversation is funny, the other half is barely intelligible tripe.

snowfox said @ 3:41am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
Is this personal? Do you get heckled?

Ankylosaur said @ 3:46am GMT on 14th Jul
I think hecklers are his button. Everyone push!

arrowhen said @ 7:18am GMT on 14th Jul
Ankylosaur? More like Ankyloser! Haw haw haw!

Oh, you meant heckle him. My bad.

eIfish said @ 11:23am GMT on 14th Jul
Have you been to much standup?

A good heckle is fantastic, but ninety-nine percent of them are shit, and point-nine percent of them are stooges.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 3:53am GMT on 14th Jul
This.

arrowhen said @ 7:15am GMT on 14th Jul
Eh, I could go either way.

I have a huge respect for craftsmanship -- probably moreso than I do for art, to be honest -- and hearing some drunken dumbass interrupt a carefully honed, expertly timed comedy routine is like hearing someone belch the alphabet during a Beethoven concert.

On the other hand, some comics are more about being smart, inventive, genuinely funny people than they are about performing expertly crafted comedy. Hearing someone heckle that sort of comic and draw a hilarious reaction out of them is like hearing some drunken dumbass belch the alphabet during a kick-ass jazz set... and then the whole band stops and pantomimes an exaggerated hand-to-the-ear intent listening pose, the trombonist draws a few experimental belching noises out of his instrument and then looks out at the heckler with an unmistakeable, "did I get that right?" expression on his face, punctuated by a perfectly timed Vaudville rimshot from the drummer, the saxophone player comes in with a mournful Dorian mode version of The Alphabet Song, and then the whole band launches into seven minutes of pure, improvised genius as the crowd goes apeshit and the belcher sits there grinning sheepishly into his drink wondering whether he should feel embarrassed or proud of himself, eventually settling on feeling both emotions at once.

backSLIDER said @ 11:49am GMT on 14th Jul
Please tell me this how you use to steam roll heckelers. Just as they are mumbling there way through half a question that becomes a "fuck you" you take a deep breath and then spit this out with out pause.

arrowhen said @ 7:16pm GMT on 14th Jul
What?

arctan said @ 10:06pm GMT on 15th Jul
That's still better than half the conversation being barely intelligible tripe and the other half being shockingly vile, ugly words that make me want to yank my money right back out of this asshole comedian's pocket.

The thing I think has been lost in this back-and-forth is that in this particular case the woman heckled him *as she was leaving the venue*. "Rape jokes are never funny" was her parting shot, and he could've been the bigger man and just let her go, but instead he had to get in a dig on her to try to save his set -- because overtly threatening her with violence and being a gigantic bully was worth a cheap laugh to him.

This is exactly the kind of shit that makes people prejudiced against stand-up comedians as a class of entertainer. In all your defensiveness and all your worship of the masters of the form you seem to have overlooked that in the wider world there's a stereotype of comedians as emotionally stunted, unpleasant bullies, and the whole comedian's code of conduct you're vigorously defending -- "Punish and shame the heckler at all costs!" -- is part of it.

damnit said @ 6:20am GMT on 14th Jul
"Wouldn't it be funny if afrasr literally gets raped right this very moment?"

arrowhen said @ 8:21am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1]
It's about censorship.

Comedian exercises his right to free speech. Audience member disagrees with his speech, goes home, and exercises her own right to free speech. The rest of the internet evaluates the issue and exercises their own individual rights to free speech. No one goes to jail for it.

You're absolutely right, it is about censorship. Specifically, it's about how censorship is one of the evils we've managed to mostly quash here in the Western hemisphere. Good for us!

animus kadmon said @ 1:30am GMT on 14th Jul
Rape jokes aren't cool, but if you went to go see a Tosh show and thought he wasn't gonna go there, you are just as much of an idiot as he is.

assbastard said @ 1:38am GMT on 14th Jul
She didn't. She went to see Dane Cook (Yes, I know, joke-stealing tool...) and she didn't even know who Tosh was.

Ankylosaur said @ 1:40am GMT on 14th Jul
I don't know who Tosh is. Should someone be expected to?

assbastard said @ 1:48am GMT on 14th Jul
Apparently everyone defending him says that she should have known his entire act revolves around being so edgy that it makes everyone uncomfortable. He has a large, large chunk of material on how funny rape is, how it can't NOT be funny, and the chunk of material is somewhere between 5-10 minutes of just rape jokes. He has a TV cartoon show that's premiering at comic con tonight that the entire first episode revolves around rape and how funny it is. He actually pulled the episode premiere to have the rape edited out, but it's looking like it's not going to premiere at all because it's fucking all about rape.

So yeah, I guess she should have known that he's the rape guy, according to the people defending him.

theolypse said @ 1:53am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
Really, I'm having trouble figuring out why -anyone- should know who he is, from that description. It sounds tedious and grotesque.

assbastard said @ 1:55am GMT on 14th Jul
He has a show on Comedy Central called Tosh.0 where he takes youtube clips and says stupid shit about them. Somehow he worked 30 rape jokes into one segment (7 minutes) of one show.

