Comedian Leo Kearse on Jimmy Carr's gypsy joke

Here's my take on the furore around Jimmy Carr's gypsy joke. I point out the hypocrisy of comedians calling him out, the danger of using/drafting legislation to punish Carr and Netflix, and the impact it'll have on comedy and comedian's self censorship.
I also rewrite Jimmy Carr's joke to make it acceptable to woke people.
Does anyone really, REALLY believe that Jimmy Carr thinks that thousands of gypsies being murdered by the Nazis was a "positive"?
Or do you think he might have been joking?
To support my work, you can become a Patreon to see my videos first, get my special Patreon only podcast, help me buy sausages and get access to live Zoom shows where I try out new material and have special guests:
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PayPal: paypal.me/LeoKe...

[@SaturnusDK]

As a descendant of a Roma concentration camp survivor I'm deeply offended and hurt that anyone can be offended by Jimmy Carrs jokes. Especially since Jimmy Carr goes out of his way to explain that his jokes may offend you and that they are just jokes. Unlike for example Nadine Dorris, one of those seemingly strategically offended here, who once said: "Tridents (the nuclear missiles) are not weapons of mass destruction." without even hinting that it might have been ironic. Sadly, she wasn't being ironic.

[@benitolazio8193]

no one cares

[@elih9700]

@@benitolazio8193 Did you just read the first sentence?

[@LeoKearse]

Superb comment

[@shaunryan6]

Quite a clever joke pointing out that other groups suffered the Holocaust besides the Jewish diaspora.

[@lloydgush]

Now get whoopie to talk about it!

[@zzota]

As Barry Cryer said: Analysing comedy is like dissecting a frog. Nobody laughs and the frog dies.

[@barrychuckle5565]

Fantastic quote.

[@stuartmiller7419]

Love it.

[@paulyoward3795]

Barry was quoting EB White

[@kasimsultonfan]

That's potentially offensive to French people. I'm writing to Mr Napoleon.

[@dickyt1318]

well I think Leo Kearse did a pretty good job of it

[@patthewoodboy]

my grandfather was a gypsy , I found this offensive because he died during the war , he was fly tipping on a battle field

[@karenyoung8341]

🎤 😂😂

[@daryllcornier4509]

My grandfather died in a concentration camp. He fell out of his watch tower trying to shoot a bunch of prisoners.

[@swebb302]

Better

[@DJSonicScotland]

Brilliant!

[@sergiupobereznic]

My grandfather was a gypsy whose family travelled from India pre 1900s, which means I'm a quarter gypsy. And I thought your joke and Carr's were F*&*ing Brilliant.

[@jasonlyward]

Tbf Jimmys joke has brought more attention to the plight of gypsies during the second World War than anyone else has in the last 75 years or so. So there's that.

[@tjp353]

Gervais did something very similar.

[@Fludded]

I love a good plight.

[@howardchambers9679]

Just think of all the gays and trans people that the Nazis had killed, there's a rich vein of cancel humour waiting... Oh and all the political prisoners, pow's and anyone else they didn't like.

[@tommysmith7031]

Does anyone think that Jimmy Carr believes the murder of gypsies is a success? I think that is why its funny and it is educational.

[@paulelroy6650]

@Mike Mongrel problem is gervais wants to get cancelled jimmy just wants to tell jokes

[@somnambulist7705]

I respect David Baddiel he has always always self censored, in that he cuts out anything remotely funny from his material.

[@clausderenda5777]

I, for one, always found 'it's coming home' deeply offensive! 🤣

[@cunnyfunt30]

I can confirm that I never once found his shows funny.

[@ycls2004]

He is a "compleme cunm" but Jimmy's joke is plainly awful.

[@yammy1000]

Agreed. David baddiel is not funny. Let alone considered a comedian.

[@kasimsultonfan]

He's got Morwenna Banks at home. Must be doing something right.

[@tomround8271]

Dr Shola is outraged that Jimmy Carr could tell that offensive holocaust joke about black people

[@lmg7503]

God that woman could stirs up negativity as though she was born to the job. Can't tolerate the female.

[@MaxSlippyFist]

This is unacceptable.

[@mesolithicman164]

@@MaxSlippyFist I was going to say that!!

[@richmeat6623]

@Mesolithic Man Over and over again?

[@mesolithicman164]

@@richmeat6623 Like an entitled broken record, if there is such a thing.

[@5nights]

Leo, I'm Jewish, I cried when I watched videos of nazis but I laughed my ass off at the machine gun tower joke. Keep it real dude! You rock!

[@gypsyfreak7934]

right on

[@dtrez3866]

How about jokes about Jewish children, specifically your own, being blown to pieces by terrorists?

[@andrewshaw1571]

@@dtrez3866 Fire away, lets hear one.

[@jimmyrustler8983]

@@andrewshaw1571 It's said that the IDF have some of the best snipers in the world. It's probably all the practice they have shooting fast moving targets, like kids.

[@XXXX-yc6wv]

If we apply the freshly inked "Whoopi Goldberg Law of Determining if a Racism Happened" then Jimmy Carr's joke is clean because it's just some white on white banter.

[@SvendleBerries]

@@pauls464 According to people like Whoopi, racism towards white people isnt possible. And since Gypsies are white, its not racist. Unless, of course, this is like Jews where they are either white or Jewish depending on what we are supposed to be angry about.

[@BigAlCapwn]

@@SvendleBerries Technically, and hate to defend Whoopi because what she said was moronic, but she wasn't saying that white people couldn't be the victims of racism but that racism isn't possible when both the perpetrator and victim have roughly the same skin tones. If the Nazi's had been Nigerian, I'm sure she would have said it was a racist crime. She's still just as wrong though, but that's what I think she was saying rather than white people can't experience racism.

[@JaggersLips]

@@pauls464 it’s a very good point.

[@ashlibabbittcroakedit9108]

@@JaggersLips Not really, the point is European jews are white. And the nazi's are white, that's why whoopi goldberg didn't see the racism in it.

