Sarcasm: The Gulf Between Those Who Get the Joke and Those Who Don't

Jeremy Clarkson is in deep water again for his comments about striking Unison members.

His comments on the One Show have received 21,000 complaints

• "I think they (the strikes) have been fantastic. Absolutely. London today has just been empty. Everybody stayed at home, you can whizz about, restaurants are empty," he said. "It's also like being back in the 70s. It makes me feel at home somehow," said the Top Gear presenter, before adding: "But we have to balance this though, because this is the BBC" and went on:
• "Frankly, I'd have them all shot. I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families. I mean, how dare they go on strike when they have these gilt-edged pensions that are going to be guaranteed while the rest of us have to work for a living?"

When the presenters pointed out that these were Clarkson's personal views, he said: "They're not. I've just given two views for you."

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "Clarkson's comments on The One Show were totally outrageous, and they cannot be tolerated. "An apology is not enough - we are calling on the BBC to sack Jeremy Clarkson immediately. "We are seeking urgent legal advice about what further action we can take against him and the BBC, and whether or not his comments should be referred to the police."

Dave Prentis seems to have lost his funny bone, or he completely missed the point that Clarkson was making.

Maybe they should reciprocate in style. Like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMuO-8S_0Wg

What makes you think that Dave Prentis wasn't also joking? Clarkson thinks they should be shot, Prentis thinks he should be sacked? Why assume that one is a joke, and one is to be taken seriously?

The point is that it's a terrible joke, tasteless and unfunny. If you go to a stand-up gig, and hear a joke like that, set up properly by someone who knows the business, it's appropriate. The same comment, on a family magazine show, is not appropriate.

Jeremy Clarkson makes his money by making tasteless, bullying comments right around the time he has a book or DVD to promote.

http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/on-jeremy-clarkson

Originally posted by johnnysaucepn:

What makes you think that Dave Prentis wasn't also joking?

He doesn't make his living by telling jokes — Jeremy Clarkson does. If you don't find it funny, I guess you missed the point of it.

Whether the joke was appropriate on a day time family show is not the issue here — the issue is that Dave Prentis and 21,000 others are outraged because they don't understand Clarkson's satire. He was poking fun at those who would be outraged about public sector workers going on strike.

Had it been aired on Top Gear, Dave Prentis and others would have been just as outraged. Had they been paying attention, they would have laughed, or just dismissed it as an attention-seeking comment unworthy of giving attention to.

The brouhaha caused by attacking Clarkson has side-tracked the issues over which the union is striking.

Round up a populist lynch mob, find Clarkson and hang him.

Originally posted by Pesala:

He doesn't make his living by telling jokes — Jeremy Clarkson does.

Neither does Clarkson.

If you don't find it funny, I guess you missed the point of it.

Then perhaps I should cancel my upcoming chatshow appearance, where I detail exactly how and where I want to murder all Buddhists. That'll teach them the true meaning of suffering!

Hah! Get it? It's a joke! It's so funny! I'm such a wag!

"Clarkson has a DVD to flog, so has to get up on TV and say something offensive so that all the 12-year-old boys that watch his show know how subversive he is" should be the title of the thread.

Clarkson is a moron, always has been always will be.
Why anyone would ask him his views on something serious or topical is beyond me. You know your not going to get an intelligent answer from him.

Originally posted by johnnysaucepn:

tasteless and unfunny

That sums up Clarkson in a nutshell.

Well apparently the finding of a recent research are that : "An inability to understand sarcasm may be an early warning sign of dementia"

Clarkson's OK, over the top sometimes but then who is not?

Pesala - it was great of you to quote the full amount of what was said - most have not bothered to read it, or if they have, understood it

Also amusing is what Downing St. is reputed to have said; "Execution is not government policy and we have no plans to make it government policy."

At least they know a joke when they see one.

Originally posted by string:

Clarkson's OK, over the top sometimes but then who is not?

Pesala - it was great of you to quote the full amount of what was said - most have not bothered to read it, or if they have, understood it

Also amusing is what Downing St. is reputed to have said; "Execution is not government policy and we have no plans to make it government policy."

At least they know a joke when they see one.

Absolutely, context is important in this case. He was going for a satire on BBC 'balance', but missed the mark. I'm not sure what inability to form sarcasm is a symptom of...

Much better would be to exaggerate the satire, threaten to send them to the Siberian salt mines or something. If you want something properly Clarksoneque, threaten to send them to live in Wales. But no, he went with "shoot them in front of their families".

For the record, I actually like Clarkson. The problem is that, comedy-wise, he's a blunt instrument and makes me cringe when he tries to invent controversy.

Originally posted by johnnysaucepn:

Then perhaps I should cancel my upcoming chatshow appearance, where I detail exactly how and where I want to murder all Buddhists. That'll teach them the true meaning of suffering!

I'd like to help, but to die is to avoid suffering, unless you subscribe to certain Christian mythologies.

I've never seen a chat show. Do the really discuss such matters?

Yes Clarkson was a wee but over the top and he always is. Loud and and so on. However the Unions must be led by donkeys to rush into the state they got into. The same Union bosses who don't lose any pay themselves - now there's a joke? Compare Clarkson to a supposedly proper comedian that utter deplorable Frankie Boyle. A so-called alternative comedian as funny as a brick on the head. His succession of foul-mouthed venom on unfortunate people and those suffering distress is despicable.Time he was taken out (the tv)......!

Tasteless though they may oftentimes be, Clarkson is certainly entitled to his opinions.

Clarkson is a clever writer, his sentences are well-crafted, and his performance is pat. He is paid to be moderately offensive and Prentis is paid to be moderately offended. That said this would matter more to Prentis than Clarkson, he has a strike to stroke, and need public support also from the Top Gear-watching public.

I vaguely remember us having a humour thread once, unsurprisingly unfunny.

I don't find him as bad as others who actually impersonate being a comedian (he isn't a comedian more a presenter). When I look at the fat cat jokers who run the Unions they have a damn nerve.

Originally posted by jax:

I vaguely remember us having a humour thread once, unsurprisingly unfunny.

There seems to have been a number of humour-related threads, probably all with the given verdict. One old one from Pesala too in fact.

Here's a view I agree with.

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3603

(except that I do watch Top Gear)

Originally posted by Frenzie:

Here's a view I agree with.

Yes, a well balanced article, and the same reasons why I thought it important to start this thread. The hysterical press have no credibility in my eyes.

And there would be "millions" who would want thim to stay. It's a roundabout and when it comes to balance it seems to be based on the Guardian on Newsnight and other political review shows? Kind of confuses the balance theory a bit. Their recent programme on interviewing the candidates for the London Mayoral Election was typical asit didn't include them all.

Some politicians should be taken out and tickled in front of their electorate to see if they have a sense of humour.

BBC Select Committee