Lizz Winstead tweeted an ill-timed joke about the tornado which devastated Oklahoma today. The co-creator of  “The Daily Show” quipped, “This tornado is in Oklahoma so clearly it has been ordered to only target conservatives.”

My guess is that Winstead was attempting to make a play on how the IRS was recently caught targeting conservative groups on their tax returns.

The death toll from the Oklahoma tornado was up to 51 last we checked. Many people, including children, are still missing.

Reaction to Winstead’s Twitter tornado joke was as expected. “A vomitous human being,” reported Mediaite.

We’ve covered numerous stories of comedians making the mistake of commenting too soon after a tragedy. While I respect the philosophy that there are no boundaries in comedy, it’s not a philosophy shared by the majority of comedy fans.

A screenshot of a Twitter search on Winstead’s name further revealed just how upset people are.

In an effort to make amends, Winstead sent out numerous remorseful tweets regarding her tornado joke. The screenshot below shows Winstead tweeting out a message about how people can make donations to help the Oklahoma victims.

The tweeted joke about the Oklahoma tornado has since been removed. Feel free to tweet Lizz your thoughts @LizzWinstead.

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Michael Ian Black was probably among the first people I followed upon joining Twitter a couple years ago. I’d been a fan of his for a long time and his tweets were (and continue to be) incredibly hilarious, so it was a no-brainer.

The one thing I could never get him to do was respond to one of my tweets. No matter what I sent, no reply. Sometimes I would be in a Twittersation, his name would be put in, and he would respond to the other person and cut my handle out. Talk about chutzpah!

On this past New Year’s Eve, I decided to make one final effort. When tweeting my resolutions, one of them was, “Get Michael Ian Black to respond to a tweet.” Within seconds he tweeted back, “Cross one off your list.” Simple, to the point, and fucking brilliant!

So when I heard that Michael (I refuse to refer to him as “Ian Black”) had set off the Twitter Outrage Machine, I was ready to rush to his defense. No matter who he offended (the blacks,  the gays, the Josh Malina‘s) I would be Thelma to his Louise. I was prepared to go off the cliff with a person who had typed exactly five words to me in my entire life.

Then I saw the Tweet:

Really? He tweeted a beer endorsement? That’s what all the fuss was about? Had these people never been on Twitter before? It’s filthy, if you follow the right people anyway. And Michael can be one of the filthiest. This is a man who tweeted, “Gonna fuck your mom on Mother’s Day.” Plus, I think he actually may have!

I mean, look, I understand the overall debate about sponsor-generated content, especially when it comes to news organizations. And as a person who manages a website, I have declined offers of such material. This was only because they would have the ability to publish full-length articles on the site.

That’s apples and oranges, but while I am no Michael Ian Black, if Dos Equis or Arby’s wanted to pay me to put a banner ad on my site, or to tweet about the delicious new King Hawaiian Roast Beef sandwich with Swiss cheese, pickles, and creamy Dijon sauce, why not?

Now I would probably feel differently if a comedian who railed against conservatives ran a Tweet sponsored by the Tea Party. But it’s fucking beer. Without beer there wouldn’t be a comedy club in the whole damn country.

So if you’re all atwitter about Michael getting a few bucks for writing a hundred forty characters about Dos Equis, sign offline, slide on your Air Jordans, have a Coke, smile and calm down.

As for me, I’m gonna have a beer and send Michael some tweets, to which he will not respond.

Darren Staley is the host of Dylan Brody’s Neighbor’s Couch. Follow him on Twitter @Crobama.

Less than 24 hours after Louis C.K.’s HBO special “Oh My God,” the comedian is being condemned by various media outlets for a joke that implied gay men were pedophiles who enjoyed young children peeing on them.

Here’s the joke that has C.K. in hot water: What is it with fountains? Like, all fountain-sculptors are pedophiles, basically. You can’t get a fountain-made without — ‘Can you make me a fountain?’ [Response in stereotypical gay male's, sexually aroused voice:] ‘Yes, I’ll get started right away! Aaaaggh… AAGGGH, yes!!! YES!!! It’s fi-nished!’ And [the commissioned fountain] is just little boys pissing on the face of a Greek god that looks like him a lot? [again in stereotypical gay male's, sexually aroused voice, while mimicking standing under the fountain's boy]: ‘Ahhh, piss on me forever!!!

Some historical context: Gay men have been unfairly accused of being pedophiles for a long time now, an accusation that has no scientific basis or data to back it up. It is a completely false assumption for anyone to make.

One writer for the Daily Kos wrote, “While I have enjoyed his (C.K.’s) stand up comedy for years now, despite some cringe worthy moments from time to time, I have never felt compelled to stop watching any of his other routines or shows.  Perhaps I should have, but tonight he just went too far.”

