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Author Topic: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?  (Read 11033 times)

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Offline mecch

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Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« on: July 30, 2013, 02:17:21 am »
I listened to Donald Glover's standup disc Weirdo (2012).  It had some laughs. The "AIDS vs Babies" bit was ignorant and a bit hateful.  I thought he was supposed to be so young and hip and cool.
Its pretty rare a comedian gets off a genuinely smart and funny crack about HIV / AIDS.
South Park did it a few times but that was years ago. I though Sarah Silverman's short crack was funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JK8u-2yKlA
as was the episode "Positively Negative" in Season 1.

Amy Schumer tried AIDS jokes on her first season this spring.  I like some of her stuff.  The AIDS bit was not funny.
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Offline Jeff G

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2013, 08:31:32 am »
Family Guy did a song and dance number about aids that I liked . Aids has a nice beat but its hard to dance too . ba da bing . 
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Offline mecch

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2013, 09:08:09 am »
Comedians are pretty smart and observant and savvy and most of them don't even bother getting the difference between AIDS and HIV.  The audience laps it up either because its about something touchy or fearful, so its cathartic, or the joke is just hateful to another group (us), hahahahaha.... 
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Offline buginme2

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2013, 12:25:39 pm »
Family Guy did a song and dance number about aids that I liked . Aids has a nice beat but its hard to dance too . ba da bing .

http://www.hulu.com/watch/5547

It's still funny
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Offline Jeff G

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2013, 12:29:10 pm »
http://www.hulu.com/watch/5547

It's still funny

Thanks Bugs ... its still funny , I just checked .  ;) 
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Offline OneTampa

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2013, 01:27:12 pm »
Thanks Bugs ... its still funny , I just checked .  ;)

The animated bit does work including the dumbstruck expression on the guy patient's face. I can't think how a response from the patient would carry.
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Offline Jeff G

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2013, 01:58:37 pm »
I was looking for that Family Guy clip yesterday and then got sidetracked , glad Bugs found it for me . 
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Offline leatherman

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2013, 07:51:59 pm »
Its pretty rare a comedian gets off a genuinely smart and funny crack about HIV / AIDS.
maybe because it's just not the right material to joke about.  I mean, who makes "good" jokes about cancer, diabetes, MS?? probably not too many jokes happen about abortion or SIDS either.

also, i must say that while I don't find the Family Guy bit offensive, it sure doesn't get a laugh out of me. Maybe it's from being in a hospital with "full blown AIDS" trying desperately hard to not die; but I just don't think that's a situation worth joking about.
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Offline WillyWump

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2013, 07:54:35 pm »
I was looking for that Family Guy clip yesterday and then got sidetracked , glad Bugs found it for me . 

Thats my fave  ;D
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Offline oksikoko

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2013, 08:54:50 pm »
also, i must say that while I don't find the Family Guy bit offensive, it sure doesn't get a laugh out of me.

Family Guy is the least funny thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Those shitty musical numbers of McFarlane's make me want to rip my ears off, boil them in salted vinegar and feed them to a pack of rabid, pre-menstrual hyenas.
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Offline bocker3

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2013, 09:47:32 pm »
Humor is rarely "universal",  some folks wil laugh at things that others won't - some will even be offended.  Much like other forms of art. 

Mike

Offline mecch

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2013, 10:54:58 pm »
maybe because it's just not the right material to joke about.  I mean, who makes "good" jokes about cancer, diabetes, MS?? probably not too many jokes happen about abortion or SIDS either.

also, i must say that while I don't find the Family Guy bit offensive, it sure doesn't get a laugh out of me. Maybe it's from being in a hospital with "full blown AIDS" trying desperately hard to not die; but I just don't think that's a situation worth joking about.

Good point!

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Offline tednlou2

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2013, 11:29:15 pm »
I've been conflicted with the Family Guy song.  I continue to try to get whether it is mean-spirited and insensitive, or whether it is something else.  I know after I was dx'd, I would fast-forward, when that part came up.  I suppose if there weren't meds, they may have not done it.  They've done other AIDS "jokes."  Southpark's "I'm not just positive, I'm HIV positive" was funny, I thought.  It wasn't mean spirited.


