Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of Daniel Tosh. I mean, I get what he does, and I appreciate his brand of humor, and sometimes I’ll watch his show when it comes on, but it’s just not my favorite thing in the world. That being said, if you go out to see Daniel, you kind of have to assume he’ll be doing his “asshole fratboy” character, which a lot of people like, but which means some jokes are going to get a bit edgy. Which is what happened when a female audience member heckled Tosh over a rape joke and then got back more than she probably expected. From The Huffington Post:
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. It was humiliating, of course, especially as the audience guffawed in response to Tosh, their eyes following us as we made our way out of there. I didn’t hear the rest of what he said about me.
https://twitter.com/danieltosh/status/222796532653629441
https://twitter.com/danieltosh/status/222796636559130624
Here’s the thing: I think both sides are in the wrong here. I get the feeling Tosh was trying out new material that needed to be refined so that the message in the delivery was clear. Then a random audience member interpreted this comedy bit as serious social commentary and decided that a stand-up show in The Laugh Factory was the perfect opportunity for moral proselytizing and heckled him, which is the LAST THING YOU SHOULD DO AT A COMEDY SHOW. And then Tosh fired a shot back at her that crossed the line.
Yes, rape jokes make me feel a bit uncomfortable; they make everyone feel uncomfortable. That’s the point. We laugh at things that bother us, thus taking away their power. Yes, some jokes make me feel personally uncomfortable, but what I personally feel does not allow me to censor others, because that would be bullshit. If you don’t like a joke, either get up and leave, or wait until you hear the whole thing before you judge. Freedom of speech means you are free to not listen to things you don’t want to listen to, and- Wait, why am I even explaining this? The only people who don’t understand how jokes work are humorless assholes. Enjoying spending the rest of your life bitter and angry at everything, buzzkills!
