Jeffrey Ross - Comedy Central Roast - Dressed like Paterno

[Moranis]

Comedy Central will not air the joke.  Ross also acknowledged he crossed the line but that is what roasts are for.

They'll show Gilbert Gottfried saying in October 2001, in NYC, that he couldn't get a direct flight because they had to make a stop at the Empire State Building, but not this?

Yeah I wouldn't expect comedy central to pull anything.

they always cut down the roasts for time constraints.  I guess they figured that Ross' "joke" which wasn't very funny and didn't get any laughs isn't worth the headache of airing it.  Seems like a good PR move if you ask me.

[Chris]

Comedy Central will not air the joke.  Ross also acknowledged he crossed the line but that is what roasts are for.

They'll show Gilbert Gottfried saying in October 2001, in NYC, that he couldn't get a direct flight because they had to make a stop at the Empire State Building, but not this?

Yeah I wouldn't expect comedy central to pull anything.

they always cut down the roasts for time constraints.  I guess they figured that Ross' "joke" which wasn't very funny and didn't get any laughs isn't worth the headache of airing it.  Seems like a good PR move if you ask me.

Yeah, I am not sure if these newer, made for TV roasts are different, but the old roasts would be hours and hours long, and they would cut away everything except the best stuff before airing it.  It is nothing new. 

[Neurotic Guy]

Comedians sometimes see it as part of their 'craft' to push the envelope and toy with, (or go over) the edge.  For some comedians, it's not about whether  they made you laugh, but that they shocked you, disgusted you or provoked you in some way.   Similarly, magicians often see their craft not only as performing an entertaining illusion or sleight of hand,  but also shocking audiences with 'superhuman' death-defying productions (Houdini; David Blaine). 

The reality is that sometimes comedians see it as their professional duty to break down taboo topics and if you look at careers of people like Richard Prior, Lenny Bruce or Andy Kaufman (to name a few), I beleive they set out (at times) to use 'comedy' as a vehicle to shock audiences -- sometimes for the sole purpose of shock, yet sometimes to make social statements, or get something they see as important on the table.  A comedians 'pulpit' allows them through mimicry, satire, hyperbole, provocative languge/gesture to get issues out there that may otherwise stay hidden.  Sometimes it's useless/senseless, but sometimes there is social value.  I think good comedians are willing to try new things and push some edges, but are also aware that overstepping (in and of itself) isn't necessarily a badge of courage, but sometimes is  a mistake.  Good comedians probably have a sense for what is going too far, or what is too soon.  Good comedians probably also have enough in their toolbox to recover.   

An example of recovery (my opinion) is the GIlbert Gottfried example.  For anyone who saw the Aristocrats (I believe it was this performace that the prior poster may have been refering to), Gottfried bombed with his 9/11 jokes -- bad taste and way too soon after the event.  In Gottfried's defense, he read the audience and he abandoned his mistake. He went on to regain the audience with an impromptu (and hysterical by some accounts, depending on your appreciation of some grotesque humor) version of the famous Aristocrats joke.  To his credit (my opinion), he acknowledged his faux pas, and quickly went in a new direction.  Probably was stupid to go where he went in the first place, but comedians are human too.

I don't know about this Ross guy.

[davemonsterband]

I've been doing standup for a couple years now and Roseanne is right, there's a certain degree of bravery to it. Brave in the sense that after your set you have to face all the people you've possibly offended for the last 20 minutes. You never know who's going to snap on you for saying the wrong thing on the wrong day.

Jeff Ross is hilarious, anyone that works with Conan, IMO, has to be very intelligent and funny. When I saw the picture, I laughed. I showed it to my friends, 1 didn't laugh, 6 did. If I was a victim of sexual abuse I wouldn't laugh. My dad died of a heart attack so jokes about heart attacks aren't funny to me, but heart attacks aren't a sensitive subject. People need to be less self absorbed and realize nobody else gives a [dang] about their personal beliefs.

It's all just trying to appeal to enough people out there to make them laugh. Someone's always offended by something. Just like this thread, some people could give a [dang], some people are offended.

The constant argument of what's funny / what's taboo never ends. 'Poor taste' is an ideal, not reality, it can't be defined.

[Neurotic Guy]

I've been doing standup for a couple years now and Roseanne is right, there's a certain degree of bravery to it. Brave in the sense that after your set you have to face all the people you've possibly offended for the last 20 minutes. You never know who's going to snap on you for saying the wrong thing on the wrong day.