Ankylosaur said @ 2:00am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Insightful]
So he's a professional YouTube commenter?

assbastard said @ 2:04am GMT on 14th Jul
Essentially, yeah. He gets most of the decent comments off of the web anyway.

damnit said @ 6:25am GMT on 14th Jul
Think Talk Soup with Jeff Winger... instead it's Daniel Tosh, out-pacing Web Soup with the Nerdist.

theolypse said @ 2:02am GMT on 14th Jul
Right. Tedious and grotesque.

bltrocker said @ 3:25pm GMT on 14th Jul
He is one of the most popular comedians in the United States. "Tosh.0" Is The #1 Comedy In Cable Among Adults 18-34 And Men 18-34. The show is actually pretty funny if the occasional broken bone doesn't send you running.

I'm never impressed by people who smug about their ignorance of pop culture.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 3:36pm GMT on 14th Jul
I'm not smug about it. It just isn't something I care about at all.

I'm never impressed by people who are smug about their disdain for people who are ignorant of pop culture.

While I'm at it, I'm also disgusted by people who are smug about their ignorance of math and/or science.

bltrocker said @ 4:56pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Interesting]
If you aren't being smug about it, why type out the question? Why not take the 2 minutes to Google the guy's name and see what's up instead? I wouldn't say I'm smug, just annoyed at that kind of behavior on SE.

Good thing I got a couple papers into J Neurosci recently, so my science ignorance isn't in question (Yeah, that's smug right there).

theolypse said @ 12:35am GMT on 15th Jul
I'd be more insulted if that behavior, when it -does- happen, weren't so legitimately fucking annoying. But your detector's overtuned, guy.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 2:37am GMT on 15th Jul
What question did I type out?

(Other than this one, I mean.)

Naruki said @ 5:47am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:-1 WTF]
Maybe he confused you with theolypse because you replied as though he had just accused you of being smug.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 6:33am GMT on 15th Jul
Okay, here's the thing. The world holds massive amounts of cultural knowledge; far more than any one person could reasonably expect to know. One must pick and choose. It so happens that a lot of what is called "pop culture" is stuff I simply don't care about at all, and thus have no desire to learn more about. I don't see why this should reflect negatively on my character. I'm rather fond of, for instance, English folk dance, but if other people aren't interested I don't hold that against them.

eIfish said @ 10:23pm GMT on 14th Jul
That said, he's pretty unknown outside the US. He doesn't seem to tour, and I don't recall having seen him in any festival listings.

eIfish said @ 10:24pm GMT on 14th Jul
Compare, for instance, Doug Stanhope, who's in everything.

theolypse said @ 12:33am GMT on 15th Jul
Is that how you read me? I hope not; it would be pretty fucking far off. I said that his routine as described doesn't strike me as a route to fame.

This is where I reply with why you don't impress me but don't mention you directly, either.

assbastard said @ 12:48am GMT on 15th Jul
Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good. See: Real Housewives, Jersey Shore, Etc...

happiest_sadist said @ 10:11am GMT on 14th Jul
Well, I'm defending him in that I'm saying that he should be allowed to say whatever the fuck he wants, regardless of how stupid, boring, tasteless or offensive it may be. I'm also saying that whomever has a problem with the stupid bullshit this asshole says (I have seen only a tiny subset of his work, but I'm unimpressed so far, not that that should influence anyone else's opinion) must also be allowed to say whatever the fuck they want.

AFAICT he's a shitty comedian. Apparently the other party is a shitty heckler. I say let them duke it out, and let the least lame lose less.

eIfish said @ 12:20pm GMT on 14th Jul
I think there's an unspoken social contract to the comedy club: if you stand up and shout out to the stage, you have invited whatever follows, and you have no right to be a bad sport about it later.

The core issue is not, I think, what he actually said (or whether what he actually said was funny, or whether whatever he actually said was socially acceptable), but that taking what was expected have started and finished during the performance, and escalating it to an internet shitstorm violates the behaviour expected of an audience member. If you choose to heckle a conedian

eIfish said @ 12:22pm GMT on 14th Jul
you're expected to either beat them at their own game, or fail and take your licks. You're not expected to pursue a vendetta after the show.

happiest_sadist said @ 6:13am GMT on 15th Jul
Sure, but this "internet shitstorm" doesn't seem to be doing him much harm.
Had she hunted him down after the show and raped him, that would be bad and harmful. All she did was say mean things about him on the Internet.

happiest_sadist said @ 6:16am GMT on 15th Jul
That comment makes it look as though I'm totally missing the point.
I'm just trying to say that I agree with your statement about what the heckler invites, but "unspoken social contracts" are vague and not really enforceable. Had she taken this escalation to a place where actual harm resulted, then sanction of some sort might be in order. As it is, I say to hell with both of 'em.

conga said @ 1:33am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]

Can a rape joke be funny? Yes.

Does Daniel Tosh have a shred of the skill or subtly in order to successfully construct one? No.

afrasr said @ 2:23am GMT on 14th Jul
I agree, Tosh is a complete tool.

Yes, rape jokes can be hurtful.

BUT

Should we ban a subject from comedy?

Ok we ban rape jokes..

What's next ?

Jew jokes ?
Black jokes ?
Jokes about women ?
Jokes about gay people?
Jokes about religions ?