[@JaggersLips]

@@ashlibabbittcroakedit9108 I know

[@ritzyf4522]

"Because he's a comedian, so people take it seriously" gotta love the irony of that sentence

[@philwill0123]

Equally, "self styled offensive comic" is ironic, because he got the reaction he wanted.... offence. So him complaining people were offended makes him a hypocrite and a snowflake.

[@christopherbedford9897]

@@philwill0123 You really, *really,* can't pick up on subtext and have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

[@TheTeethgrinder]

Hopefully the traveller community can move on from this...

[@oliveroshea5765]

wonderful

[@tonymarkey6525]

Funny😂😂

[@johnnunn8688]

And hopefully move further away.

[@alteredbeast7145]

I still come back to this comment from time to time

[@kevinwhelan9607]

What a vile comment! I'll add more when I stop laughing.

[@slapshot0074]

The fact that we have to even discuss this shows how far we have fallen. Its terrifying.

[@mrstrellisfromnorthwales2704]

It works like this: If you laugh, you own the joke. As Freud pointed out, a key part of humour is the release of tension. This is why we laugh at death, sex, religion, marriage and, most of all, our pent up fear of others. If you start outlawing jokes about the tension, you don't kill the need, you merely drive it underground. If you want to see 'Dark Material' spreading like wildfire, just use the law to stop it.

[@stevewatson7468]

Very well said 👏

[@trollobite1629]

Yeah I don't recommend laughing during sex 🤣🤣🤣

[@mrstrellisfromnorthwales2704]

@@trollobite1629 "At least I was laughing about you dear."

[@trollobite1629]

@@mrstrellisfromnorthwales2704 Well, they do say that with manners and humour you're pretty much in 😁

[@mrstrellisfromnorthwales2704]

@@trollobite1629 But, of course there is "in" and there is "in". A gentleman always rests on his elbows.

[@jackthehat1093]

Jokes at a comedy show? Why the fuck would that ever happen? He was obviously being serious just like I am right now.

[@winstonsmith3690]

People go out of their way to be offended. Leo nicely expresses their absurdity.

[@captaingeneric2898]

Basically we are screwed. There isn't a party in the UK we can vote for that won't continue down this road of censorship and authoritarianism.

[@bongsound]

If there is no good alternative for me in the next general election I'll spoil my ballot, with a big fat swastika.

[@jamieclarke2694]

@@TheMan-it7px Yes, the biggest problem with our so called Democracy is so called "tactical voting". That kind of voting is only tactical for the binary party system we now have... Having the right to vote means having the right not to vote, in protest of, like you say, not having a sufficient choice.

[@jamieclarke2694]

@@TheMan-it7px Yeah, if you don't vote, you have every right to moan about whoever runs the country. I haven't voted since Brexit when I realised how ridiculous it is that voters have a right to vote, but no credentials to deserve that right to vote. Nobody had the slightest clue what Brexit would do whether in or out. When public schools teach economics and politics in ways that work, then people have the right to vote. Or better yet the politicians give out actual information on the things they're putting to a referendum, rather than the actual okey kokey they did down the Thames in boats... 🙄

[@valmer5684]

I'm not suggesting count binface But I'm suggesting count binface

[@philbarrett3739]

David Baddiel is a comedian? I've learnt something new today 😆

[@L1am21]

I thought he was just the friend of one.

[@albertknight1971]

He's about as funny has Genital Warts.

[@MaxSlippyFist]

His act used to be little more than Baz from Norf fc. Luv me flag, luv me shit song, luv me En-ger-land, simple as

[@proxyfriction4889]

Hahahahaha

[@albertknight1971]

@@proxyfriction4889 , ya, he's about has funny as " Genital Warts ".

[@bigmediafan]

Here I was thinking that Jimmy Carr spent the last 20 years in comedy to make a career out of making people laugh... when really he was just executing an excruciatingly long winded plan to attack gypsies with a single joke. ... also in what world is this even approaching the level of dark employed in his mosquito net joke!?

[@andrewshaw1571]

Always needs to be said, the funniest thing about that mosquito net joke is that when he used it as part of one of his actual shows, not just telling it in that comedian sit down, it wasnt the joke that got him in trouble from the newspapers that year. Jimmy plays a game every year of which joke is the one that will make it into the papers when i tell it this tour? To my knowledge hes never got it right.

[@Acaykath]

Someone tells a joke: Almost everyone laughs. Someone tells a PC joke: Two people in the crowd clap quietly and politely.

[@bellerophonchallen8861]

the offended people don't live in the country and haven't had their quad bikes, chainsaws, trailers, diggers, sat nav systems, etc, etc nicked. Nor have they had their crops destroyed by 4x4's coursing hares, shooting and field dressing deer or their sheep, or baiting badgers. Nor have they found their field gateways full of rubbish, their isolated farm buildings stripped of tiles, beams and doors, nor been threatened by a couple of burly guys with shotguns at the ready when they're confronted driving over crops with half a dozen lurchers. All the working people I've spoken too out in the sticks think Carr's joke very funny, and everyone uses the P word.

[@nickedwards2904]

well yes , police scared to do anything , police get dragged behind cars and killed by grinning teenagers , when ever they hit a town you know crime will go up , no one mentions the truth though hey as we mught offend , even though we dont tell them to steel and abuse people

[@factsdontcareaboutyourfeel7204]

Missed the part where they shit everywhere too

[@dickyr3295]

Anyone who has listened to and laughed at Jimmy Carr telling jokes about dead children, disabled people, rape and disaster who finds themselves condemning him for this should perhaps better spend their time considering their own inconsistencies and blind spots.

[@oddhominem]

Dicky R - What about people who only know Carr from TV panel shows? Not everyone is so undiscerning that they seek him out on Netflix or throw good money away on his DVDs. Crap Holocaust 'jokes' aside; his idiotic fake laugh is enough to put *me* off.

[@dtrez3866]

Is it ok to joke about "disabled children" being murdered by nazi's? What if your kids were killed by a drunk driver. We can joke and say the "positives" from it are that your dead kids no longer have to eat your wife's cooking. Funny funny funny. Ha ha ha ha. Right?