Jeff Ross is hilarious, anyone that works with Conan, IMO, has to be very intelligent and funny. When I saw the picture, I laughed. I showed it to my friends, 1 didn't laugh, 6 did. If I was a victim of sexual abuse I wouldn't laugh. My dad died of a heart attack so jokes about heart attacks aren't funny to me, but heart attacks aren't a sensitive subject. People need to be less self absorbed and realize nobody else gives a [dang] about their personal beliefs.

It's all just trying to appeal to enough people out there to make them laugh. Someone's always offended by something. Just like this thread, some people could give a [dang], some people are offended.

The constant argument of what's funny / what's taboo never ends. 'Poor taste' is an ideal, not reality, it can't be defined.

Good points.  In a comedy club a comedian can (maybe should) take risks, but when they address  edgy topics, they are probably aware that what is funny to one person might be a 'sore spot' to another.  Poor taste can be, and generally is, defined by the beholder. 

[Chris]

   

An example of recovery (my opinion) is the GIlbert Gottfried example.  For anyone who saw the Aristocrats (I believe it was this performace that the prior poster may have been refering to), Gottfried bombed with his 9/11 jokes -- bad taste and way too soon after the event.  In Gottfried's defense, he read the audience and he abandoned his mistake. He went on to regain the audience with an impromptu (and hysterical by some accounts, depending on your appreciation of some grotesque humor) version of the famous Aristocrats joke.  To his credit (my opinion), he acknowledged his faux pas, and quickly went in a new direction.  Probably was stupid to go where he went in the first place, but comedians are human too.

Not to take away from your point, because it was a good post, but Gilbert Goddfrey just lost his job as the "spokesman" for AFLAC for tweeting jokes about the Japanese Tsunami.  I don't think he learned his lesson.  Or he learned what puts food on his table can also take it off.

[fairweatherfan]

   

An example of recovery (my opinion) is the GIlbert Gottfried example.  For anyone who saw the Aristocrats (I believe it was this performace that the prior poster may have been refering to), Gottfried bombed with his 9/11 jokes -- bad taste and way too soon after the event.  In Gottfried's defense, he read the audience and he abandoned his mistake. He went on to regain the audience with an impromptu (and hysterical by some accounts, depending on your appreciation of some grotesque humor) version of the famous Aristocrats joke.  To his credit (my opinion), he acknowledged his faux pas, and quickly went in a new direction.  Probably was stupid to go where he went in the first place, but comedians are human too.

Not to take away from your point, because it was a good post, but Gilbert Goddfrey just lost his job as the "spokesman" for AFLAC for tweeting jokes about the Japanese Tsunami.  I don't think he learned his lesson.  Or he learned what puts food on his table can also take it off.

And the impression I got from the initial clip was that Gottfried told the 9/11 joke, saw everyone was offended, and moved immediately into a joke whose entire point is extreme offensiveness (as underscored by the non sequitur "punchline"). 

I could be wrong but I always saw it as him doubling down on the 9/11 joke, not backing away from it. 

[Neurotic Guy]

   

An example of recovery (my opinion) is the GIlbert Gottfried example.  For anyone who saw the Aristocrats (I believe it was this performace that the prior poster may have been refering to), Gottfried bombed with his 9/11 jokes -- bad taste and way too soon after the event.  In Gottfried's defense, he read the audience and he abandoned his mistake. He went on to regain the audience with an impromptu (and hysterical by some accounts, depending on your appreciation of some grotesque humor) version of the famous Aristocrats joke.  To his credit (my opinion), he acknowledged his faux pas, and quickly went in a new direction.  Probably was stupid to go where he went in the first place, but comedians are human too.

Not to take away from your point, because it was a good post, but Gilbert Goddfrey just lost his job as the "spokesman" for AFLAC for tweeting jokes about the Japanese Tsunami.  I don't think he learned his lesson.  Or he learned what puts food on his table can also take it off.

And the impression I got from the initial clip was that Gottfried told the 9/11 joke, saw everyone was offended, and moved immediately into a joke whose entire point is extreme offensiveness (as underscored by the non sequitur "punchline"). 

I could be wrong but I always saw it as him doubling down on the 9/11 joke, not backing away from it.

I did see the 9/11 joke scene and don't remember it as doubling down but rather as giving up.  The Aristocrats joke, depending upon your sense of humor, was anything from revolting to hysterical.   Not any more revolting (if that were one's pov) than any of the other renditions of the joke in the movie.

[indeedproceed]

Jeff Ross's rebuke to this thread is, "But you're talking about it."

[guava_wrench]

It is great to see people make fun of Joe Paterno. Iconoclasm is great when objects of adulation are so unworthy.

I would expect that when comedians get together, no topic is off limits. Offense is not an issue. The network should decide what is worth showing to the general public.

[ACF]

Jeff Ross's rebuke to this thread is, "But you're talking about it."

Boom!