Where does it stop?

My point is, yes she was offended, but all she had to do was quietly walk out, and hold her tongue.

That was all.

If a comedian truly isn't funny, or people don't like his humor, they won't see him and he will get the hint. (free market occasionally works)

Instead, she nailed herself to a cross, and made herself a target.

zero sympathy.

feldenglas said @ 3:12am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Insightful]
Why let her actions detract from the message here? We don't have to agree with her choice to confront him in the venue to concede that what he was doing was wrong.

I haven't heard one person suggest banning any form of humor, so let's please stop trotting out that strawman. That's another distraction from a necessary dialogue. Stop for a minute and consider Tosh's statement that "rape is always funny".

I'm a firm believer in the cultural value of satire, irreverence, and blasphemy. There is none of that in what Tosh said, it's just small-minded idiocy. And when he responded by saying how funny it would be if she got raped right there, given the power dynamic in that room, it was nothing more than bullying with the threat of sexual violence thrown in for good measure. There is no cultural value here.

Whether or not we agree with feminism, failing to side with common sense and decency here in the name of preventing a precedent for censorship is really a copout. You're failing to consider the true cultural ramifications of this situation, and the fact that you're doing so from behind high-minded pretense at defending freedom of speech is actually kind of shameful.

maximumtodd said @ 6:35am GMT on 14th Jul
Funny, not funny, offensive, whatever, but I'm not really sure why she would go to a Tosh show in the first place if she was that sensitive. You don't think Tosh has "cultural value", then don't give him your money.

assbastard said @ 8:05am GMT on 14th Jul
Why does no one read the article? She went to a Dane Cook show. Tosh was not who she went to see, but was on the bill. She didn't know who the fuck Tosh was, didn't even know he was anyone other than some unnamed opener.

eIfish said @ 11:28am GMT on 14th Jul
So if you're not the headliner you should toe his line lest you offend someone that can't read the programme and isn't familiar with google?

People with food allergies take care when eating out; why do the easily-offended get a free pass?

assbastard said @ 1:55pm GMT on 14th Jul
The Laugh Factory isn't a theater, it's a small comedy club. They don't advertise the openers, just the headliners, and even then, as it's Dane Cook's home base for trying out new material, sometimes there's only a few hours notice that he's even showing up.

You're trying to put words in my mouth. Nowhere did I say that the openers should toe the line of the headliners. I was just saying how it wasn't a show that Tosh was headlining, it was a goddamn Dane Cook show.

assbastard said @ 2:11pm GMT on 14th Jul
Actually, I take back what I said, apparently they did advertise the entire bill. My bad, and I apologize.

user420 said @ 1:49pm GMT on 14th Jul
She went to see Dane Cook?? Like, voluntarily?

I'm not a Tosh fan, but anyone who likes Dane Cook doesn't deserve to have an opinion on anything related to comedy.

assbastard said @ 2:10pm GMT on 14th Jul
"So, on Friday night my friend and I were at her house and wanted to get out and do something for the evening. We brainstormed ideas and she brought up the idea of seeing a show at the Laugh Factory. I’d never been, I thought it sounded fun, so we went. We saw that Dane Cook, along some other names we didn’t recognize we’re playing, and while we both agree that Cook’s style is not really our taste we were opened-minded about what the others had to offer. And we figured even good ol’ Dane can be funny sometimes, even if it’s not really our thing."

pleaides said @ 2:00pm GMT on 14th Jul
Ok, dishearteningly I've commented before reading all the way through and I've misunderstood what you're saying. Pls disregard my comments above.

conga said @ 1:41am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Informative]
http://www.theonion.com/articles/daniel-tosh-chuckles-through-own-violent-rape,28769/

EPT said @ 1:41am GMT on 14th Jul
Fucking wow... in that video, the clip with the CK Louis rape joke is entirely out-of-context. It makes it seem like he's promoting rape where in context he's ridiculing the idiots who take that mindset.

kichijoii said @ 10:36am GMT on 14th Jul
Did you watch the clip? It's pretty clear from that alone that he does not endorse rape. Pretty much the entire joke was in that clip.

assbastard said @ 1:44am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
I think the statement "If people don't want to be offended, they shouldn't go to comedy clubs? Maybe. But if you don't want people to react to your jokes, you shouldn't get on stage and tell your jokes to people." is really the best thing that can be said to counter the "If you heckle someone, you deserve what you get" argument.

Personally, I think rape jokes CAN be funny, but Tosh's was not only over the line by making it personal to the woman in the audience and basically wishing immediate gang-rape on her, it wasn't even funny, which is a cardinal fucking sin in a comedy club.

theolypse said @ 1:56am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Underrated]
A lot of jokes about taboo subjects can be funny. Mostly, the funny ones are told by and to people who understand why the thing is taboo. Tosh gives the impression of seriously not. It's like the difference between racist jokes and jocular racism.

willrogers said @ 2:06am GMT on 14th Jul
It wasn't supposed to be funny, it was supposed to embarrass and/or shame her into shutting up or leaving. That's what comedians are supposed to do to hecklers so that they stop wasting time and ruining the performance the rest of the audience paid good money to see. Heckling ruins standup and hecklers are scum.