“It doesn’t have any effect on your life. What do you care? People try to talk about it like it’s a social issue. Like when you see someone stand up on a talk show and say “How am I supposed to explain to my child that two men are getting married? I dunno, it’s your shitty kid, you fucking tell them. Why is that anyone else’s problem? Two guys are in love but they can’t get married because you don’t want to talk to your ugly child for fucking five minutes?”

Another writer unhappy with C.K.’s gay men/pedophile joke said, “As a longtime fan of C.K.’s work, including his hit FX sitcom, Louie, I eagerly tuned in, only to be profoundly disappointed by what appears to be a slur against gay men.”

You can watch a video clip of C.K. performing the “gay man/pedophile joke” here via Mediaite.

I’d like all of you to form two groups; one composed of the people who love Ricky Gervais and the other of the people who love Ricky Gervais. Yeah, you read that right. Who the hell hates Ricky Gervais?

So, as you might know how fantastic the man is, he’s also an extreme atheist. Don’t get me wrong, I may not share the same religious beliefs as him but anyone can drop their lives just to gravitate towards his Twitter page for some beautiful Easter spirit. He’s one man who you’d never see take a religious holiday.

Why don’t you join me in the marvelous exploration of some his tweets below? Gervais is clearly annoyed about the whole Christ-centric theme of these few days but he takes a more broad approach in criticizing the religious system.

Following those few tweets, Gervais received a lot of backlash from random tweeters. Though I think we can all agree that his most successful tweet about the bible is this one below. He’s pretty much captured every atheist’s feelings in 140 characters.

Gervais reinforces his beliefs in a response article he wrote for Wall Street Journal in April 2011. He also tweets out his favorite summation of his atheism:

Note: This isn’t in any way an endorsement or support article to any sort of religious beliefs. I’m just reporting a pre-existing controversial side of a multi-faceted comedian.

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For some, Joan Rivers is a trend setter and a favorite amongst controversial comics. Fans who like edgy comments and an entertainer who’s not afraid to go there will like Rivers’ style.

But this style eventually gets you in trouble with the masses, and Rivers’ latest mean joke about singer Adele has critics telling her to essentially shut up.

According to one news outlet, “Joan Rivers made several teasing remarks about Adele’s weight on Tuesday night’s (February 26) Late Show with David Letterman. Rivers began with a comment about Adele’s song ‘Rolling in the Deep,’ joking that the lyrics should be changed to “rolling in the deep fried chicken.”"

Comedian Adam Hill made a hilarious video response to Rivers’ comments, you can check them out in the above video.

What are your thoughts about Joan Rivers’ comments? Are you happy she’s still on TV doing her thing? Or is it time for her to go? Sometimes when you make mean joke, you should consider the popularity of your target.

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(Editor’s Note: This article was written by comedian Andre Small. Follow him on Twitter and see his latest stand-up videos on YouTube here!)

It seems that nowadays with the commodification of all artistic medians, shareholders have more say over content than the artist.

Nowadays, no one can truly express themselves without being judged and vilified from every angle. I as a comedian see this as a huge hindrance in the department of “funny.” With people who don’t really know “funny” being the ones who pay for “funny” it’s making the funny people unfunny.

Hypersensitivty

Neuroticism seems to ruin art. This has been a problem in comedy since the days of Lenny Bruce – then it kind of went away. But now, with the expansion of the Internet and people’s compunction to think someone actually cares about their opinion they write tweets or Facebook posts at the first sign on any controversy. Everyone gets offended as soon as you make a joke that isn’t of “Knock, Knock” quality. Where has people’s ability to take a joke disappeared to?

It’s the fault of people’s own ideologies. In this day and age, making jokes about religion can still bring the pitchforks out. Things like that baffle me. In a society where you have phones that can talk to you, we still have people who speak to the clouds for help. Why is joking about that wrong? Many comedians get in trouble for joking about topics like rape. I’ve heard hilarious rape jokes. I personally feel that it’s not the topic you’re joking about, it’s whether it’s funny or not. That’s what joking has always been about.

If your joke isn’t funny, then no one will laugh. If your joke is funny then people will. It’s that simple.

Many of us tie in our own sensibilities to every joke and if we get personally offended we go on crusades to tell everyone else to be offended. Tons of comedians have had to apologize for their material because someone got mad about what they said, and then raised hell with everyone else about getting mad.

All the Uproar

All the uproar over “controversial” topics is a subterfuge to keep people from questioning societal norms. Comedians were the only ones during the medieval times that could tell the king the truth about the crappy job they were doing through jokes. Now it seems our modern day kingdom doesn’t want to know the truth.

I love to write and have only recently stepped into the realm of comedy and I am witnessing the degeneration of such a beautiful art form. I used to want to do journalism, but American journalism has become extremely yellow. American journalism is a bunch of spin, so much so I’m dizzy. It seems comedy is going down a path of pandering to the crowds. A lot of comics have thrown out their more intelligent material for base jokes that can get them safe laughs. A lot of comics are very precautious in how they deliver jokes because they are afraid of offending the wrong self aggrandized blogger.

