Nine Nine Nine! That joke is a crime!

 

I might have been alone in this, but when I read headlines about Joe Lycett being reported to the police because of one of his jokes on his current tour, I thought he was up to something.  I thought he might have been up to a prank.  The sad fact is, he wasn't and someone really did contact the police because they had been offended by one his jokes.

Joe Lycett and Walrus

Below is the statement he put out on his Twitter feed on Tuesday.  Now, I know that Joe can stagger close to the edge in some of his comedy so there's a chance, that if I were to go to one of his shows, I might find myself wincing at a joke or, quite simply, just not laughing at it.  That's if I didn't like it.

Courtesy of @joelycett

I've watched many a comedian in the decades of my life and never once I have ever thought 'hmm, that deserves a call to the local constabulary' and I have heard some dire jokes.  Sometimes, comedians even tell jokes they know they will get a groan so that they can then mock themselves.

Yet, here were are, Britain 2022.  The country recovering from the effects of a pandemic, public services struggling to cope with an ever-increasing and ever-changing population.  The police are stretched and the last thing they need is someone wasting their time.  This rates high up there on things that, I would suggest, waste police time.

I've watched many a comedian in the decades of my life and never once I have ever thought 'hmm, that deserves a call to the local constabulary'

Normally people take to their social media to exclaim how offended they were by something, and that's fine.  It's your accounts, if you don't like his joke then fine, slate away on your own social media and people will either agree with you - or they won't.  You are probably more likely to start a huge online rammy about being "woke" or why woke people have made it their mission to be absolutely offended by everything on the planet that hasn't been changed to suit their narrative.  Something like that.

Just how to local police officers explain to people why they don't have an officer to spare at the moment.  'Oh, I'm sorry,  I'll have an officer with you shortly, he's busy at the moment discussing with Joe Lycett whether giant donkey dicks are comedy or offensive.'.

Get past it.  If you thought the joke was offensive then fire off an angry Facebook post, or email the comedian himself, just don't waste the time of the local police.  Should the complainer be charged with wasting police time? No.  A good warning should be enough, assuming this isn't a habit for them.  Said the nun to the...

As Joe explains, the joke remains in his show.  The police didn't take it further.  If you do book tickets for a comedian then understand that there will probably be something in the show that was a bit more crap than the rest of it, a joke you didn't like.  Something you didn't laugh at isn't a crime.