[@davidjames3080]

@@dtrez3866 Not when you tell it, no. You need to practice your delivery. Definitely don't give up the day job.

[@dtrez3866]

@@davidjames3080 According to you, jokes can be made about disabled people/children being raped and killed after being targeted by racists? Providing the joke is funny right? Ok

[@dickyr3295]

@@dtrez3866 I’ll make this really easy. You can joke about absolutely anything and everything. Without exception. As long as it’s funny. The alternative is having an authority telling you what is acceptable. Your problem is that you think your words and opinions will always be acceptable.

[@paulnailor6723]

There is a new key that can unlock any thing....... It's called a "pie key"

[@rd9337]

It's a sad day when people need a joke explaining to them in such detail. Great job though Leo 👍

[@VauxhallViva1975]

In the words of comedy legend Billy Connolly: "No this-ism, no that-ism..... How dare you. How DARE you! Comedy's been around for thousands of years, and YOU come along and want to rewrite the rule book! There IS no rule book. Funny is funny is funny." Amen, Billy. You know - sometimes a joke is just a joke. You're NEVER meant to take it literally, but these joy-hating FUCKS get offended - every.....single....time. Well, FUCK them and anyone who thinks that this kind of censorship and literal interpretation of A FUCKING JOKE just so as you can become offended. The entire world hates and is against you. The thing they don't seem to realize, is that for all their talk and vocal bleating about offensive jokes and all that other shit, they are the vocal MINORITY, but they have managed to lever the machine in favour of them. Time to take back the controls. EDIT: Fix quote.

[@stormhawk3319]

Not a fan of Carr but I support every joke he tells. He’s a comedian!

[@BassistPaul]

Same here.

[@barrychuckle5565]

Yup this is what I've always said too.

[@godzillas6301]

Odd that . I think carr is half decent , i dont support every joke he says but i simply dont care if he says them .

[@kurtgodel5236]

His jokes need support? Are they really that lame?

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

He has done some good stuff in his material, can't say i dislike him, *but* I do agree with you! Comedy is humour, and not to be taken seriously even if some comedians make smart jokes, and if you need an example then look at Chris Turner!

[@truthfilter]

the same people who are supposedly outraged are the same people that would call the police if travellers moved near their house

[@squoblat]

Should we also arrest everyone that laughed as well then?

[@RealIllumin]

Yes, because they're all accessories to the crime.

[@strangelove9608]

@@RealIllumin It's coming isnt it 8( , lets hope the pendulm has hit it's limit and is slowy swinging back to normal 8)

[@LulaJake]

Somebody call the Thought Police

[@tigger4011]

MP up in Scotland suggested that a couple of days ago. I've seen that show live so I'm off to hand myself in to the thought Police. I don't live in Scotland - but think it's the right thing to do! 😃

[@jb3222]

I didn't laugh but thought about it so shall turn myself in tomorrow

[@rlsbigred]

If you listen to the entire clip, he actually proceeds to break down the joke with 3 pretty good points. He also refers to Disabled, homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses also being killed, leading to a funny little dig at the Jehovah’s Witnesses, plus he takes the piss out of a Nazi security guard. I wonder what would have happened if he had exchanged the term “Gypsies” for “French Citizens” , for example ???

[@jackhadroom4540]

The offended brigade love to take things out of context.

[@jackwatsonepic626]

@@jackhadroom4540 so it's the 5% telling us 95% what's a joke

[@mikebarkersvideoshop7932]

It was a shit breakdown after the joke. It’s like telling a racist joke and explaining slavery. Lazy joke.

[@MirlitronOne]

Ten years ago I saw Jimmy live, and in a section billed as "his most offensive jokes" he told a series of cruel jokes that had me utterly breathless with laughter. I blame absolutely no-one but myself.

[@bigjonS4]

Indeed. If you don't think it's funny or find it offensive don't watch it. It's not difficult is it?

[@trublgrl]

Those jokes are offensive to the respiratory impaired.

[@johndocherty322]

on his netflix he bangs on about un vaxed are stupid even had a member of audience removed cause was un vaxed so he deserves everything he gets he took the rabbid lefts side but that does not stop them canceling you i say so sad too bad

[@chrisreed5463]

@@johndocherty322 Oh, you're repeating the same carp on multiple threads. Says more about you than the vaccine.

[@thebatman4279]

@@bigjonS4 You don't understand, we live in the era of Me Me Me. If I don't enjoy this thing, then NOBODY can! If I find this thing offensive, then EVERYONE must find it offensive!

[@andrewinglis2069]

I actually found the whole show absolutely hilarious. He took the piss out of everybody including mostly himself. He did warn everyone multiple times he may offend so viewers had the option to turn off the show. Thank you snowflakes for pointing out this excellent show 😂😂😂👍👍👍👍👍

[@Fred-rj3er]

Exactly. As Alice Cooper said in a song in the late 60s, "You are the ultimate sensor. You have the right. If you don't like (Alice Cooper) You can turn me off!".

[@jeff2tc99]

until i heard that joke, i never realised the traveler atrocity happened. for me it was an education. thanks Jimmy

[@johndocherty322]

on his netflix he bangs on about un vaxed are stupid even had a member of audience removed cause was un vaxed so he deserves everything he gets he took the rabbid lefts side but that does not stop them canceling you i say so sad too bad

[@chrisreed5463]

@@johndocherty322 🙄

[@scottstevens78]

@@johndocherty322 you should get a Netflix Special. You are hilarious... 😂🤯

[@johnlewis9158]

I never realised until today that David Baddiel was indeed comedian so i to learned something

[@RaveyDavey]

It wasn’t travellers. It was Roma gypsies.

[@bob6383]

I am genuinely shocked... why oh why does Jimmy Carr think it’s ok to take to the stage without wearing a tie?