None of Tosh's rape jokes were actually funny, which is also terrible, but that's kind of a separate issue. There are plenty of funny rape jokes and not all rape jokes are actually making light of rape, as many of them are actually satire of rape culture and other misogynistic topics.

Ankylosaur said @ 2:21am GMT on 14th Jul
If an audience is going to a stand-up comedy show, they should expect that there will be hecklers. If they don't like that, they can leave.

willrogers said @ 2:44am GMT on 14th Jul
Wait, so the entire audience should leave because one individual doesn't want to sit down and shut up or leave?

Should a movie theater of hundreds all leave because one couple is talking or someone is on their cellphone OR maybe those one or two individuals could be more inconsiderate or be forced to leave?

Hecklers may be a remote possibility at any standup show but it's not and shouldn't be an expectation the same way a comedian or musical artist possibly performing an encore should be.

Ankylosaur said @ 2:46am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
Wouldn't it be funny if you got gang-raped by 5 hecklers?

willrogers said @ 3:29am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:3 Funny]
"Could you guys rape me a little quieter so I hear the fucking show?!? Jesus, some people have absolutely no consideration for other people!"

assbastard said @ 2:22am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Insightful]
Comedians that CAN handle hecklers, and Tosh is clearly not one of them, do it with WIT and TACT. What Tosh did was just unpleasant. It wasn't witty, it wasn't tactful, and it wasn't funny. Hecklers are an occupational hazard that every comedian has to deal with, and if you can't do it without making the rest of the audience (or, in this case, the rest of the audience AND the internet at large) uncomfortable and maybe ruining the show for them, too, then you shouldn't be on stage until you can figure out how to do it without calling for the gang-rape of a woman in the crowd.

willrogers said @ 2:41am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
I don't think you really understand heckling or standup.

Clearly, the rape jokes were her button, which is what you push if the person won't shut the fuck up and stop ruining everyone's time. The hope is that this person will be so offended and/or embarrassed by the comedian's retort that they'll shut up and be quiet for the rest of the show or leave immediately of their own accord.

Just because comedians know heckling does occur doesn't mean that they have to subscribe to your definition of "tact." Tosh is already a "shock" comedian who relies on being "edgy" to get a laugh, so I'm sure that anyone who wasn't already bothered by his previous rape jokes was going to suddenly have the show ruined for them because they heard another, albeit unfunny, rape-related comment.

Different comedians have different responses to hecklers and it's usually based on their comedic style and "persona."

Take this clip of Patton Oswalt dealing with a couple of hecklers:

His response is based on his well-cultivated stage persona of the loquacious, erudite nerd. Someone like Zach Galifianakis responds differently, in accordance with his own style focusing on awkward, absurdist comedy.

So, it's not that Tosh approached this heckler in the "wrong" way, he kept it in line with his confrontational style that is meant to immediately and intentionally inflame emotions to provoke shock laughs. The only problem here is that his response wasn't actually funny.

assbastard said @ 3:04am GMT on 14th Jul
Look, I've got the credentials of being a veteran of comedy shows dating back to the late 90s. I've seen scores of comedians live, I've walked out on shows, I've sat front row before, I live next to an Improv, I've even been to the Laugh Factory a few times, and I've practically studied the stand-up boom of the 70s and 80s and the war between Mitzi Shore and the comedians of that era. I've seen hecklers, and I've seen comedians handle them well, and handle them poorly.

Y'know, I think we're in agreement that he wasn't fucking funny with it, and that's the biggest sin of all for a performer in a club. I'll concede the "tact" part, but not the "wit" part.

happiest_sadist said @ 10:25am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Interesting]
I don't think you need to concede about "tact" either.
It behooves the performer to be tactful to the audience as a whole. Rudeness to the dipshits that disrupt the show for the rest of the audience is tact to the others.

bltrocker said @ 2:31pm GMT on 14th Jul
Stop the heckler and keep the rest of the audience. That is the objective. Seems like Tosh succeeded.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 3:40pm GMT on 14th Jul
Shooting the heckler and handcuffing the rest of the audience to their seats would also accomplish that objective. Doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Silent said @ 11:03pm GMT on 15th Jul
But it's so hard to deliver a punchline when everyone is screaming.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 5:59am GMT on 16th Jul
No, see, "C'mon, guys, it's so hard to deliver a punchline when you're all screaming" IS the punchline.

arctan said @ 5:16pm GMT on 15th Jul
These days your audience isn't just your butts in seats but your reputation in the wider world. That's always been the case, the Internet just makes it more immediate.

If you can argue that it's perfectly okay for this guy to say sick dhit to this lady because she heckled him, then it's just as much an exercise of free speech for her to tell the Internet what he said and the world to react accordingly.

I don't see any way in which anything that's happened to him is unfair.

Naruki said @ 2:39pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:-3 Troll]
Clearly, the rape jokes were her button, which is what you push if the person won't shut the fuck up and stop ruining everyone's time.

Ha ha, how poorly you (and I) understand humans. I push people's buttons here all the time, and extremely few of them shut their fucking idiot holes and stop wasting other people's time.

