I think your title for this thread should be changed to “No comedian should win a free pass”. Although there are some who have defended Seth MacFarlane, there are scores of others who have been critical of his humor. So I don’t see how he is getting a free pass.

Along these lines, no comedian should get a free pass no matter how brilliantly they are able to broach issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.. I recall in the early 90s the Andrew Dice Clay controversy. There were those who defended Clay who seemed to have this false notion that George Carlin and Richard Pryor got free passes for the same humor. Indeed, they did not. No matter how they sugar coated jokes about race and gender, Pryor and Carlin also had their share of critics. I recall Carlin’s not so intellectual rant that garnered both praise and heavy criticism:

“Rat shit! Bat Shit! Dirty old twat! 69 assholes tied in a knot! Hooray lizard shit! Fuck!”

You can see it on youtube and judge for yourself. And I would defend your right to be offended and not give George a free pass just like Andrew Dice Clay and Seth MacFarlane.

No doubt Greta you and I are Monty Python fans. Yet there are many theists who are offended by songs like “Every Sperm is Sacred”. Would you give Monty Python a free pass? I love that song and would defend it tooth and nail. Theists have every right to be offended by it and complain about it. Similarly when Terry Jones says in one skit dressed as an elderly woman “I don’t like darkies!!!” and John Cleese replies with laughter “Who does!?!?”, they most certainly do not get a free pass from a dark skinned individual such as me. Thus, I don’t give the Pythons a free pass for their humor.

It goes like this. We have the freedom of speech. We have the freedom to offend. And we have the freedom to be offended and voice our anger. No one gets a free pass because we all have the right to be offended. And that’s the usual denouement. And that’s the way it should be.

Personally, I’ve never been to a comedy show where they gave disclaimers and I’m not positive as to why they would need one. I mean, unless you’re going to a Brian Reagan show, there’s bound to some amount of nastiness at a show. Thanks for correcting me.

There’s no reason to think that Lampanelli has any contract with the audience that MacFarlane lacks. Lampanelli doesn’t give a disclaimer before the show but goes for it.

I’ve seen Lisa Lampanelli live twice. Both times she gave a disclaimer both before and after doing her shtick. She’s very well known for what she does, so it’s hard to argue that those people who got there early enough/bribed the staff to sit at the front tables knew what they were in for; even so, it appeared that she did get consent from her targets before really cranking up the Queen of Mean act. That said, there still were some uncomfortable moments for me. She’s not in the league of Carlin or St Lenny, but she’s a couple of cuts above what I saw from McFarlane the other night.

They apologized profusely.

Being offensive just for the sake of being offensive, with no regard for any other deepness, makes yourself no better than a middle school sitting in the back of the bus shouting “PENIS!”.

but apparently it will get you an oscar’s gig