[@mrsurge4789]

Imagine being a member of Parliament and you write a letter to Netflix to get rid of someone's special because of a few edgy jokes. Actually fucking childish. Literal mentality of a seven year old who tells on the teacher when a kid tells them to get a grip after they throw a tantrum over not being able to have a toy to play with during detention. How embarrassing. Imagine doing this as a grown adult, and as a member of Parliament, no less

[@mesolithicman164]

This obsession with 'safety' and protecting us from 'hate', just the means by which they seek to control us all. Very 1984.

[@alexloweh1]

I'm.a Scottish Traveller and I couldn't care less and it's funny 😂😂

[@plugsocket9432]

Today on BBC Radio Ulster Talkback programme the presenter couldn’t even say the word Gypsie but instead called them East European Travellers. The BBC is so political correct that they can’t even use the term Gypsie.

[@Natusian]

If someone told me that Jimmy Carr genuinely said outside the context of a comedy show that he genuinely believed that gypsies, romany, and Jews dying in the holocaust was a good thing, my reaction would be: "Well, that's horrible and something is clearly wrong with him." If someone told me that Jimmy Carr told a holocaust joke at one of his shows, my reaction would be: "Well, of course he did." They say that: comedy = tragedy + time. Given too much time and not enough attention, we forget. Comedy is a way of (sometimes uncomfortably) reminding us of our darker nature as a species. It shines a light on that darkness so people can laugh, not at the results of the darkness, but at those who genuinely harbour that darkness within themselves and believe it to be a good thing. And when you laugh at those people, you take away their power and you take away the darkness power, and people can begin to heal.

[@LeoKearse]

Superbly put!

[@Warlock_UK]

The thing that gets me is that the follow up to the 'joke' points out that people forget anyone except the Jews were killed and now you'll remember that the Roma died too. It's a shock tactic to lodge that piece of information in in your brain. Also, it isn't really a joke - it's a horrific setup to the later Jehovah's Witness joke.

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

@@Warlock_UK Yes. When being an uneducated person who is suprised by other minorities having been killed as well, you will have learned that. But it isn't really a secret Carr dug up. He just told something most people knew and made the twist that it was good that it happened. So this really just looks like a feeble excuse. Which isn't even told in the shape of the joke. Or addresses the laughter in the room. The only joke being in that whole context, that it's offensiveness is utterly exaggerated. This might have worked as a setup, but he lets that hanging in the room. At that point the offensiveness isn't even the biggest problem anymore - the question should be: Did Carr just craft a bad and surprisingly lazy joke? In comparison the Jehova's witness joke brings an observation into the mix which is the punchline. There is some cleverness. That travellers joke itself does have nothing like that - it just comes down to say something more offensive than one would have guessed. There is no power or darnkness taken away, because the joke itself fails to address the dehumanization of a minority, it allows itself to be fuelled by it. Rather than not telling it anymore, Carr should push it back into the garage and work on it a bit more until it accomplishes what he wanted it to do.

[@Warlock_UK]

@@Schmidtelpunkt honestly, I didn't know the Roma were in the Holocaust. I knew Jews, Homosexuals and drug addicts were in there but it never occurred to me that they even had travellers in Germany. The attempted extermination of Jews kinda overshadows a lot of it. If it's meant to be a joke, I'd agree it's lazy. It just struck me as shock tactics to set part of the scene. I imagine I'd be outraged if my group were being used as a horrific preamble to a setup.

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

@@Warlock_UK Yep, and there are probably a lot of jokes to be found in the way vicitms are memorized - jews not wanting to water down their memorials with Roma and Sinti, and trying to keep out those pesky gays from appearing on official sites. Maybe that would have been a more daring perspective. I am afraid at this point the whole angle of elderly white heterosexual males teasing the idea of getting cancelled has become a tad old and common. Also the increasing risk of people being serious when making such jokes has increased. Both of which I think weaken the absurdity Carr probably thought would make the joke impossible to misunderstand. (Concerning misunderstanding things: thanks for not misunderstanding the first line of my previous comment, which in hindsight when rereading it comes across a lot more condecending than I meant it).

[@urbanspaceman7183]

Shouldn't mock Nazi's, that's prejudice.

[@robinmunro7733]

No, it's being inclusive! 👍😁

[@strangelove9608]

@@robinmunro7733 Too funny 8)

[@jamesemmerson4112]

I'm of Romany heritage, but I also love comedy so it's a tough one for me. Really, as well constructed and delivered as this joke is, I have to be honest, the punchline really does feel like a low blow - it hurts. On top of that, hearing the chuckles and applauds in the audience, further cements my fears that the reason why we're often excluded from the holocaust conversation is because the world doesn't care. Leaving emotion at the door however, I will fight to the death to allow Jimmy's right to make the joke. But with rights there are responsibilities - and as much as he has the right to say what he wants, others are well within their rights to be aggrieved. Defending free speech is one thing, trying to play off that speech as harmless inoffensive banter is another. It's all very easy when the joke's not on you. If he's in hot water because his brand of comedy is about cracking offensive, tasteless jokes at one of history's most persecuted minorities, we have to ask ourselves - what are we trying to save here? How about just letting him drown in the hot water and start aiming higher

[@Soldierboy54b]

Here's another possibility: Don't watch Mr. Carr; & don't laugh if you do. Then go mind your own f'king business.

[@robertollier3085]

By telling the joke, Carr has put the plight of Romany people front and centre. He's a smart man. He knew what he was doing, and it wasn't dissing Romany people. Good comedians confront us with dark truths. There's a new generation of leaders arising who just might redress past and current injustices if they understand that the need exists. Politicians and bureaucrats won't frame the agenda, but good comedians do it all the time.

[@jamesemmerson4112]

@@Soldierboy54b the fact that i have the opportunity not to watch it, doesn't change the fact it's happening. Ignorance is not bliss here. Throughout the 1930s, Roma people were for the most part ignorant to their dehumanisation by the Nazis, but in the end they still paid the price.

[@jamesemmerson4112]

@@robertollier3085 what he's done is set up a moment in which an audience can laugh and cheer at the genocide of an oppressed people - that's it. If you think members of the audience are going to walk away from that with a new educated and sympathetic point of view towards the Roma, you are living in cloud cukooland.

