Is that funny or what?

The city's funny people tell MiD DAY about how far they're willing to go when it comes to offensive humour

Is that funny or what?

The city's funny people tell MiD DAY about how far they're willing to go when it comes to offensive humour

Recently, a lady in the US sued her comedian daughter-in-law for making her the butt of all her jokes publicly.

She considered them offensive.

There are different kinds of funny among the funny men and women in the city. There's the lame funny, the sarcastic funny, the slapstick funny, the fall-off-your-chair funny to name a few. And then there's the offensive funny. The kind of funny that could hurt the sentiments of some people.

RJ Prithvi of Radio One says the sky is the limit when it comes to cracking 'em jokes. "You can be subtle or sarcastic and it still gets the same message across and has the same effect on people.

Sometimes I have to abuse people on air and they'd probably abuse you right back."

Prithvi says he's enjoyed every bit of his pranks and jokes on others and hasn't once regretted pulling someone's leg on air.

"You can easily judge in the first two minutes how far you can go with your caller. You can gauge his personality and how sensitive it can get. Of course, you can always push it just a little bit and I almost always get away with it," he quips.

For stand up comedian Rubi Chakravarti intelligent humour is something that sells. "I don't like picking on my audience to make them laugh. It's like intimidating you into laughing. Sure, people laugh at your jokes, but they're thinking 'don't make fun of me' when they're in splits."

She believes that her brand of humour is sophisticated and erudite. She says she makes a lot of effort to be abreast with the current topics. Rubyu00a0 claims that people who make these kinds of comments are usually juvenile and are repressed souls.

RJ Neethi Bhat of Fever 104 has some strong views on this matter. She thinks that it's okay to push the line once in a while but not with something scandalous, where the damage could be irreparable.

"I've made fun of everything from actors to dance steps to costumes, but I do believe that we all carry the burden of influencing opinion. We've got to watch what we say."

Ajit Saldanha, stand up comedian, on the other hand feels that you have to learn to laugh at yourself and your community. "If you don't like the jokes, walk out. Sit at home and read Reader's Digest. Stand up comedy is not for everybody. You can't please everyone.u00a0 Some jokes work on some crowds, some don't."

Take back that joke
Sunda Croonquist, a stand up comedian in the US was sued by her mother-in-law for using her as the butt of her jokes. Her mother-in-law demands that all insulting material be removed from her recordings and routines.

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