Jokes is sometimes not jokes. (DBO)

by someotherguy, Hertfordshire, England, Tuesday, May 31, 2016, 21:47 (3116 days ago) @ Funkmon

This is a comic's perspective: I posit a joke is always potentially funny unless you're a person being offended, where it's you, not the joke teller, who needs to accept that you're not the right person for the joke.

Absolutely true. And if I've chosen to see a comedian (or play, or sculpture, or whatever) and I dont like it that's no one's problem but my own. But if I'm in a public space (or the Internet equivalent) or otherwise in a place where no reasonable assumption can be made regarding my opinion of "taboo" jokes, then I dont think the blame lies entirely with me.

I think you're wrong to say that it's not funny unless you know your audience.

Put it this way. If you've just heard a hilarious but racist joke you might tell your friends, but you wouldn't shout it in a room full of strangers. Granted this little corner of the Internet is neither one extreme nor the other, but it's an open and accessible space. Maybe not "know your audience" so much as "be aware if the fact that you dont (and sometimes literally can't) know your whole audience".

Jokes are just jokes. They're always just jokes. You know Raflection's intent is entirely humorous, he hid his joke in a spoiler tag, and so on. Is it racy for a gaming forum? Yeah. But it's not not funny just because a lot of people don't like the subject.

This might be a local dialect thing. I didn't mean to suggest it literally wasn't a joke; where I'm from if something is referred to as being "jokes" ("that was jokes") it means the thing is funny. I thought you were going for "jokes are funny, lighten up", but maybe that's only a local turn of phrase?

Anyway, enough of all this. I didnt mean to cause a debate (though there's probably some interesting ones to be had), just to express my distaste. I'm not here to be the fun police, it just happens by accident sometimes :p