6 Comments
User's avatar
JQXVN's avatar

The value of the joke isn't just redemptive, it's evidence that the joke-maker made the joke for reasons other than the bad ones we're likely concerned about. If you create or repeat a funny off-color joke, you may or may not have done so to advance the inherent humor of it, but if you create or repeat a terrible off-color joke, all that you can be advancing are the twisted values that make the joke off-color.

Expand full comment
Philosophy bear's avatar

Thanks, I've added this comment to the post and attributed it to you.

Expand full comment
JQXVN's avatar

Thank you, gracious bear!

Expand full comment
Jonathan Eddison's avatar

May I suggest an additional type of humor for inclusion in your discussion: Monty Python’s goal of being so funny that no one dares laugh.

Expand full comment
Scott's avatar

Anthony Jeselnik and Jimmy Carr fan here; Louis C. K., et cetera... I do think it has gotten rarer; I remember ethnic jokes and dead baby jokes from 70s playgrounds and schoolrooms.

Expand full comment
Jeremy Dangerhouse's avatar

Some thoughts:

The jester terrifies authoritarians.

My mother always laughed and always with tearful empathy wished I hadn’t made her, but in the end frogs with no legs are deaf.

Also, check out robin Williams explaining why Germans aren’t so funny.

I think we can tell when a joke is being told from a place of hate, but that’s not necessarily verifiable or common ground.

Expand full comment