[@Soldierboy54b]

@@jamesemmerson4112 .... Okay. That's great. You got your second speech out now. Feel better? You should know. You guys read palms, peer through crystal balls, steal from people's houses as you swear you're there to clean up, & prescient shit like that ... Am I right?

[@spaceghost8886]

Saw an article about this today where they transcribed the joke and I have to say Carr’s comedic timing makes it even funnier lmao

[@incontinentmind7330]

Carr is like someone stuck groucho glasses on a sphincter with a cigar in it. he makes being an arsehole funny

[@spaceghost8886]

@@incontinentmind7330 mad?

[@incontinentmind7330]

@@spaceghost8886 quite the opposite. love him.

[@spaceghost8886]

@@incontinentmind7330 yeah I just realised I completely mis-read your comment lol forgive me for I had just woken up!

[@kelly36oldskool]

I was really offended When he said a few year back that somebody got him a t-shirt that had printed on it "My friend visited a Bangladeshi sweat shop And all I got was this lousy t shirt"

[@Longi1974]

Jimmy Carr: "If only more mosquito nets could be donated to Africa, it could save millions..............of mosquitoes from needlessly dying of AIDS" 🤣

[@marktyrrell8892]

Anyone who takes jokes as serious and literal expressions of thoughts and feelings and as able to be removed from context needs to take time to reflect and educate themselves on what a joke is.

[@clausderenda5777]

Well said. It absolutely baffles me how many people don't get that!

[@johnneville403]

Well said, Leo. We are in the age of New Puritanism and are already free-falling towards authoritarian control over thought and speech. The chattering classes appear to be absolutely fine with this.

[@johnneville403]

@Mike Mongrel It's all part of the same problem, Mike. Enforced thought and speech, resulting in demands for total compliance. Dissenters must be silenced. For our own good, of course.

[@johnlewis9158]

Although it's fine to say ( as was the case in a tweet of two years ago ) all i want for Christmas is a white genocide. The irony here being this particular tweet was defended by left who claimed the professor was only joking and thus there was nothing to see here

[@RodFleming-World]

It all started with feminism. 8f we want freedom back, we have to erase feminism. Completely.

[@electricshrapnel4368]

It's puritanism but by twisted weirdos.

[@waterinmyotter6245]

What I find most absurd is that if you watch it on Netflix, one of the overly specific trigger warnings, that every show now has, is “discrimination”. It literally tells you that’s what you’re in for. So these people who were offended went on to Netflix, went to something called “His Dark Material”, starring a man known for offensive comedy, they read the description saying some of the jokes are so dark that they could be considered career enders, then saw a disclaimer saying it would be discriminatory, and then they STILL watched it. So, I guess they were looking to enjoy some discrimination, but got offended because it wasn’t the specific kind of discrimination they were after? Another, more likely scenario, is that it is once again a case of a bunch of people who haven’t even seen the show, being offended on behalf of people who weren’t offended by it.

[@yesihavereadit]

People are laughing when they realise Carr has tricked them into revealing *their* predudices against gypsies! That why it's funny, thats why it works

[@corleth2868]

That's my take on it too so I really don't get what the problem is. The people who hate gypsies are the target of the joke. I guess it requires intelligence to spot nuance.

[@bengough6772]

Exactly. It's clearly offensive and tastless etc etc but actually it made people laugh because we in the UK don't like gypsies.. And ergo we laugh at the, clearly over the top and outrageous,, joke

[@bloodboughtbigphilr8266]

I see the humourless and permanently offended on others behalf extends beyond the woke left these days. Intent means nothing to them and that joke was Jimmy Carr just being ironically shocking and of the 'you didn't see that one coming' deadpan brand that he has made his own.

[@johnmarsh2078]

Ms Zara Sultana once said that that the number one concern for her constituents was ...... climate change. She tried to tell us with a straight face that the people of Coventry South, who might work at Jaguar/Landrover eg. rank climate change above illegal immigration, inflation, fuel prices, covid restrictions, free speech etc. Who had she been canvassing I wonder? Hardly the voice of raisin, sorry, reason.

[@johnneville403]

That numpty is my MP. She was under formal investigation by the Labour party for anti-semitism, but I never saw any public statement about the outcome as it was swept under the carpet ahead of the last election. The hypocrisy never ends.

[@peelben]

Jimmy Carr is perpetually unfunny and seemingly everywhere. However, this guy nails it. Love how well he highlights the hypocrisy of the critics. Baddiel in particular who has made a career out of riding on the coat tails of more talented comedians who are actually funny.

[@terrypussypower]

Isn’t it funny how common sense is so uncommon these days. Keep it up Leo, “yur doin’ gods wurk!” Well, someone has to, seeing as how He’s taken a Sabbatical that’s lasted almost 4 and a half billion years!

[@COM70]

Thanks for finding the clip for us, hilarious 😂 saved me looking for it.

[@PhotriusPyrelus]

"Please try the veal, it's Vegan." LOL!

[@taffytop]

No one has ever demanded from an estate agents that they want to live as close to a travellers site. Says it all

[@sphericalchess]

Thank you for sharing the joke, and giving me the choice whether to be offended or not. 🇬🇧

[@yonniboy1]

At a gig in Belfast a comedian joked about catching a sturgeon and bludgeoning it saying "it's about as close as I'll get to doing it to a dictator" an SNP lackey over on a visit with Sinn Fein was "appalled" and complained to the PSNI, they took no action but the SNP goon said "had this happened in Scotland he'd have been jailed".

[@tigger4011]

Someone called Cllr Julie McKenzie tweeted on Feb 5 that he should be prosecuted - AND the audience

[@warrenalexander5285]

I wonder if scientists can come up with a way of editing offensive comments on media. They could call it an "off button".

[@DrMcFly28]

I'm ok with people being offended or hurt by a joke. I'm not ok when people start threatening with litigation and censorship. For a group of people that constantly claim they want to "start a conversation", they sure as hell do seem to enjoy forcing people to keep quiet.