Typically most get even more belligerant, even the ones who drama queen and pretend they won't be back just because you insulted their home state or some such bullshit.

arctan said @ 5:12pm GMT on 15th Jul
Michael Richards was also trying to get rid of a heckler when he went on his tirade about how black people should be lynched. That too ended badly for him and basically destroyed his career, and rightly so -- indeed the hecklers didn't seem mortally wounded so much as pityingly dismissive when he pulled out the "Shame them for being black" card.

You can think it's justified because heckling is one of the deadly sins or whatever, but the goal is supposed to be to get rid of the heckler while keeping the audience on your side. Your proposed solution of "Say the most horrifying shit you can to make them leave" is obviously really terrible advice. Even if it weren't the Internet age where you can assume that really going after someone will get you retweeted, you risk creating a hundred hostile audience members for the one that you've driven out.

happiest_sadist said @ 10:17am GMT on 14th Jul
"...it was supposed to embarrass and/or shame her into shutting up or leaving. That's what comedians are supposed to do to hecklers..."

No. Comedians are supposed to be funny. That's all.
It's quite possible with even a small PA to drown out people who insist on talking. I know this from first hand experience.

Comedians are allowed to insult and rhetorically attack hecklers in that audiences don't stay away from comedians who do this (with a few notable exceptions). Comedians who do this and are funny at it will increase their audiences.
As far as I can tell Tosh is a waste as a comedian. His performance here has little to do with good comics.

willrogers said @ 10:39am GMT on 14th Jul
It's standup, not improv. These comedians spend months crafting a set only to have it ruined by some fucking, self-centered asshole. Barring those comedians who do substantial crowdwork (e.g. Zach Galifianakis), most comedians only want to hear laughs (and maybe groans) from their audiences. Anything else, including applause, messes with things to some degree.

Seriously, you try standup with someone shouting out bullshit. It's difficult as hell. It throws off your timing, it fucks with your rhythms, it messes with well-built tension, and just makes their your job harder. Even the comedians who are notoriously awesome at dealing with hecklers (e.g. Dave Attell) still fucking hate hecklers and wish that they'd never have to deal with one again.

So, whatever a comedian needs to do to get a heckler to shut their stupid fucking mouth is what the comedian will do. It helps if it's funny, but the main priority is to end it as quickly as possible and get back to the original performance.

happiest_sadist said @ 10:48am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
"Seriously, you try standup with someone shouting out bullshit"

I have done this.

"It's standup, not improv."

I'm aware of the difference. I have done both.

Still: "...it was supposed to embarrass and/or shame her into shutting up or leaving. That's what comedians are supposed to do to hecklers..."
It's not true. Comedians may do that; they are allowed. It is not what comedians are supposed to do. Comedians are supposed to be funny. It's right there on the tin.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 3:41pm GMT on 14th Jul
If that is the case, shouldn't dealing with hecklers be a job for security? Disrupt the show, get thrown out of the club.

willrogers said @ 3:59am GMT on 15th Jul
Club owners generally don't like doing this because it creates an even larger and longer disruption than the actual heckling. They're still hoping that hecklers will just shut the fuck up or leave on their own, which causes fewer problems and allows the comedian to get back on track faster.

Also, I suspect that they're hoping the customer will behave themselves and stay to order more drinks at grossly inflated prices.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 6:50am GMT on 15th Jul
Eh, that makes sense. When I was teaching high school I had to make a similar quick mental analysis for any class disruption: if dealing with it then and there would just result in a bigger disruption, it's generally better to let it fizzle out on its own and talk to the involved parties after class.

eIfish said @ 10:21am GMT on 15th Jul
Not to mention the effect that the threat of forcible removal has on the general ambiance...

arctan said @ 9:35pm GMT on 15th Jul
If I were there, I would've been way more distracted from Tosh's set by the vile shit he said to the heckler making me think he was a horrible human being than I was by the original heckler.

Seriously, were you defending Michael Richards for his meltdown too? Because heckling is so awful that it's okay to jump around going "NIGGERNIGGERNIGGER" to shut someone up, and that anyone -- in the audience or outside of it -- who's offended by it just doesn't understand comedy?

Reading the crowd and working it is part of the comedian's fucking job. You're an entertainer in front of a paying audience -- you have NO inherent right to be up there onstage, and your position onstage is earned entirely from your ability to get the audience to like you. If you don't like that, find another job.

In this case the initial heckling wasn't just a drunk trying to be an asshole, it was someone who found his set so vile and offensive and unfunny she was moved to speak up. His dealing with her was *even more* vile and offensive and unfunny, and as a result people don't want to see his act anymore.

This is how the business of comedy -- or any other entertainment medium -- works.

Naruki said @ 2:34pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:-1 Overrated]
One point many people have that I agree with: hecklers deserve retribution.

However, I think the word "heckle" has been ridiculously watered down to "doing anything, on purpose or not, that could conceivably distract the comedian".

Gotta go to the bathroom? You're a heckler.
Alarm goes off on your watch? You're a heckler.
Cough? You're a heckler.
Laugh too loud? You're a heckler.

