Showbiz
Richard Herring on Ricky Gervais: Comics should consider consequences
Published Tuesday, Nov 29 2011, 14:49 GMT | By Mayer Nissim | 2 comments
Richard Herring has said that stand-up comedians should consider the consequences of their material.
The Christ On A Bike comic last month publicly took issue with Ricky Gervais's continued use of the word "mong" in his work and on Twitter.
Herring told Metro: I wrote a blog saying maybe using disablist language is the same as using racist language and maybe we shouldn't because it's hurtful to disabled people.
"To find out that saying we should be considerate to disabled people is the most controversial thing I've said in my career is interesting. It seems fairly reasonable."
He continued: "A comedian has a responsibility to themselves to consider the consequences of what they're doing. If it's funny enough, you can get away with virtually anything in comedy.
"You should consider the effects of throwing disablist language around. Being on the sharp end of his followers calling me a 'mong' for a week, I can see that whatever Ricky thinks the word 'mong' has become, the 500,000 people following him don't agree or don't understand the subtleties he's coming up with.
> Tim Minchin on Ricky Gervais: 'We use offence differently' - video
> Read our 'Christ In A Bike' interview with Richard Herring
Herring added that through his eight years of work with Scope he is aware of how much the use of such language affects disabled people.
"I don't think it's for a non-disabled multi-millionaire to say the word has been reclaimed," he said. "That word hasn't changed meaning - it's always meant the same thing."
Gervais was initially unrepentant over his use of the word, claiming as he did two years earlier when using it to describe Susan Boyle that the word had changed meaning.
Following statements from disability campaigners including Nicky Clark and his one-time Extras colleague Francesca Martinez, Gervais later admitted that he had been "naïve" over his use of the word.
Stand-up Jimmy Carr recently said that he never feels guilty about his jokes.
He later added to Digital Spy that sometimes he does "overstep the mark" with his material, adding that it can be "your turn" to be criticised as a comedian for doing so.
The Christ On A Bike comic last month publicly took issue with Ricky Gervais's continued use of the word "mong" in his work and on Twitter.
© BBC
Herring told Metro: I wrote a blog saying maybe using disablist language is the same as using racist language and maybe we shouldn't because it's hurtful to disabled people.
"To find out that saying we should be considerate to disabled people is the most controversial thing I've said in my career is interesting. It seems fairly reasonable."
He continued: "A comedian has a responsibility to themselves to consider the consequences of what they're doing. If it's funny enough, you can get away with virtually anything in comedy.
"You should consider the effects of throwing disablist language around. Being on the sharp end of his followers calling me a 'mong' for a week, I can see that whatever Ricky thinks the word 'mong' has become, the 500,000 people following him don't agree or don't understand the subtleties he's coming up with.
> Tim Minchin on Ricky Gervais: 'We use offence differently' - video
> Read our 'Christ In A Bike' interview with Richard Herring
Herring added that through his eight years of work with Scope he is aware of how much the use of such language affects disabled people.
"I don't think it's for a non-disabled multi-millionaire to say the word has been reclaimed," he said. "That word hasn't changed meaning - it's always meant the same thing."
Gervais was initially unrepentant over his use of the word, claiming as he did two years earlier when using it to describe Susan Boyle that the word had changed meaning.
Following statements from disability campaigners including Nicky Clark and his one-time Extras colleague Francesca Martinez, Gervais later admitted that he had been "naïve" over his use of the word.
Stand-up Jimmy Carr recently said that he never feels guilty about his jokes.
He later added to Digital Spy that sometimes he does "overstep the mark" with his material, adding that it can be "your turn" to be criticised as a comedian for doing so.
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