Offline thunter34

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2013, 02:10:29 am »
The only ones who really and truly got it right, IMO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6szE_qmzavQ

Otherwise, I have to agree with leather.

Heard any hysterical child abduction jokes lately?
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Offline leatherman

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #14 on: July 31, 2013, 02:31:47 am »
The only ones who really and truly got it right, IMO:
any movie with marionette sex can not be bad ::) Team America, fuck yeah! LOL

of course this one was also from the south park guys (I don't think Orgasmo has any HIV related comments), so rather than just an aids joke as a joke, there's some satirical social commentary just underneath. Is this sketch about how HIV really does affect everyone's lives, or  about how just saying the word AIDS supposedly makes it seem like you care - and singing about it means you super-duper care??
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Offline bocker3

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #15 on: July 31, 2013, 08:09:01 am »
some best avoid the coming sitcom with Michael J. Fox -- I hear the premise is based on finding the comical in living with Parkinson's Disease.

Family Guy's m.o. is to pretty much mock and make fun of EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.  It is certainly not made for everyone, but I find the series hysterical and Seth McFarlane is about as sick as they come.........

Mike

Offline WillyWump

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #16 on: July 31, 2013, 10:09:42 am »

Family Guy's m.o. is to pretty much mock and make fun of EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.  It is certainly not made for everyone,

FG is an equal opportunity offender. Other than AIDS some of the things they've mocked are Religion, Mexicans, blacks, Sara Palin and her Downs Syndrome child, Jews,  Cancer,  the handicapped, and that's just hitting the high spots. I know Carol Burnett sued them for portraying her as a pornstar, I think the Mccain/Palin campaign sued for portraying those 2 as nazis...The Catholic Church despises FG, LOL

Its definitely NOT for everyone. I also think its won a few Emmys.

South Park had the cute "I'm Positive" skit, based loosely on Philadelphia. But I think it had some misleading info in it, cant remember.





« Last Edit: July 31, 2013, 10:13:02 am by WillyWump »
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Offline tednlou2

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #17 on: July 31, 2013, 02:19:30 pm »
When they did the Downs Syndrome episode, they used a real woman, living with Downs, to voice it.  They depicted her as a very capable girl.  They also did an episode, showing the plight of Mexicans being used for hard labor, without much compensation and forced to live hard lives. 

I thought Carol Burnett went overboard.  They depicted her iconic cartoon character with the mop cleaning up a porn store.  But, they do push the envelope.  They have done a few Michael J. Fox jokes, having him carry soup or something.  They do many, showing Jewish people being cheap.  But, that is a joke you see everywhere.  Will and Grace depicted Grace, a Jewish person, as being cheap.  FG has been a big proponent of gay rights and marriage equality, even though they have engaged in stereotypes about gays.  But, there is a lot of truth in many stereotypes. 

Offline GSOgymrat

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #18 on: July 31, 2013, 02:35:45 pm »
I've only watched Family Guy a couple of times and it seems like they throw out lots of gags at everyone's expense and it is very hit and miss. My younger brother sent me this clip and it never fails to crack me up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_BqW0Gw0bU


Offline Jeff G

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #19 on: July 31, 2013, 02:45:35 pm »
I saw a Seth M . interview and he talked about the sacred cows of comedy , one was
 9/11 and how and when it was OK to go there and the other was about plans for Stewie's coming out gay that never aired because of the difficulties with sexuality and a baby , he admitted it just didn't work so I guess he has his limits as well . 
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Offline Habersham

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #20 on: July 31, 2013, 03:17:28 pm »
Speaking of sacred cows of comedy; I heard this yesterday - it may be old or not funny.

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Offline WillyWump

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #21 on: July 31, 2013, 07:21:03 pm »
Has American Dad done any off color schtick? I can't recall...sure they have the stereotypical gays that live across the street, but everyone is doing that these days.

Am I the only Roger groupie here?

« Last Edit: July 31, 2013, 07:24:52 pm by WillyWump »
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Offline buginme2

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #22 on: July 31, 2013, 07:32:35 pm »
Has American Dad done any off color schtick? I can't recall...sure they have the stereotypical gays that live across the street, but everyone is doing that these days.

