Gus M

Very poor taste jibe at the British hostage Ken Bigley, shame on you.

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I never heard it

mad_dr

Story and 'public-opinion' here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3719656.stm

Freak

Well he has a point..... although the timing could have been perhaps a tad better

Flame suit on and ready..........

Thats the sort of comedy he does- and its comedy, nothing more. Its not a personal attack on anyone, and it doesnt stop the world going round.
Ive heard stand ups say far worse things in the past, and quite honestly couldnt give a crap, as its forgotten by the end of the next one liner.
Simply making light of a current topical issue, which HAS been dragging on for a while now, and having the ***** to say what maybe a lot of people are thinking, does not mean he should be flamed IMHO

Tiggs

"Thats the sort of comedy he does- and its comedy, nothing more. Its not a personal attack on anyone"

you have a point.....but to make a joke about how long people are waiting before cutting the head of a man is not very funny is it? i dont mean its offensive (although it is to many) i just mean its not funny? if it is i miss it.......i thought the idea of close to the wind comedy was to make ppl laugh, but almost be ashamed they did.....cant say i'd laugh at that gag?

BOB.T

Can I point out he's a comedian not a political figure, who gives a crap what he says?!

I have tickets to see him in a couple of weeks, I'll still be going

For the record, I'm sick of hearing about Bigley too!

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Presumably all those people who contributed to the comments on the BBC site were at Billy's gig and heard the context in which the comments were made? Hmmm...

What did he actually say? Does anyone know or will I have to wait just over a week until I go and see him at the Hammersmith Apollo?

lightning101

Laughing at someone elses expense - standard comedy material.

Unless you are a member of his family, how the hell can that upset you or make headline news.


Like a couple of people were saying - what did you expect going to see Billy Connelly - Terry and June

ozzy

At the end of the day the only people who could be offended are Ken Bigley and his family. If it offends anyone else, who gives a ****.

I'm more upset that I missed another stand-up gig of his

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

ozzy, he's on till the 23rd Oct or something similar.

lightning101

Also this thread proves the point by turning into a "when can I see Billy live again" thread.


People are numb to the war.

ozzy

what war?

thanks scoobychick.

ozzy

damn, sold out and only in London.

Maybe need to wait until next spring when he tours the UK or next winter when I'm in Oz.

Stefan

Markus

One word, Subjective!

One persons humour is anothers offence.

There is the context issue here, as mentioned by others. Billy could well have been making the "joke" as part of some diatribe against the media going on and on and on and on about this. Hence his comment of "wish they would get on with it" could be taken that it'll finally shut the bloody media up.

Yes, it's sad the chap has been kidnapped and his life is being threatened. However, humour does tend to help us through our darkest days. When someone has been totally down, have you not tried to cheer them up with some joke about their situation? I know I've been on the giving and recieving end of just humour and it's done the job, made me feel better. Not saything that this is what Billy is doing, just saying that humour is one way to make light of serious situations.

Tiggs

"I know I've been on the giving and recieving end of just humour and it's done the job, made me feel better. Not saything that this is what Billy is doing, just saying that humour is one way to make light of serious situations."


its interesting......i saw a comedian just after 9/11 (he was a yank) and he made plenty of 9/11 jokes (this was 2 weeks after). As an example, he was going on about radio stations banning ceratin songs after 9/11 in case it was offensive...yet Its Raining Men was still ok. Now i found that funny....which is a million miles away from saying i found it funny that ppl jumped out of the WTC.

BC joke (although we dont know the context) is not making light of something grim thats happened, would a similar gag about the soham girls have been funny while they were looking for them (far more media rubbish there).

ozzy

There was a Royal Marine Reservists that was diagnosed with Cancer this year. He had just months to live, so all his m8's named the bar in the local Detachment after him. They had everything planned for his death, but miraculously he made a complete recovery just last month.

As a p!ss-take, they made him unveil his own plaque and he even said he felt guilty about surviving after all they had done for him.

Sometimes a sick sense of humour is just what you need in certain situations. I've heard some really sick stuff in the armed forces, but it helps deal with serious situations.

I can imagine those Marines asking him to pay for his own plaque

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Stefan, there'll probably be some cancellations now so you might be in luck...

Tiggs

"As a p!ss-take, they made him unveil his own plaque and he even said he felt guilty about surviving after all they had done for him."

i think "man about to die butt hen recovers" is less likely to be upset by onelines than "man who is about to have his head cut off"

ozzy

True, although they were ripping the p!ss out of him well before he was given the all clear.

Tiggs

i imagine if he had been caught by the IRA was being held prior to possible execution they may not have felt in such a "stand up" mood?

ozzy

yeah, but he wasn't. Ken Bigley isn't a member of any group that has a 30 year history with terrorism good or bad so two stories can't really be compared. Perhaps my example wasn't a good one.

Anyway, at the end of the day only Ken and his family have any right to be offended. Anyone else doesn't count. Only time will tell how his situation pans out.

Leslie

I think that Connolly has just about lost it now, as soon as a comedian has to resort to his present style of humour where he has to rely on obscene language and "lavatory" humour then he is hanging on by his fingertips. There is little clever about his material any more.

To try for a cheap laugh at the expense of that poor man Ken Bigley when the man is expecting to have his head cut off any time, and not in a painless manner either, really is beyond any sense of decency.

The idiot who said he is fed up of hearing about it should try putting himself in his footsteps and honestly think about what it might be like. If you can't imagine that then when they were handing out the "sympathy for others" sensibilities, then you must have been at the back of the queue!

Les

Mice_Elf

Roy Chubby Brown, anyone?

BOB.T

Where have you been for the last 30 years?

mn_angrybeats

The poor man got himself into the situation surely ?? to get the last buck by earning a **** load in Iraq, he knew the dangers.....

Jye

He has based his act on that kind of humour since he worked in Govan Les. Have you ever seen him live or otherwise?

mn_angrybeats

I'm seeing him live next weekend, cannot wait

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

billy connoly= legend . what he says are just words . people take to much to heart imo. yes it was abit wrong but deal wit it. its not front page news ffs

Tiggs

but all he is are his words (unless you like the goatee?)

you cant call hima legend then say his words mean nothing???

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

goatee is cool

i was sayin some of his jokes are crude or affensive but thats what makes him who he is ,the same as other comediens. but some people pay to go and see them and then get pissed off by things they say. they paid to go !

anyways what i was sayin was its not really a big deal is it!