Cracker by Damian Christie

I’m happy to hear offensive humour on any topic. Any topic. There are pretty much no ‘no-go zones’ for me, as long as it’s funny and/or clever.

I wonder whether this is because you don't fit into any of the common categories of targets of humour. These include: mothers-in-law; old people, young people, ugly people, fat people (as well as short/tall people), disabled people, people with intellectual impairment, people who aren't white, people with red hair, people from other countries such as Ireland, or people who speak another language, people with a different religion or profession, women (most categories including blonde women, fat women, old women and wives).

When the audience is laughing at a stereotype of you, humour is not so funny any more.

Having said that I still think there is a lot of clever NZ comedy.

I wonder whether this is because you don’t fit into any of the common categories of targets of humour.

I don't think any of those categories are automatic no-go zones as such. It depends on what the joke is and who's making it. We have some good Aspie jokes in our house.

When the audience is laughing at a stereotype of you, humour is not so funny any more.

But sometimes, laughing at stereotypes is the best way of addressing them.

But sometimes, laughing at stereotypes is the best way of addressing them.

Might help to have a personal connection to the group being stereotyped? 'My nigger' and all.

IMHE it's vital to be able to laugh when you're responsible for someone who, for whatever inherent reason, doesn't have the standard means of engaging with the world. It's a real blessing when they have a sense of humour, though as often as not you might not laugh at the same things. And there will always be those times when you may be laughing at them, rather than with them, which can be a little troubling until you realise that they also do it to you.

There is a fine line between insider comedy/jokes with an audience and attack or insensitive jokes with a target.

Here is some clever comedy from POTUS

One of the best investigations of these matters is Sharon Lockyer and Michael Pickering (2005) Beyond A Joke: The Limits of Humour,

Generally, I support to right to cause offense, and to be offended (which might include all those cracks those clowns on 7 Days make about Hamilton)

I wonder whether this is because you don't fit into any of the common categories of targets of humour.

Possibly, although the mother-in-law/fat/red-head comedy doesn't tend to be particularly common these days among the comedians who are talented enough to be brought in from afar for our entertainment, at least not since the 1950s :)

If there's a safe target that anyone can poke fun at right now, it's Wall Street and other outlets of the crassly nouveau riche.

- Moody & Poor ... but Ireland is rich in humour
- St Patrick’s Day – Econ Jokes:
-- "The new Irish credit rating agency – Moody & Poor "
-- "Irish government’s latest policy response to the banking, economic and financial crisis – “Quantitative Cheesing”."
-- "We’ve been downgraded from AAA+ to AA-. What does that even mean? Before, we were a battery for the remote control; now we’re only good for a Walkman?"
-- "What is the difference between Ireland and Iceland? One letter and six months"

- Perhaps the first recorded instance of the "12 cookies" joke.

(Damian - you can't have watched 7 Days lately.)

One person's prank or practical joke is another person's bullying. One person's clever witty comment is another person's wound.

the mother-in-law/fat/red-head comedy doesn't tend to be particularly common these days among the comedians who are talented enough to be brought in from afar for our entertainment, at least not since the 1950s :)

With a smiley too.
Looks like you can add the tragically unhip to that list Hilary.