[@hedgehog1965uk]

They do want to start a conversation. A one-sided conversation, and guess which side has to be silent.

[@scottdixon2505]

I remember when it was ok to just have a 'some viewers may find this offensive' at the beginning of a show and that was good enough, so if you continued watching then it was your own fault if you were offended. I want to go back to that lol

[@thepubquiz3198]

Black people were killed in the holocaust as well, if Carr swapped gypsyy with black, do you think this would even be up for debate amongst the public, would the audience of even laughed ? Probably not. Would he ever be seen on tv again, no. And that's the problem, you can't pick and choose when a joke is and isn't offensive dependent on how dark someones skin is, either the joke is so offensive that it's cancel worthy or it isn't. I had no problem with the joke, didn't find it funny but wasn't offended either, which is exactly how I would feel if he said black people instead. Yet a lot of the people defending this joke would probably be outraged if Carr had said black people instead of gypsy's. Which is the definition or racist, you are treating on group more favourably than the other based on their race. Again imagine if he had said black people, and a lot of black people wanted to cancel Carr, would there be any pushback from anyone, including the gentlemen who made this video, I highly doubt it. I think a lot of us are behaving like hypocritical bullys, saying it's okay to joke about an easy target, when they, or Jimmy Carr himself wouldn't dream of doing the same joke about other groups.

[@angrycarebear8631]

I haven’t laughed at comedy in quite some time. Watching this really made me laugh because you never hear dark jokes anymore

[@johndocherty322]

on his netflix he bangs on about un vaxed are stupid even had a member of audience removed cause was un vaxed so he deserves everything he gets he took the rabbid lefts side but that does not stop them canceling you i say so sad too bad

[@chrisreed5463]

@@johndocherty322 You again. It was boring and self involved the first time. Now, frankly, I'm embarrassed for you.

[@thatbodymechanic]

@@johndocherty322 He indeed singled out a non jabbed individual for ridicule. But didn't have him removed. Carr is old hap anyway. Predictable and boring. Also turns out he's an NPC

[@tigger4011]

@@johndocherty322 NO he didn't. See my comments above.

[@marcussewell7678]

It was a joke but it has highlighted the fact that it was not only the Jews who were murdered but many others in this holocaust.

[@javiersds8081]

It's sad to see that comedians like yourself are the only voices of sanity in the midst of the prevailing madness. Keep up the good content!

[@deankuball1228]

Lol

[@thepubquiz3198]

Personally wasn't offended. The problem is not the joke itself but that if you swapped gypsys for black people or muslims etc, the comedian would certainly be canceled. This is treating one race of people ( And the actual definition of race isn't just black white etc) different to another, solely based on their race, which is racist. Either you should be able to make the joke about any group, or you shouldn't be able to make the joke at all, you can't pick and choose when it is and isn't offensive based on how light or dark someones skin is etc. So when one groups sees a comedian being canceled for an awful lot less when making a joke about a different minority, you can hardly blame them for complaining about this. And what logical reason is there to say you can make this joke about gypsies but not black people or muslims. If anything I would argue that gypsies have historically been treated worse in the U.K than black people or muslims.

[@jtyler9130]

People make jokes and comments about white people all the time that if you changed it to black/Muslim would be deeply offensive but while people are told they deserve it. And to be honest most don’t care. Those that say if you change a jokes viewpoint to a different group then it’s racist are purposefully ignorant and trying to make an issue where one doesn’t exist.

[@thepubquiz3198]

@@jtyler9130 Ye I agree, that also happens a lot with white people, which is also a racist. To have a joke said about one group and laugh, and then have the same joke told about another group and be outraged is child like hypocrisy. Again it's either too offensive or it isn't. The trouble is, is that other groups have set this standard that the smallest joke made about them is worthy of ending someones career, and society has gone along with it, so now society has put itself in a position where it can't logically accept any joke about any group. So we need to decide are all jokes about any particularly group off the table, or are all groups going to be treated equally.

[@philwill0123]

@@thepubquiz3198 it's also the walk out scenario. If it's being recorded and even 5% of your audience is either black or muslim in a 2000 seater venue (being generous). And you say the same joke replacing gypsies with black or muslim, you now potentially face a walk out of up to 100 people. Jimmy took the "safe" option of picking a group he thought would be underrepresented in his live audience and automatically disliked.

[@daddybones45]

Anyone else noticed that the most vocally "offended" are generally the most privileged AND bigoted people in society?

[@oystermouth1971]

No, because the joke had nothing to do with Islam who tend to be the most offended people. Even Jimmy big bollocks Carr won’t go there. Funny that, because ‘a jokes a joke’ apparently?

[@freespeech3673]

Let me just say (and the audience laughter backs me up on this) the joke is funny!

[@PhilRead80]

It’s called ‘Dark Material’ for a reason. His comedy has always been near the knuckle. He’s a comedian. Not a politician.

[@3D_Blu-ray_Bunker]

I know you're pointing out the obvious, but you're doing with wit, intelligence and eloquence. Excellent stuff. As is too often the case, the idiots have the loudest voice.

[@chrisreed5463]

Most of society have realised that Twitter is full of Merchant Bankers. Now we just need to wait for the Media and politics to wake up to that fact.

[@M-S_4321]

Babies scream and shout until an adult comes to provide care. How is this behavior from 'the offended' any different?

[@oddhominem]

@@M-S_4321 - Foolish comment.

[@M-S_4321]

@@oddhominem Foolish response 😁

[@roxee57]

Precisely. His joke makes you think why don’t I talked about the gypsies who were murdered in the holocaust? Why doesn’t the media talk about them? Is it because I think it was a positive? HELL NO! Every time the holocaust comes up now I won’t just remember the horrors of the holocaust for the Jews but also every other group the Nazis murdered, including the gypsies.

