It's a controversial subject for comedians - can they joke about anything? Even things like rape, abortion, real-life murders and disability?



Funny man Jimmy Car says that: "anything is fair game".

He told Radio 4's Desert Island Discs: "I would say the one thing you can never joke about in the UK is Hillsborough. It's a tragedy that has touched people in a very specific way and I cannot imagine anyone ever coming up with a joke about that."

The human crush in Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield in 1989 killed 96 people and had over 700 injuries. It was the worst disaster in British sporting history. The subsequent cover up by South Yorkshire Police, and the long, hard-fought battle by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign to get the truth to come out, is a subject close to many people's hearts and, naturally, it's still very raw for the families of those who died in the disaster.

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Credit: PA

When Kirsty Young asked him if he would joke about the Aberfan disaster, which killed over 116 kids, he wasn't so sure. "I haven't analysed it in any great detail but it does strike me, most things heal with time to a degree and [Hillsborough] hasn't."



The Aberfan disaster was in '66 though. It was over half a century ago.

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"[But] you can joke about religion and I do often. You can joke about death, you can joke about murders, and you can joke about disasters," he said.

Alan Davies joked about Hillsborough in 2012 and people were not happy with him. He got death threats and when he tried to make a donation to the Hillsborough fund he was refused.

Perhaps death threats is taking a little far; I mean, two wrongs don't make a right and all that.

Daniel Tosh, a US comedian and TV presenter was criticised for making a "joke" about rape. He was doing a skit about rape when a woman heckled him and said rape jokes aren't funny.

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And he said: "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..."

Um, Tosh, you can't invite people to rape women. Obviously the girl and her friend left absolutely terrified. That sounds like a dangerous threat - and it's not funny. Tosh isn't ever funny, IMO, but that crossed a serious line.

Unlike Jimmy Carr, Frankie Boyle gives zero fucks about offending people. I think he gets off on it. He's said some seriously controversial things in his stand up routines in the past.

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Here is he, almost certainly something offensive. Credit: PA

On the Thriller singer. "Before Michael Jackson died he weighed less than nine stone and the only thing he would eat willingly was nachos. Nachos being the name of a young Mexican boy."



Hmmm is paedophilia ok to joke about? Unsure.

On British Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington.

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"I worry that Rebecca Adlington will have an unfair advantage in the swimming by possessing a dolphin's face."

Yeah that just comes across as a personal attack, to be honest.

On Pope Pope Benedict XVI after he resigned.

"The Pope must have done something that even the Catholic church found unacceptable. My theory is that he fucked an adult woman."

Sarah Silverman showed us how to joke about rape - by explaining why comedians make them and also not making the victim the butt of the joke.

What do you reckon?

Over on Reddit, one user said that you can joke about terrible things. But you can't attack people with the joke. Context is important. The joke can't be haha people died, as that's not funny, that's just bullying.



"Everything can be a joke in the right context," said the Redditor. "What's not OK is to personally attack someone a claim it as a joke. I think it's fine to joke about death, rape, race whatever it may be, as long as you aren't attaching that joke to someone."