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Volume 32, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0929-0907
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9943
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Abstract

The ongoing and divisive discourse regarding the use of offensive humour in stand-up comedy is taking place both off-stage and on-stage: comedians use jokes that target sensitive characteristics ostensibly to show that no topic is ‘off limits’, while also taking a stance against those who argue for more empathetic comedy that does not reinforce stereotypes and discriminatory beliefs. Taking Jimmy Carr’s ‘holocaust joke’ (2021) as a case study, we examine the entire life-cycle of jokes from their live-performance context to entering the public sphere, questioning what a joker can be held accountable for in stand-up comedy. Specifically, we look at the performance frame, comedian personality and persona, and how different types of audience may react to a joke, in order to shed light on what exactly it is that the producer of an offensive joke can, or should, be held accountable for.

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2025-09-26
2026-07-15

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The joke and the joker
Pragmatics & Cognition 32, 39 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.24027.kap
/content/journals/10.1075/pc.24027.kap
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): accountability; audience reception; comedic licence; limits of humour; offensive humour

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