[@cje9452]

I’m sick of these people who fail to understand that this is a joke. This is apart of the act and show. We make jokes and humour to laugh. Certain comedians are not to everyone’s taste but that’s why we have this wonderful thing called freedom to choose! You don’t have to watch comedians who you don’t like and doing so would stop you from being over sensitive and easily offended!!!! I don’t care who is offended or upset because your blowing this out of proportion. If people were really offended and bothered it wouldn’t have taken over a month before being put into the media for you idiots to start screaming and shouting, but now it has I guess you can all jump aboard the wagon of being a Karen.

[@joeblogs4701]

Me, "did I ever tell you my Dad was in a concentration camp?" Mate, "he is lucky to still be alive" Me, "not really , he was a camp guard".

[@troggmeister]

Well said Leo , as usual . The lookout tower joke is a classic btw !

[@scendalbymodelrailway]

Best jokes have an element of truth. Anyone who has had the misfortune of having their lives blighted by these people will have a certain satisfaction hearing Jimmy Carr's joke,

[@RighAlban]

I have a caravan in the Highlands and a door and window went missing, we know who done it.

[@tcritt]

I think you missed the point of the joke.

[@scendalbymodelrailway]

@@tcritt No he knows it can be taken two ways. Some call genocide, some will call it crime prevention.

[@tcritt]

@@scendalbymodelrailway so edgy.

[@tcritt]

@@scendalbymodelrailway Yeah, it's just a bad joke. I don't mean it's offensive. It's just bad. My last comment was sarcasm, by the way. It wasn't edgy. It was obvious and clichéd.

[@markelliott9737]

The funniest thing is that immediately afterwards he made a joke about the Jehovah's Witnesses who died during the Holocaust and none of the virtue signallers seemed to care about that joke. So obviously that is perfectly fine.

[@panchopuskas1]

Jimmy Carr's humour is almost always based on shocking the audience by saying outlandish things. OK, so others do it....Frankie Boyle is a good example. The difference being that Frankie almost always targets the rich and "successful" while Jimmy here has targeted the poorest end of society and of course, one that is considered by many in the fascist community to be racially inferior. I'm not for banning people so Jimmy should be allowed to continue with his increasingly pathetic career. I bet he would be great at fascist rallies (I was gonna say he'd be a gas, but I thought better of it).....

[@zephiel1932]

Frankie Boyle made multiple jokes about jordans disabled black son raping and beating her to death, all these comedians are the same its okay when I do it but if someone else does it then suddenly its not a joke, baddiel is a perfect example.

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

Carr botched the landing. In that room were clearly people who enjoyed the joke exactly the outlandish way and Carr entirely missed turning it around in any way and instead just delivered some meek "if we dehumanize minorities people will remember they have been killed" excuse which wasn't even funny. I am surprised how professional comedians think of this as something well-crafted and cannot come up with some punchline which wuld improve the number. It is a lazy joke and this video is an equally lazy defense.

[@JWNOSNHOJ]

As someone who has been directly involved on many occasions with the anti social behaviour of some of the 'Travelling Community' I can see why Jimmy Carr chose to make this joke - it resonated with the audience and got laughs.

[@bruce350]

This was mentioned on GB News (and defended on there). I immediately went onto Netflix and watched the whole program. Brilliant!

[@RazorbackLopez]

American here, I LOVE to be offended, it challenges me and makes me rethink. I saw the show and laughed my ass off! Love Jimmy Carr!

[@dtrez3866]

You love to be offended? Ok. Say your kids get mowed down by a drunk driver, raped and killed. I guess you would appreciate people making jokes about your family's suffering.

[@puckletruscot7562]

Remember when Jo Brand suggested chucking battery acid on Farage? People loved that. But seriously, not everything everyone says is serious.

[@anthonymitchell2189]

Lately I've found myself being as political incorrect as i possibly can in public ...nobody's safe lol !

[@johnbull9195]

You can think the joke is grotesque without thinking it should censored. Thinking jokes about the holocaust have a 'rich heritage' is a matter of opinion but we should be able to disagree about that without having the otherside arrested.

[@luckystripe672]

Exactly! Jimmy Carr was right about gypsies... He should be allowed to air his views without facing any consequences.

[@garyconyers-davies5781]

@@luckystripe672

[@luckystripe672]

@@garyconyers-davies5781, ok then so if that's the case, can you explain to me what he was refering to when he used the word 'positives'..?

[@garyconyers-davies5781]

@@luckystripe672 as explained in the video, he was being 'the worst person in the room'. Making people uncomfortable with the shock value of flipping the situation, when lots of people are prejudiced against gypsies explicitly saying this makes tjem face their prejudices. He isn't racist, he's mocking racists.

[@luckystripe672]

@@garyconyers-davies5781, ok but you havent answered the question, what is the word supposed to be refering to?

[@jonstersmall2716]

To be fair, it was pretty funny. And I'm a gypsy.

[@cccpkingu]

There are funnier periods in history, but fair take.

[@superdrwholock]

I think some people get offended on behalf of others when it comes to jokes. Like for example if a comedian makes a joke about someone who is transgender, a lot of people who aren’t trans seem to get offended. I’m a trans guy and I’ve noticed that a lot of people who get offended at jokes about trans people aren't trans themselves (that’s called being ‘cis’). I know they probably mean well but it does end up affecting us negatively in the end, with some people thinking we’re offended by everything when most of us couldn’t care less. You really think I’m offended by someone calling a gingerbread man a gingerbread man instead of a gingerbread person or something? I couldn’t think of anything to give less of a crap about lol, same with all my trans friends. And I’m quite left-wing as well so I’m obviously all for equality! It’s just that comedy isn’t serious and context matters :) I love comedy, my favourite comedians are Paul Smith, Bo Burnham and Sean Lock (rest in peace

[@frankcooper6118]

It is not a particularly good joke in my opinion, however I suspect that the screeching overreaction to it by virtue signalling politicians, etc. is largely the result of guilt at the fact that they don't exactly get the bunting out when a cheery band of gypsies turns up in their local car park, only to leave a few weeks later with barely a trace of their presence, save for a huge pile of rubbish.

