Frankie Boyle is hilarious. Prove me wrong.

[flobadob]

There has been a lot of guff spewed in recent days on the subject of Frankie Boyle and how he is unfunny and racist. I'm not saying that Tramadol Nights was funny, it wasn't great. However, on Mock The Week and in his stand up routines he is hilarious. Also I don't see how using the packing and niggling words a couple of times makes you a racist.

Can anyone show me how he is not funny using an example or two, perhaps a clip from youtube. I think you will find it difficult to find something that is not funny. Yes, I know that humour is subjective but I would still like to see what other people find that proves that Frankie is not funny.

[cazzz1975]

I agree with jacks summerising, most of the issues that FB likes to target I probably would have ignored 10 years ago, however since the targets of his teasing strike a chord with me now I am more intolerant, essentially I was ignorant in the past.

If his fans want to enjoy these aspect of his humourous takes on life then maybe putting them on DVD is the best option. his fans can enjoy it and the rest of us dont have to be subjected to it via the newspapers.

[jomifl]

I'm with the racist bigots on this one..

[flobadob]

Personally I think what he does is takes societies views that no one would dare admit and exaggerates them. For example his statement "All PE teachers are paedophiles. Discuss." Obviously that is not true. Obviously he does not think that is true. However the media would have us believe that paedophiles are everywhere and there is a certain element of fear in peoples minds that a teacher could be one, even though the chances are extremely remote.

For a second example, his recent controversial joke were he takes on the role of a newsreader. "Two British servicemen were killed today by a roadside bomb, please watch the following hour long programme for a detailed report. In other news 3 US air strikes killed a whole load of Pakistanis". In the joke he used a shortened term for Pakistanis. However the point he was making is that we view the lives of people over here far more than the Iraqis or Afghans so much so that we've almost become desensitised to any news story from over there that doesn't have at least a few hundred deaths involved.

[andy-hughes]

OK - let's give FB the benefit then shall we -

'all PE teachers are paedophiles - discuss ...'

allowing your analyis some nodding room in the general direction of veracity - and believe me that is not at all easy -

does Mr Boyle expect his audience to stroke its collective chin and think "Wow, some serious satire there Frankie, that really addresses my long-held, but unexpressed-through-fear notion that there are loads of paedophiles out there, and teachers may be among them ... bravo and bring on the next cutting edge observation please do ...

or does he just expect a knee-jerk laugh from people who don't stop to think what he means by what he says, but because he is a 'comedian', it must be funny.

My advice flobadob - stop digging ...

[flobadob]

I think the latter andy.

[flobadob]

Oops, former.

[danchip]

i used to like him but watched tramadol nights where he wasn't as censored and edited and the whole programme was absolute garbage turned off after 5 mins of the first show!

my brother is a huge fan off his and he even said tramadol nights was rubbish, we went to see him live and it was rubbish and again my brother agreed!

He doesn't tell jokes he just says things that will shock people and people laugh as a reaction to this!

You'll be hard pushed to find a gag of his that is comically funny and not just crude and offensive!

[andy-hughes]

Well, if it's the former, then FB's audiences should be sitting there with their mouths open in wonder at the depth and veracity of his incicsive rapier-like dissection of society's deepest tabboos, and waiting with bated breath for his next nugget of wisdom ... in complete silence.

On the occasions i have viewed FB 'performing', his audiences have been braying like demented loons - which rather points to the latter being the case.

Like I say ... time to stop digging ...

[flobadob]

I agree that Tramadol Nights was not that funny, in fact I stated as much in the original post, but in stand up and on Mock The Week I thought he was brilliant, especially at the end in Scenes We'd Like To See.

I also said that comedy is subjective but I still feel that there has been an overreaction on the basis of the use of a few words.

Andy out of interest would you find this funny? The scene is things you wouldn't want to hear upon opening the door in the middle of the night. Knock knock. "Hello madam, I'm afraid your husband has been murdered. Could I borrow a shovel?"

[andy-hughes]

No - thank you.

[ummmm]

I think it's how you say it. Accents help as well. My Dad could tell a really rubbish joke and make it sound really funny.

[andy-hughes]

flobadob - much as I admire your tenacity in defending FB, i do think the reaction to him is rather more than to 'a few words'

Take these words -

Jews
deserved
got
what
they
scum
worthless.

Innocent enough - but i could put them into a Boyle-esque comment that he would think is funny, others may differ.

[daftgrandad]

flobadob
Have not read right through your thread.However,if I may, I would like to ask you the following question:-
"Are you,or any of your relatives,in any way handicapped eg autistic,suffer from any
deformity,or any other unfortunate disabilities that single you out as "different from the
rest".If your answer is no,please spare a thought for those that are.
I hope you get the message,behind my post.

[ummmm]

daftgrandad - I'm a fan of FB and I can answer yes to that question.

[andy-hughes]

ummm - we are going around the same track here - just because a member of the minority at whom FB's 'jokes' are aimed does not not take offence, does not make it Ok for him to make them.

Using that argument, if one Jew thinks that Jews are responsible for the finnancial ills of the western word, hey presto, the Holocaust was all fine and dandy!

It just doesn't work like that.

[daftgrandad]

Hi ummm,
To each his own,I sympathise with you,as I am in the same situation myself.
All I ask is,would you like to be in an audience watching and him making a remark to
you or whoever you were with,regarding disability ?

[flobadob]

I knew there would be a lot of agree to disagrees involved with this thread. However I still feel that most of the respondents are going on hearsay rather than having viewed any of the material for themselves.

[flobadob]

Is there not an argument that making jokes about disabled people is a good thing as it says they are the same as the rest of us and shouldn't be singled out for special treatment. I mean in terms of societies views obviously and not in terms of special treatment for their physical needs.

[andy-hughes]

Not me!

On the occasions i have seen FB deliver the most outre of his observations, I find the glassy-eyed stare with which he regards his audience as seriously creepy - an almost "I dare, and you don't ..." attitude, which is often held by sociopaths.

I don't suggest that FB is actually a sociopath - but it is food for thought ...

[cazzz1975]

FB is a grown up version of the bully at school who used to pick on the kid with glasses, the fat kid, the disabled kid and anyone else who was an easy target.