# Stand Up Comics and Cancel Culture **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 4, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271 "2020-08-04T19:09:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/101 "2020-08-07T17:12:56Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Was that funny? It looked quite painful. Is a guy getting hit in the nuts by his kids wiffle ball bat funny? That’s half the videos on “America’s Funniest Videos” (for you kids, AFV was like youtube but you could only maybe 15-20 videos a week) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/102 "2020-08-07T17:13:17Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I don’t see that society crucified him at all. > > Crucifixion is usually a bit more painful than having to cash 8 figure checks. YMMV. Exactly. He hasn’t been “crucified.” He hasn’t been “cancelled.” He’s not “unemployable.” He lost out on one job because he chose to be a petulant child rather than offer a simple apology. His little dance of “I already apologized for that!” excuses at the time revealed that he didn’t really want to apologize at all. He revealed his priorities, and he has still suffered not at all from it. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/103 "2020-08-07T17:46:39Z")
So again, he’s rich who cares if he got accused of hate crimes for a couple of weeks. You don’t think that has a chilling affect on artistic freedom? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/104 "2020-08-07T17:48:54Z")
> [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > So again, he’s rich who cares if he got accused of hate crimes for a couple of weeks. What are you talking about? No he didn’t. He got called out for being a bigot. Nobody accused him of a hate crime. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/105 "2020-08-07T17:49:10Z")
Hate crimes? What the fuck are you talking about? Did you want to get back to your OP? Which stand up comics are actually complaining about this? Apparently, Seinfeld wasn’t, Silverman isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/106 "2020-08-07T17:51:05Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > The problem is you don’t always know whether any one in hearing distance of a dead baby joke has just lost a baby-miscarriages can be a loss of a baby yet not known. Humor is subjective. Unless you’re prepared to argue that a joke must be funny to every single person on earth to be considered funny, the fact one person may not find it funny does not mean others cannot find it funny. As a practical matter, there are no jokes that EVERYONE will always finds funny. Any subject CAN be funny if the joke is well written and properly told, but even the greatest comedian in the world cannot make every single person laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/107 "2020-08-07T18:01:16Z")
> [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](#): > > So again, he’s rich who cares if he got accused of hate crimes for a couple of weeks. You don’t think that has a chilling affect on artistic freedom? He got accused of nothing more than he actually did, which was not “hate crimes.” Comedians and other artists don’t have some right to be free from criticism for what they say, particularly when “getting a reaction to what I say” is their entire business. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/108 "2020-08-07T18:02:17Z")
I will say, yet another time, that my concerns were about dead baby/miscarriage jokes told in social situations, casual conversations, not in clubs by comedians. I clearly stated that in a club situation, everything is fair game. I am not into that kind of performance cancel culture or censoring. Have at it in a club setting, no holds barred. Privately, socially, if you find it funny to invoke pain or you aren’t interested in avoiding inadvertent harm, you have much bigger problems than this old lady. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/109 "2020-08-07T18:06:32Z")
> **['Cancel Culture' has some L.A. comedians spooked. Others, not so much](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-09-27/shane-gillis-snl-comedians)** > > The Comedy Store's "Potluck" open-mic night has a few ground rules: Buy two drinks, no heckling and absolutely no digital recording of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/110 "2020-08-07T18:10:37Z")
Well, I know where comics are going to go that have no interest in advancing their careers. Many careers have been made by responding to hecklers, and many have been discovered by shared recordings. If someone is actually worried that the things that they say could offend the public, then being a public figure may not be the right career choice for them. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/111 "2020-08-07T18:30:36Z")
Remove the hate crimes and that is exactly the justification that the cancel culture uses to excuse their behavior though. He’s rich, so we didn’t hurt him. Except you did. And the folks who actually do lose their livelihoods as a response to being cancelled are told what exactly? Don write tweets, don’t posit controversial stuff online, and don’t hold any edgy views about, well anything, because it is all free game. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/112 "2020-08-07T18:41:44Z")
The only comedian’s career who was actually hurt by “cancel culture” was Kathy Griffin, and if the president isn’t fair game, no one is. That guy who was hired and fired by SNL was a racist who was doing ridiculous Asian impressions from sometime in 1955. Roseanne’s posts were over-the-top racist and she’s a lunatic anyway. Kevin Hart continues to succeed every day. He’s in a new movie or video or something right now. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/113 "2020-08-07T18:45:52Z")
I wouldn’t put Kathy Griffin on any opposite side of the coin. Politically orthodoxy on the right or left is wrong. Don’t like a joke? Burn her she’s a witch! Thanks RitterSport ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/114 "2020-08-07T18:50:32Z")
Who burned her? Hyperbole doesn’t make for a strong argument. Especially in a world on which people are being literally losing their livelihoods or financially ruined or killed every day ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/115 "2020-08-07T18:55:08Z")
I didn’t put her on any side of any coin, but her career really was hurt by that tweet, and she wasn’t being racist, sexist, or homophobic. She was going after a public figure, possibly the most public figure. The party that complains about cancel culture the most are the ones who do it. Not just here, but with Kaepernick – his career really was derailed…until he was picked up by Nike, which led to the people who had cancel culture boycotting Nike. ---
**Author:** ![Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ebca7d/32.png) [@Bacon\_Cheeseburger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bacon_Cheeseburger)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/116 "2020-08-07T18:55:09Z")
well yes i’ve been told i am prone to hyperbole. i should stop that. Kathy Griffin had significant loss of income/exposure due to a Trump joke. Oddly if she made the same joke today i doubt anyone would care ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/117 "2020-08-07T19:07:49Z")
Kaepernick’s career MAY have been de-railed because he was a sub par quarterback with limited options but everyone just focuses on his public protest (at work) No one is allowed to protest while at work and guarantee a job when they return to duties. IMO\< the reason Kaepernick was not picked up was that he was seen as a trouble maker (during working hours), and he wasn’t that good of an NFL quarterback. To this day I believe that. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/118 "2020-08-07T19:11:56Z")
> [@Kearsen1](#): > > No one is allowed to protest while at work and guarantee a job when they return to duties. That’s totally true! And, no one is allowed to make racist, homophobic, or sexist jokes on their job doing stand up and have a guaranteed job. You’re fucking brilliant! That’s exactly what this whole thread is about. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/119 "2020-08-07T19:15:49Z")
Except for Kaepernick to be blackballed, it would have taken collaboration from the owners (which is illegal) Cancel Culture is essentially collaborating to blackball people. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271/120 "2020-08-07T19:19:05Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I have to say, as a stand up comedy lover, that it is getting increasingly difficult to find a standup these days that is truly laugh out loud _funny_. Mildly amusing maybe, but not funny. I can’t tell you how many comedy specials I’ve switched off lately in the middle of because I didn’t laugh once. No edge to these people at all. That was pretty rare say 10 years ago. Maybe. Or maybe you’ve changed. Or maybe the comedy is laugh out loud funny for some, but is not targeted at your sense of humor in the same way it might have been in the past. That’s what’s hard about evaluating and comparing things like this. What society things is funny changes. What we as individuals think is funny changes. Comedy in 1900 was not the same as comedy in 1950 was not the same as comedy in 1990 was not the same as comedy today. I don’t think that means that any random period is “unfunny” compared to the next. It just means things don’t stay the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stand-up-comics-and-cancel-culture/917271.md?page=7)