Am I the only Roger groupie here?



omg I love Roger. When the family went on vacation and Roger pretended to be an old women. Hahah.
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Offline WillyWump

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #23 on: July 31, 2013, 07:37:25 pm »
and Roger pretended to be an old women. Hahah.

Roger and his costumes and associated personas are off the hook
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Offline Jeff G

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #24 on: July 31, 2013, 07:38:15 pm »
I love Rodger , he is the funniest sociopath on TV . I find his perpetual state of living in a make believe world really funny . 
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Offline edfu

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #25 on: August 02, 2013, 01:14:49 am »
If you want humor about AIDS, I haven't found it among comedians, but I have found it with gay HIV+ writers.  The most compelling and best was one of the first:  David B. Feinberg, who died of AIDS complications in 1994.  His three books--"Eighty-Sixed" (1989), "Spontaneous Combustion" (1991), and "Queer and Loathing:  Rants and Raves of a Raging AIDS Clone" (1994)--are both moving and hilarious in turn.  He won Literary Lambda awards and American Library Association awards for his work, and "Eighty-Sixed" was a best-seller.  Considering he wrote pre-HAART, that horrific time when nothing really could be done, it is amazing that he could be so outrageously funny yet terribly vulnerable. 

I highly recommend his work, if you can deal with black comedy that is both raunchy and heartrending.   

   
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Offline BT65

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #26 on: August 02, 2013, 04:51:56 am »
In the earlier years, myself and my friends with AIDS made cracks about it from time to time; one on his death bed.  When I had the wasting syndrome and weighed 80 lbs, myself and closest friends would make fat jokes.  Just as a recovering drug addict, myself and friends who are also recovering drug addicts/alcoholics, make fun of addiction from time to time.  I honestly have no issue with it.
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Offline wolfter

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #27 on: August 02, 2013, 06:32:18 am »
In the earlier years, myself and my friends with AIDS made cracks about it from time to time; one on his death bed.  When I had the wasting syndrome and weighed 80 lbs, myself and closest friends would make fat jokes.  Just as a recovering drug addict, myself and friends who are also recovering drug addicts/alcoholics, make fun of addiction from time to time.  I honestly have no issue with it.

Thanks for the comment.  I was beginning to think my friends and I were just warped.  We used humor as a coping mechanism and made several twisted jokes about our predicaments.  Some of the comments were actually jokes, and some just funny aspects of living with the disease.  I'll always remember the evening we were preparing to go out and the other Greg asked if his jeans made his ass look skinny.  I found that hysterical as we used to be so concerned with clothes making us look fat.

I even repeated the awfully sick joke to my friends about how to give CPR to someone with AIDS.   :o 
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Offline mecch

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #28 on: August 02, 2013, 12:59:58 pm »
The CPR joke punchline, please.  ;D
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Offline thunter34

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #29 on: August 02, 2013, 03:10:30 pm »
If you want humor about AIDS, I haven't found it among comedians, but I have found it with gay HIV+ writers.  The most compelling and best was one of the first:  David B. Feinberg, who died of AIDS complications in 1994.  His three books--"Eighty-Sixed" (1989), "Spontaneous Combustion" (1991), and "Queer and Loathing:  Rants and Raves of a Raging AIDS Clone" (1994)--are both moving and hilarious in turn.  He won Literary Lambda awards and American Library Association awards for his work, and "Eighty-Sixed" was a best-seller.  Considering he wrote pre-HAART, that horrific time when nothing really could be done, it is amazing that he could be so outrageously funny yet terribly vulnerable. 

I highly recommend his work, if you can deal with black comedy that is both raunchy and heartrending.   

 


Excellent post.  I suppose the truth is, as always, more nuanced. 
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Offline wolfter

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Re: Why can't comedians be funny about AIDS?
« Reply #30 on: August 03, 2013, 02:04:45 am »
The CPR joke punchline, please.  ;D

Perhaps it was just a regional thing?   it was so vulgar yet funny in that warped sense.  I'll try to find the punchline online as it'd be explain more than I'm capable of.
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