Jimmy Carr. Loathsome A***

God help him if the gypsies get hold of him!!

a tube =utube

I watched a tube of that so called joke and was wondering how on this earth he got away with it. Appalling outright racism, nothing funny, just sick.

A joke that is not funny is not a joke - but the audience laughed. I can only think that audiences often laugh because they do not want to be judged as not "getting it." There can be no other reason for them laughing at this.

Did the "joke" open up awareness of the plight of Gypsies and Travellers, both in the past and now? Was that his motive? I suppose we are all talking about it which could be seen as raising awareness; or it could be that it is reinforcing existing prejudices.

I worked for 10 years on the Travellers Times - a national magazine for Gypsies and Travellers - as project co-ordinator, photographer and picture editor. During that time I met many Travellers, some of whom I was proud to call friends, and others that I was wary of - much like non-Travellers. There is no way that I would see a "joke" that applauded the slaughter of innocent men. women and children as being either funny or acceptable in any way.

But he knew what he was doing, and I do believe that anyone who might think this was a suitable thing to joke about is seriously out of order. And I find the idea that he was simply "consciousness raising" implausible. I suspect that he is in fact on the wrong side of the law. It will be interesting to see where that leads.

What also caused me concern is that his friend Victoria Coren-Mitchell took to twitter to defend him as being a "decent" person. I had always rated her highly.

I have loathed this idiot since hearing him come out with a 'joke' many years ago about the expressions of children on the Sunshine buses who used to ferry disable children around. He is despicable and so are those who find these types of 'jokes' funny.

Baggs what do you mean by ‘Tw*tterfication’ please?
And am I being accused of it? (Whatever it is?)

My youngest grandson has Roma forebears and I don't find the joke at all funny.

Perhaps Carr is being 'ironic' and it's gone completely over my head? Is he cleverly alerting us to our own 'isms' by highlighting prejudices?

Because he can't seriously believe that rape, disability and genocide actually has a 'funny' side to it. Can he?

I'm with Jo Brand on this... from a comment many years ago about such men as Carr...

The counter-argument, expressed most forcibly by Jo Brand, is that today's comedians pose as plain-speakers and PC refuseniks in order to smuggle in the kind of misogynist comedy last seen in the 1970s. The likes of Carr, says Brand, "appeal to all the people out there who think, 'Where have all those delicious anti-women jokes gone? We miss them.'" Brand identifies "almost a desperation to make [comedy] more unpalatable than it was before".

He makes my skin crawl.

I don’t agree with those who say ignore Carr and his vile ‘jokes’
That’s like the old advice to ignore bullies - it doesn’t stop them does it
Paddy Doherty of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding fame has asked the police to investigate what Carr said under the hate crime laws

I’m not a fan of no platforming but I hope this ends his career

It is a widely used comedy tactic evoking upset to the amusement of many. I too often take offence, problem is knowing when to expect it, can be particularly upsetting when a previous favourite takes that road. Is it Inexcusable despite needing new material

Ailidh

I hadn't heard of Jimmy Carr.

By the sound of it I don't miss what I've been missing.

Me neither Ailidh. Well, I had heard mention of him but never listened to him. Never been fussed.

That’s how a free society works, rebel, except you have been “educated” by Carr’s remarks because you now know something you didn’t know before he let out his terrible “joke”.

I didn't know the Roma people were part of the Holocaust, but I choose not to be "educated" in this way by Carr. He's also made jokes in the past about disabled people and war veterans in order to get a cheap laugh.

Callistemon21

^His profession is saying things for effect^

One of my MIL's sayings and advice:

"Ignore them, dear, he/she is just saying it for effect"

So I will.

Good advice.

Far better approach than the Tw*tterification taking place here.

His profession is saying things for effect

One of my MIL's sayings and advice:

"Ignore them, dear, he/she is just saying it for effect"

So I will.

Never watched him,never wanted to. Theres a place for people like him.

It's called a Sewer!

Oh I have just looked at Jimmy Carrs background, sigh, another one with a seemingly complex childhood and difficulties with his relationship with his father.

I like Ricky Gervais because he is not a misogynist which is a rarity amongst Male comedians at the moment, especially those who claim to be feminists, my pet theory about this it's down to his long term functioning relationship with a woman. Please nobody tell me about all the terrible things he has said to prove me wrong.

I don't actually think he believes that the wholesale murder of groups of people was a positive, FC. His profession is saying things for effect and, yes, for educational value. Many people who heard or now know about the "joke`' will not have known that GRT people were victims of the Nazis. Now they do. As they should.

The fact of that history is far worse that the shockingness of what Carr said.

I just keep wishing that you hadn't put that photo in the OP, FannyCornforth

It makes me want to ?

You better not think about pornography then FC.
Current pornography is apparently much much worse than anything we would have known about, when young.
I was very upset to hear about what is being normalised to young people especially girls and young women who are being told that 'rough sex' i.e. violence is a normal part of sex.

What really upsets me is that so many people have so much talent, and they use it to create horrible, negative stuff.
I always think about this in relation to people who make horror movies.
The more that I think about Carr, the more upset I am about humanity

I’ve been thinking about this all of today.
And I’ve been trying to understand Carr’s motivation.
And I just keep coming up with the fact that he is a piece of filth.
And, yes, I do wish him ill,

I usually avoid any programme with Jimmy Carr in it because his laugh grates on me so I have missed all of his jokes so far. If the examples posted here are typical then I will continue to avoid him. It takes skill and intelligence to raise awareness of issues through humour and it can be effective but not this time.