comedy and racism: Jim Jefferies

Comedy and Racism: Jim Jefferies

This week I would like to touch on comedy and racism, using the Australian comedian Jim Jefferies as a point of discussion. I feel there is a lot that could be said about this topic in general and in specific relation to Jim Jefferies' comedy. I am in no way condoning racism or implying that racism is a matter that should be taken lightly, these are just a few aspects of comedy and racism that were brought to my attention when watching Jefferies sets.

Racism is wrong, there is NO denying that, however, can it be used to tackle racism as a social issue??  The majority of Jim Jefferies jokes are based on race and ethnicity, and other extremely controversial topics such as religion, disability, feminism and gun control. These are ‘taboo’ subjects, like race, which aren’t to be taken lightly and have the potential to be extremely offensive if incorrectly dealt with. However, although brutally blunt to say the least, Jefferies jokes do succeed in raising issues related to race and stereotypes, and a number of other challenging topics, which otherwise may not be brought to the attention of the public. Furthermore, he brings social issues to do with racism, amongst other things, to our attention in a way that doesn’t aim to offend anyone, isn’t from a biased standpoint, and above all in a way that people find humorous. I personally don’t find his sets amusing but that may be down to personal preference and my personal taste in comedy. However, I do appreciate the way he uses jokes about racism to address racism as a world-wide problem and to try and combat it.  An important thing to note is that although it is clearly overt racism that he uses, it is purposely used to pinpoint specific social issues surrounding race and culture or stereotypes, in an effort to fight them. His jokes center on all kinds of subjects; he talks about people of different cultures and ethnicities right across the world and he also deals with issues such as internalised racism by making jokes about himself as well.

(Interview is relevant up to 3:24)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4fjHj9uppQ

In this interview although not race-related, Jefferies talks about how he receives hate mail for his comedy sets. He is asked about his choice to make jokes about serious issues, in this instance, gun control. His response was “50% of the population want gun control and I’m just trying to tap into that market, I guess” which shows how his comedy is intended to help these social issues and break down the taboo surrounding them; the same goes for his race-related jokes as well. He is also asked whether he changes the content of his sets depending on his audience, and he responds by saying that “there’s no point pandering to the audience, why would you do that?” Which also shows that there is no ‘special treatment’ towards any particular group of people, and no bias in his comedy sets.  His humour initially came across to me as offensive and rude, and although I don’t find it very entertaining, I do wonder if it does perhaps encourages people to speak up about racism or at least brings these kinds of issues to the forefront of society, via entertainment.

On the other hand, (in contradiction to the previous standpoint) i the question: does this racist humour actually promote racism? Does making jokes on a public stage encourage people to be more openly racism and support casual racism? Or are how his jokes are interpreted dependent on the specific audience listening? I know that Jefferies intentions are good, and I would like to think that his comedy helps to combat racism, but is there also the possibility that it encourages it?

What are everyone’s thoughts on this?