And hecklers deserve retribution?

tickaz said @ 11:57am GMT on 16th Jul
cardinal fucking sin

There's a rape joke in there somewhere...

cb361 said @ 12:30pm GMT on 16th Jul
It's just one fucking thing after another.

happiest_sadist said @ 6:22am GMT on 17th Jul
Or one thing after fucking another.

EPT said @ 1:47am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Insightful]
On the '15 rape jokes that worked', almost all of them rely on humour more complex than 'haha, wouldn't it be funny if you were raped'.

faustsloki said @ 2:20am GMT on 14th Jul
In the words of George Carlin: "I can prove to you rape can be funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd"

Ankylosaur said @ 3:01am GMT on 14th Jul
Deliverance wasn't a funny film.

faustsloki said @ 3:14am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:-1 Overrated]
And it didn't have Porky Pig or Elmer Fudd in it. It also wasn't animated, nor any of the characters intended for comedic value.

Ankylosaur said @ 3:48am GMT on 14th Jul
You hecklers ruin everything.

mrcucumber said @ 7:03pm GMT on 14th Jul
So does that mean it's ok to insult him and otherwise ostracize him?

snowfox said @ 4:58am GMT on 14th Jul
I did. It was disturbing. What was more disturbing was my boner. Because I don't even have a penis.

arrowhen said @ 5:04am GMT on 14th Jul
If you'd like to borrow mine, I'm always willing to help out a fellow SE-er.

snowfox said @ 5:11am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:3 Funny]
Sure. Mail it to me in an ice chest.

arrowhen said @ 6:40am GMT on 14th Jul
Good show! I was expecting something along the lines of "Well, I'm not a 'fellow' SE-er, but I'm sure some of our distinguished homosexual gentlemen would be happy to take you up on your offer", but your reply was much more cleverer.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 7:34am GMT on 14th Jul
Eh. No. Not funny at all.

Maybe if Porky finished with a "Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!" it might get a chuckle out of me, but even then it wouldn't be the rape that's funny.

arrowhen said @ 8:03am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Funny]
No, the funnier rape line is obviously, "Be vewwy, vewwy quiet!"

arrowhen said @ 8:04am GMT on 14th Jul
But, again, I'm probably a terrible person.

cb361 said @ 8:57am GMT on 14th Jul
I think Porky would be more likely to rape Bugs. Bugs is plainly asking for it, what with all that cross-dressing.

EPT said @ 12:46pm GMT on 14th Jul
It's the Roadrunner that plays hard-to-get!

cb361 said @ 10:05pm GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
But Porky raping Elmer would be male-on-male rape, which everybody already agrees is hilarious. Particularly the prison system.

snowfox said @ 10:11pm GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Informative]
It fits perfectly with the perception that rape is a form of punishment. Women are being punished for their sexuality and prison rape victims are being punished for their crimes. Rape is about hate and power so while the two crimes don't initially seem related, they spring from the same well.

assbastard said @ 2:28am GMT on 14th Jul
*Patiently waits for the first person to say "Saying that 'if she didn't want Tosh to rip her to pieces she shouldn't have heckled him' is exactly like saying 'if she didn't want to be raped, she shouldn't have lead him on'" and the resulting shitstorm*

Ankylosaur said @ 3:03am GMT on 14th Jul
*Patiently waits for train reference.

cb361 said @ 8:49am GMT on 14th Jul
America is just going to have to get use to this. What with all the extra trains they're building.

happiest_sadist said @ 10:29am GMT on 14th Jul
I like trains

bltrocker said @ 3:08pm GMT on 14th Jul
Bend over. I'll show you the high-speed rail.

happiest_sadist said @ 6:17am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
I like the way you express yourself.

BergZ said @ 3:05am GMT on 14th Jul
I very rarely laugh at rape jokes and I'm not funny enough to retell the few good ones...

That being said, I still sometimes randomly chuckle at the Penny Arcade "raped to sleep by dickwolves" comic (and the less funny follow up to the fire-storm it created).

mechanical contrivance said @ 3:46am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:3 Underrated]
I don't care what anyone says. Raped to sleep by dickwolves is funny.

snowfox said @ 5:12am GMT on 14th Jul
If by sleep you mean death, yes, it is hilarious.

arrowhen said @ 6:45am GMT on 14th Jul
I respectfully disagree. "Raped to death by dickwolves" is mildly amusing, but "Raped to sleep by dickwolves" is sheer fucking poetry.

backSLIDER said @ 11:36am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Insightful]
Raped to death by dickwolfs is terrifying. But you throw the sleep in there and the clash of the terrible with the calm peaceful idea of falling asleep makes it fun to me.

BergZ said @ 1:16pm GMT on 14th Jul
I think what makes the use of 'rape' in the comic acceptable, to me anyway, is that the comic isn't really about rape; it's about how video game players can make the unambiguously immoral choice to abandon non-player characters to a hyperbolically cruel fate and still walk away as the 'big hero'.

