Upset at the use of dialogues with double meaning and sexual innuendo in television comedy shows, the Broadcasting Content Complaint Council (BCCC) has asked entertainment channels not to carry “crass, abusive, vulgar and double-meaning language with sexual overtones in the name of humour.”
This is not the first time that such a warning has been issued for stand-up comedy shows on TV. While it’s difficult for TV comedians to adhere to only refined comedy, we ask stand-up comedians in the city about how difficult is
it to keep vulgarity out of comedy. They think it’s not that big a task.
Neeti Palta, one of the few women comedians, thinks that real comedy requires wit. “To make people laugh at your jokes, it is not necessary to be vulgar rather you’ve to be clever,” she says and adds that a stricter law is required to stop comedians from crossing the line.
Some think that comics take up subjects involving women or vulgarity because it doesn’t require much effort. “It’s an easy way out for many people. It doesn’t require much effort to say some cheesy or sleazy lines that will make people laugh. But it isn’t the right way to approach comedy and neither is it right to do such comic acts,” says stand-up comedian Rajneesh Kapoor.
“In fact, stand-up comedy in itself contains the word ‘stand-up’ that makes it obvious that you have to stand up for something and not make cheap, vulgar comments by objectification of women,” says stand-up artist Sanjay Rajoura, who is saddened by the way comedy is perceived in recent times.
He says a joke about a relationship between a man-woman doesn’t make for comedy. “Comedy is when you are able to talk about serious issues in a lighter way. That’s an art.”