During a recent stand up comedy show, Daniel Tosh made a rape joke.
OH MY GOSH, What?!
Daniel Tosh – the comedian famous for making vulgar and crude jokes on his tv show, Tosh.O – made a rape joke?!
I know, not such a shocker. I would be shocked if Daniel Tosh didn’t tell a joke about rape in his stand up comedy show.
So, here’s the story (completely paraphrased, of course, because I wasn’t there):
Dane Cook had a show at the Laugh Factory, and Daniel Tosh came on beforehand. Apparently, he was trying out material, and asked the audience to tell him what was and wasn’t funny. Daniel Tosh jokes that rape jokes are always funny, and a woman yelled out, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny!”
I found this post on Cookies for Breakfast – it appears that this blogger is a friend of the woman who was the butt of Tosh’s infamous “joke.”
Here’s what happened, in her own words.
“After I called out to him, Tosh paused for a moment. Then, he says, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…” and I, completely stunned and finding it hard to process what was happening but knowing I needed to get out of there, immediately nudged my friend, who was also completely stunned, and we high-tailed it out of there.”
Now, this is kind of blowing up all over the internet. People are shocked and offended not only by Daniel Tosh’s rape joke, but that he started joking about her being raped.
Yeah, that’s not funny. I completely agree that it’s never funny to suggest that someone be gang-raped.
BUT, that being said, we are talking about Daniel Tosh.
DANIEL TOSH.
Remember when Daniel Tosh was the guy in Taco Bell commercials? No?
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
People know Daniel Tosh for his show on Comedy Central, Tosh.O. They know him for his insanely inappropriate jokes, and his vulgar sense of humor. He isn’t exactly Jeff Foxworthy, know what I mean? When you buy a ticket to see Daniel Tosh do stand up comedy, you basically walk in with the expectation that someone in the room is going to be offended.
But this woman, who went to the Laugh Factory to see Dane Cook perform, wasn’t familiar with Daniel Tosh. She wasn’t a fan, hadn’t seen his show, etc. She was caught off guard. She wasn’t expecting Daniel Tosh’s rape joke…well hell, I’m sure no one really was.
Do you know what you should you do if you go to a comedy show and don’t like it? Get up and leave. People do it all the time. Not every comedian appeals to a broad audience. Apparently, rape jokes aren’t universal, as say…jokes about the TSA and the neighbor’s dogs pooping on your lawn.
And I get it, I would have felt a little queasy watching a comedian joke about someone in the audience being gang-raped. Seriously, what chick doesn’t get a little sick to her stomach whenever she hears the word rape?
Rape isn’t funny. Ever.
However, I think the whole point of Daniel Tosh’s social faux pas was that it was funny because it wasn’t funny. It’s one of those things that people nervously laugh at because they are thinking, “holy sh!t, did he just say that?”
To give credit where credit is due, Daniel Tosh actually apologized via Twitter after this happened – and even linked to the same article that I linked to above.
It was a joke, people. It was a crude and vulgar – and offensive – joke, made by a crude, vulgar and offensive comedian. Did he really mean for men from the audience to gang-rape the woman? No, I am sure he did not. Will he joke about rape again? I’m guessing the answer is no.
And…as offensive as Daniel Tosh’s comments may have been, I think it pales in comparison to what Dane Cook said about the incident via Twitter shortly afterwards.
Now, I am not a Dane Cook fan, so I am usually instantly offended by anything he says…but come on. Where is the CNN article on this tweet? Oh, that’s right, there isn’t one. Because no one cares…because he’s Dane Cook and he’s been in a movie with Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, etc.
The double standard here is almost comedic. It’s not cool to joke about rape, but it’s perfectly fine to tweet that someone should kill themselves…as long as they are totally famous.
What do you think?
Should everything said within the confines of a comedy club be taken with a grain of salt, or should certain subjects (and responses to audience’s reactions) be off limits?
What would have been really funny, is if every woman in the audience got up and left (and if she was with her husband, boyfriend, or other male friend they did, too). Now that would have been funny!
I remember my mom telling me when I was young that if I heard an offensive joke/story, whether it was racist, or whatever, that I should say something or leave. If I stayed there and kept my mouth shut, I was condoning it. So in this situation, I would have gotten up and left. Just my 2 cents. 🙂
I don’t find him funny in the least, so I’m honestly not surprised that he would make a joke like that. 🙁
As someone who has been raped I can tell you I don’t think it’s funny. Ever. And being a comedian doesn’t mean you turn in your human being card. I guess in the spirit of Daniel’s meanness, saying I hope his mother gets raped is in order. Yea, that’s ugly, huh. I doubt he’d think that was funny.
Seriously, I wish people would turn it around on them selves and think about it before they say it.
I think our society has become uber sensitive to stuff like this -having said that and because I know nearly a handful of people who have taken their own lives and who have been raped, I can’t find the humor in this. I can however choose to ignore people like Cook and choose not to attend or watch any shows by Tosh. Simple. It’s like lets say you try some new toilet paper, discover it left you feeling all icky, I’m guessing you’re not going to buy that TP again. Same concept.
Great post -had no idea as I’ve had my head stuck in my MS.