Also: Dickwolves!

swiggy said @ 3:23am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:3 Insightful]

All that ever needed to be said on the matter.

mrcucumber said @ 1:54pm GMT on 14th Jul
Carlin is genius. Intelligence, set up, timing, everything.

swiggy said @ 3:33am GMT on 14th Jul
The thing about this whole shitstorm that really sticks in my craw is that the exact same fucking thing can be said for child molestation (which is just rape with a few extra qualifiers attached to it), yet there is none of the same reactionary vitriol any time anyone makes a catholic priest/michael jackson/jerry sandusky joke.

Ankylosaur said @ 3:52am GMT on 14th Jul
I know! I'm constantly doing standup shows at elementary school assemblies and making jokes about some kid in the back row getting gang-raped by priests and almost no one ever asks me to leave.

swiggy said @ 4:14am GMT on 14th Jul
1: Rape can stay with you for the rest of your life.

2: Most kids end up becoming adults.

sanepride said @ 3:56am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
Sure but those jokes are usually at the expense of the (alleged) molester.

snowfox said @ 4:56am GMT on 14th Jul
The purpose of those jokes is to mock the priests/celebrities, not to mock the rape or rape victims. I see a pretty clear difference between MJ jokes and suggesting it would be hilarious if a specific audience member got raped.

foobar said @ 9:00am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:2 Insightful]
In the former they tend to be mocking the perpetrator, in the latter the victim.

mrcucumber said @ 12:25pm GMT on 14th Jul
In a small church, a janitor was cleaning the pews between services when he was approached by the priest.

The priest asked the janitor, "Could you go into the confessional and listen to confessions for me? I really have to go to the bathroom and Widow McGee is coming. She tends to go on and on but never really does anything worthy of serious repentance, so when she's done, just give her 10 Hail Marys. I'll be right back."

Being the helpful sort, the janitor agreed. Just as expected, Widow McGee came into the booth and started her confession.

"Oh Father, I fear I have done the unforgivable," she said. "I have given into carnal thoughts and have had oral sex."

Stunned, the janitor had no idea how to handle this situation—surely 10 Hail Marys would not do. So in a moment of desperation, the janitor peeked his head out of the confessional and asked an altar boy, "Son, what does the priest give for oral sex?"

The altar boy replied, "Two Snickers bars and a Coke."

snowfox said @ 3:39am GMT on 14th Jul
What is the difference between heckling and audience participation?

swiggy said @ 3:48am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:4 Funny]
Audience participation is usually welcome, or even specifically asked for. Heckling is an unwelcome interjection that can disrupt the whole-

Is this a setup for a rape joke?

mechanical contrivance said @ 3:51am GMT on 14th Jul
Heckling is audience participation that the comedian doesn't want. Kind of like rape is sex that the victim doesn't want.

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 4:00am GMT on 14th Jul
What is the difference between rape and consensual sex?

snowfox said @ 4:54am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
Rape is motivated by hate and power, while consensual sex is motivated by being horny.

I guess I'm wondering because it seems like there is a fine line. I assume hecklers intend to harm the comedian while audience participation is intended to enhance the performance.

For instance, I went to an Eddie Izzard show with arch_angel a while back. He did not specifically ask the audience to participate, but when he made some opera singer jokes some people were doing opera notes and he played with it, and everyone laughed. It was unasked for, but not necessarily unwelcome. A different comedian might have been perturbed by the same actions. While the intent was to add to the performance and the laughs, those actions might be seen as heckling the way people here define that word.

happiest_sadist said @ 10:36am GMT on 14th Jul
Heckling is a disruption to the comedian's routine.
A really good comedian can take this disruption and run with it, making even better comedy.
I agree that it's a fine line. Also, from your description Eddie was "asking for it" ;^P

bruceski said @ 4:55am GMT on 14th Jul
The gender of the person who wasn't okay with it.

snowfox said @ 4:56am GMT on 14th Jul
Neither cool nor funny. Try harder.

bruceski said @ 8:32am GMT on 14th Jul
Was it supposed to be?

happiest_sadist said @ 10:39am GMT on 14th Jul
You are not the sole arbiter of what's funny.
I think bruceski has a point, although I would not endorse his point unless I saw it explained better.

Why would you say "try harder"? What is the subtext there?

mrcucumber said @ 12:27pm GMT on 14th Jul
dominance?

happiest_sadist said @ 6:20am GMT on 15th Jul
Oh. Maybe so.
If that's the case then I apologize for interrupting.
Do carry on.

mrcucumber said @ 11:11am GMT on 15th Jul
wha? I was making a very ambiguous and vague reference.

theolypse said @ 7:19pm GMT on 15th Jul
Kinky sex.

happiest_sadist said @ 4:54am GMT on 16th Jul
I was replying to a very ambiguous and vague reference.
It might not be the same one.

mrcucumber said @ 2:21pm GMT on 16th Jul
It's a good thing we've got it straightened out then!

bruceski said @ 2:20pm GMT on 14th Jul
The context of my comment was that I was in a very dark and cynical mood. It wasn't meant to be funny or even be relevant, just letting some of the bitterness out.

