LAST NIGHT, JERRY Seinfeld ruffled a few feathers and started a conversation about political correctness in comedy.
The veteran comedian appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers last night alongside writer David Remnick when the conversation turned to comedy being offensive.
The conversation began with host Seth Meyers stating that, more and more, people will let you know if they feel you have stepped over the line in comedy. “They keep moving the lines in for some reason,” Seinfeld told Meyers.
To illustrate his point, he went on to tell a joke in which he compared people scrolling through their phones to a “gay French king” and punctuated it with a rather extravagant hand flourish.
Seinfeld then revealed that this particular joke had caused him hassle during a recent gig with some audience members uncomfortable with his using “gay” as a punchline.
I did this line recently in front of an audience [...] and they thought, ‘What do you mean, gay? What are you talking about, gay? And I thought, are you kidding me?
He went on to criticise political correctness in comedy, describing it as “creepy”.
I could imagine a time where people say, ‘Well, that’s offensive to suggest that a gay person moves their hands in a flourishing motion and you now need to apologise.’ There’s a creepy PC thing out there that bothers me.
The latest rant follows the comedian’s recent remarks that he won’t perform at colleges on account of the students being too politically correct.
They just want to use these words: ‘That’s racist;’ ‘That’s sexist;’ ‘That’s prejudice’. They don’t know what the f**k they’re talking about.
His latest spiel have been met with a decidedly mixed reaction.
On the one hand, some echoed the comedian’s sentiments.
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While others acknowledged that comedy might be increasingly politically correct, but disagreed that Seinfeld is a victim of a changing culture.
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There was also this rather sizzling burn at the expense of Seinfeld’s previous television work.
And as for the “gay French king” joke? It might need some work.
Better luck next time, Jerry.
What do you think — has PC gone mad?
