They often seem really cruel, even heartless. They make jokes about disasters and disability. Remember the Hurricane Katrina jokes? The comedians were telling them even as the poor victims were stranded in flood waters with their homes destroyed.
I’m just about old enough to remember jokes about Aberfan. Aberfan is a village in South Wales that lost about half of the children at the local junior school when it was hit by a collapsing coal waste heap. The very next day I was asked how "they" deliver coal in Aberfan and told that "they" deliver it through the wall. So, no sign of a kind heart there.
But, sometimes, these tough, cynical comedians can be amazingly kind hearted.
Gill Smith and I are organising a charity night for The Mary Hare School For The Deaf as part of The Newbury Comedy Festival (Newbury on July 10th at 8:00 p.m.). We were short of a couple of acts. So, Gill put a post on Chortle an internet site for comedians (http://www.chortle.co.uk) and loads of comics have responded offering to come and perform. Some of these acts live hundreds of miles away and they are coming to perform for free as we can’t even offer expenses.
So, just a thought - a comic may tell nasty jokes without being a nasty person.
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