Just general bitterness though. Nothing directly relating to my comment, thank goodness.

theolypse said @ 7:45pm GMT on 14th Jul
Yeah, that doesn't come across well online.

bruceski said @ 9:18pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Underrated]
Particularly on a forum where we are fond of inappropriate snark. But there's no edit button and so I am forced to admit it scanned poorly rather than pretend I never made the flub and am perfect.

snowfox said @ 4:33pm GMT on 14th Jul
I never said I was. There's a council. We meet on Tuesdays.

assbastard said @ 5:02am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHut up about the council!

happiest_sadist said @ 6:21am GMT on 15th Jul
A secret council eh?

You mean you're on a Diet?

DarkShadowRavenDragonGrrl69 said @ 3:59am GMT on 14th Jul

bruceski said @ 4:56am GMT on 14th Jul
Why the hell would you post a video of a joke bit, and then stop 30 seconds into the bit?

arrowhen said @ 5:05am GMT on 14th Jul
Antici-

swiggy said @ 5:20am GMT on 14th Jul

swiggy said @ 5:21am GMT on 14th Jul

...aw.

happiest_sadist said @ 10:42am GMT on 14th Jul
-pation.

Mr. Langosta said @ 5:59am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Informative]
9 out of 10 people enjoy gang rape.

ckfahrenheit said @ 6:30am GMT on 14th Jul
extra Sarah raepjoke

arrowhen said @ 7:36am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:3]
For those of you who haven't heard of Daniel Tosh other than "that guy the internet hates for making a bad rape joke", this seems like a fairly accurate sample of what I've heard from him

I think he's pretty funny, but then, I'm probably a terrible person.

arrowhen said @ 7:49am GMT on 14th Jul
Another joke of his...

"There's a lot of issues I'm conservative on. Death penalty? I'm for it. And people always say, 'What if, what if you put to death an innocent man?' And to that I say 'good!' It's worked out for us in the past. Am I right, Christians? John 3:16.

I'm pretty sure you can't moan at that, I think you have to get the other cheek or something."

That's one of those jokes where I don't think it's that funny personally, because it's kind of obvious among the sort of circles I'd choose to try to be funny in, but if you don't find it funny at all, I can't bring myself to respect your opinion on comedic matters.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 8:20am GMT on 14th Jul
I may not get a lot of laughs out of this one, but I suspect that Christianity might have turned out to be a lot, well, nicer if Jesus hadn't been crucified.

arrowhen said @ 8:27am GMT on 14th Jul
I suspect Christianity wouldn't exist as a currently practiced religion if Jesus hadn't been crucified.

happiest_sadist said @ 11:05am GMT on 14th Jul
Nah, it'd just be a series of books that nerds think are cool and try to follow.

Barnabas_Truman said @ 3:46pm GMT on 14th Jul
I don't see how that contradicts my claim.

mrcucumber said @ 6:58pm GMT on 14th Jul
Oh yes, he was contradicting you. Arguing even. I might have detected a few ad hominem attacks in there as well.

Are you going to let him do that? o_O

Barnabas_Truman said @ 2:39am GMT on 15th Jul
Yes.

arrowhen said @ 4:41am GMT on 15th Jul
How DARE you!!??

Barnabas_Truman said @ 6:36am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Funny]
Eh, I was going to post a long comment about the idea that the Christmas story represents God becoming Man's equal, and that the Easter story represents that being taken away as God becomes not-Man again, and that Christianity would be a much more pleasant religion if it focused on Jesus's teachings instead of his death and resurrection, but Psychonauts looked like more fun.

willrogers said @ 10:30am GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Underrated]
Yeah, it's not hilarious, but it's still somewhat funny and actually meaningful and satirical. He's obviously satirizing the hypocrisy of a subset of conservative Christians, which is far more intelligent and funnier than, "Wouldn't it be hilarious if this heckler got gang-raped?"

drzapato said @ 1:03pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Underrated]
His show is usually pretty dumb, but I like his standup that I've seen. Not that it excuses him in this situation, just that I don't think he's a terrible, no-talent comedian as everyone is saying.

swiggy said @ 7:41am GMT on 15th Jul

recent comedy central special. 1:48 in particular is somewhat relevant.

cb361 said @ 10:55am GMT on 14th Jul
Lots of interesting hits for 'toilet rape' on google image search.

mrcucumber said @ 12:02pm GMT on 14th Jul [Score:1 Underrated]
On a related note, the SE's offensive joke contest HAS NO NEW COMMENTS.

de wr0ng's Offensive Joke Contest # 2 has only 7, and it's been like that for MONTHS. C'MON PEOPLE!!

EPT said @ 12:59pm GMT on 14th Jul
Sorry, haven't been around much. Check again.

Bodnoirbabe said @ 2:17am GMT on 15th Jul [Score:1 Insightful]
Here's my question. What did she expect to happen when she made her comment? Did she think Tosh was going to open up a dialogue with her about how she's right and then they'd all have a sing-a-long?

You don't heckle a comedian when he's on stage. I don't care what the subject matter is, don't fucking do it. You're ASKING to get your ass handed to you. She started a fight then complained the other guy fought dirty.

structured_spirits said @ 3:50am GMT on 15th Jul
Tosh is a content-thieving dick who wishes he was one tenth as funny as Joe McHale, he has the perfect right to make a career-ending joke.

KingPellinore said @ 7:49pm GMT on 17th Jul
Are you sure you're not thinking of Dane Cook?