[@joba4848]

And the lead removed from the local church and any nearby homes. This actually happened to me, and the only thing that the police did, despite knowing who was responsible, was to give me a verbal warning for referring to them as gypsies instead of travellers.

[@frankcooper6118]

@@joba4848 You couldn't make it up.

[@gerhard7323]

It should be a truism by now, but it doesn't seem to be any longer. It goes back to the old line, 'I might not always agree with what you're saying, but I'll always defend your right to say it'.

[@darthlaurel]

As always, you are very funny even when doing what seems like straight social commentary.

[@laz001]

Literally - 30 seconds after that joke - he proceeds to say the following: "Everyone in the room knows that 6 million jewish people who lost their lives to the nazis during world war two. But a lot of people don't know - because it's not taught in schools, is that the nazis also killed, in their thousands gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people, and johavahs witnesses". I mean - he did EXACTLY what comedy tries to do. It doesn't make 'fun' of people, it shines a light on them. It up to you, as the audience, to interpret if that light is sympathetic or not. In this case - he absolutely did a positive thing.

[@davidatherton1780]

Everyone knows jimmys comedic style, he is hilarious

[@jamesmccallum6770]

I get the impression that society used to tacitly give permission to comedians to make jokes that shocked and crossed lines that wouldn't be permissible to cross in other forums. The difference I see now is that, since the age of social media, everyone thinks themselves a funny and edgy comedian. And, as this isn't true, many unfunny and simply abusive things, get typed and fired out. This, along with the mob of 'ever-offended' arseholes, policing the meta verse, cause society to judge legitimate jokes, in a harsher light. A similar thing is happening with prank content. It was all fun and innocent when members of the public where accosted by a disguised Beadle or Edmonds, but it's a very different thing to have a wanky teenager try to scare or embarrass you, whilst his sniggering mate is pointing his phone at you. Just a theory!

[@HonViddaj1]

You know you've truly made it and are truly sane when you end up on the 'cancelled' hit list.

[@kris-pq9fd]

Was a fan of Carr until he demonized the unvaxxed. What goes around comes around.

[@clausderenda5777]

Thanks for being a voice of reason who actually understands simple forms such as satire, jokes, irony and hyperbole! So unlike the bleating crowd of the permanently 'offended'.

[@davidbent347]

Wouldn't it be funny if Jimmy wasn't Joking... A man's true feelings masquerading as a Joke... And who better to disguise his true feelings than a professional Joke teller... Passing everything off as a Joke I.e. how would you know the difference?

[@ericbrown5589]

Well said Leo. Jokes are jokes. Get over it.

[@zsht]

I think jokes that close to the edge need to be smarter. The joke _was_ that ‘we are prejudiced, and isn’t our prejudice funny’. The bate-and-switch style joke is such a cheap mechanic, it’s what kids use in playgrounds. Some examples of equally risqué jokes that i think do pull it off cleverly are: - Gervais’ Caitlin Jenner/ woman drivers joke - David Cross’ Anne Frank joke - Louis CK’s snl pedophile joke - Doug Stanhope’s joke on anti-semitism idk, just my thoughts anyway

[@banlefties3048]

Saw jimmy on Friday night in Doncaster never laughed so much in my life ITS BLOODY COMEDY !!

[@paulaustinmurphy]

It's amazing how much detail and argument Leo Kearse gets into this video.

[@jackhadroom4540]

I'm glad they shared this clip; biggest laugh I'd had in ages.

[@johnward374]

@JackHad Room. Shame you weren't a gypsy in Germany in the war. You could have died laughing then.

[@jackhadroom4540]

@@johnward374 But I wasn't, hence being able to post on KZbin.

[@Aircool212]

I remember seeing Jerry Sadowitz decades ago. He told a joke that was only nine words long; it would be considered highly offensive, but it was one of the funniest jokes I've ever heard. It worked because people who were ignorant of the subject wouldn't know why it was funny whilst also being the actual target of the joke.

[@simonwild428]

Same here… sadly the only one I remember (and fuckin love) is….’how do you crucify a spastic.?… on a swastika..’ Would that be the one?

[@raftonpounder6696]

I fear for the future. I’ll bet Putin doesn’t like comedy either.

[@Valveus]

Jimmy Carr is one of my favourite comedians. Now, as a scouser, I don't find Hillsborough jokes particularly funny, but if I heard a comedian like Jimmy telling a Hillsborough joke I wouldn't be screaming for him to be banned, I'd probably cringe and let it wash over me then carry on watching the show, because I understand what Jimmy is about. He doesn't set out to offend anyone, he just finds the humour in dark subjects, and for every joke that I find funny, many other people will find just as cringeworthy.

[@jamesoakley4570]

Jimmy Carr never fails to make me laugh out loud. it's just a joke guys. don't take it seriously.

[@benh715]

I have no problem with Badiel complaining about this joke. He was right, it was cruel and racist. But I cannot back the position that jokes should be banned. Sticks and stones etc.

[@Nathan_Virica_Comedy]

Jimmy Carr: "Doctor, doctor, I think I'm a pair of curtains..." Twitter: "I think it's absolutely disgraceful that Jimmy Carr should trivialise serious mental health issues for the purposes of 'humour'. Is he aware of the ongoing mental health crisis in this country?! Carr should be ashamed of himself!"

[@TheMoonRulesNo1]

I find it offensive that people have the gall to be surprised that Mr Carr would tell a joke about the Holocaust. Is this the first Holocaust joke that they've heard him tell? In the last 30 or so years? Cancel culture is an excellent way to spot people who are completely unfamiliar with the persons body of work they are attempting to cancel. Jimmy Carr is a funny comedian, in my opinion, and is also, reportedly, one of the kindest people in show business according to his colleagues and friends.

[@fabshop6359]

At last, someone talking sense, well said Leo. Jimmy Carr, genius, full stop. Cracking video and commentary, Leo. Have subscribed.

[@stevesmart9723]

The only “acceptable” comedians/comedy allowed on TV these days are those making the most obvious attacks against the government/Boris Johnston or another series of Mrs Browns Boys.