Let us know how you feel. Is the art of comedy in decay because of people’s sensibilities? Can society handle the truths expressed by comedians? Does joking about “controversial” topics break down societal barriers?

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There’s one name mentioned when I ask for comedy bits to review, and this particular title pops up so often and so frequently when I ask for recommendations that I just had to check it out.

As it turns out Chappelle’s Show, even though it has ended, is still ranked number one on message boards and top ten lists. With such praise flocking around it like a seagull after a cracker, I just had to see just what was so likable about this sketch comedy show.

The World of Chappelle

I didn’t know what I’d be diving into. Would I be plunging into something political or would I be weaving through racial jokes? After watching the entire first season, and the Rick James episode in season two, episode 4, I have to say that I dove into something that I could have never predicted.

Chappelle’s Show is a sketch comedy series which tackles universal themes. This became glaringly apparent within a few minutes of the first few episodes. From the home stenographer in episode two to the funniest play on race I’d ever seen – a black white supremacist in episode 1 – it was obvious that this show is for everyone… that is, until I reached episode 4.

In the beginning, Chappelle’s Show struck me as both cute and funny, mixing in real utter hilarity in some cleverly pitched sketches (evidenced by the black KKK leader at the end of episode 1). The next few episodes had the same air of funny about them. They made my belly jiggle like jelly, carrying me on a genuine ride of snorts and giggles. I was beginning to really like the show until the reason why I was laughing subtly changed.

Chappelle’s Show’s sketches, up until episode 4, were about situations, slightly twisted into awkward acting hilarity. This kept me laughing, and for the right reasons. I was laughing at weird situations and uncanny things everyone said. That singular reason was why I believed I was going to enjoy the entire season until a sketch in episode 4 changed my attitude towards the show.

Episode 4

This sketch is titled “The Real Life.” In this sketch, a white person enters a house full of black people. It was very funny in the way that it was presented but the reason why I was laughing was a huge put off.

“The Real Life”  involves the audience laughing at certain stereotypical things black people do or say. In this sketch, the black characters heavily play on negative stereotypes, such as not being able to control emotions, being obsessed with drugs, and an inability to take work seriously.

I wasn’t laughing at a clever comment anymore. I was laughing at how black characters on screen act, even if it was supposed to tell people to stop acting like stereotypes. I also felt like it drew too much attention to how the black characters negatively treated their white roommate and his white girlfriend.

I didn’t feel at one with the comedy laughing because a black woman was yelling at a white man for “Looking at me in dat’ way.” The reason why I was laughing wasn’t clear to me and this made me dislike the show. When skits like that came up, I didn’t understand what I should be laughing at. Should I be laughing at the fact that these black characters do and say stereotypical things even though they are not supposed to? Or should I be laughing because these are so stereotypical that I know black people would never ever act this way?

This wasn’t clear at all to me, in this skit or future racial skits.

Chappelle’s Uncomfortable Take on Race

As more and more racial skits kept popping up I began to examine why Dave Chappelle did them. Obviously there are stereotypes about black people. I felt that Chappelle was drawing attention to many black stereotypes, directing them at black people, and saying, “See how you act? STOP IT!”

This is why I didn’t feel comfortable laughing because instead of making stereotypes decrease, it seems to have led to an increase. I know that Dave is comfortable with saying that people who act like stereotypes are idiots, but by laughing, I feel as if I’m saying, “Black people seriously act like this? Wow this IS DUMB! Black people are dumb after all!” And to me, that’s just wrong and not something I truly feel.

There were some genuinely funny sketches in all 15 episodes that didn’t draw attention to just race, which I liked a lot more

The trouble with the show for me is that there are too many skits about black characters where I had to laugh at stereotypes. It wasn’t without its good, well-deserved funny skits about miscommunication, and various other nonracial jokes but these were shot down by the most popular skit of all and by far the most offensive to black celebrity stereotypes.

I’m Rick James, Bitch

The most popular sketch in Chappelle’s Show is the Rick James sketch. It has grown into an icon of the Chappelle’s Show. Given the notion that every time I talk about Chappelle’s Show, I hear “I’m Rick James, bitch!” uttered by avid fans of the show. Since I didn’t see it in season one I figured that I’d watch this special episode.

The sketch features two friends who get in a tit for tat session, Charlie Murphy and Rick James. Rick loves drugs, and is very loud – the walking stereotype of a black celebrity which again made me uncomfortable.

The humor nestled in the specific “black” things Rick James does was shoved in my face so hard I stopped enjoying the skit. The skit wasn’t funny to me even though Dave Chappelle is saying, “this is how some black people are, and it needs to stop because you look stupid.” I commend Dave Chappelle for making such a bold statement but I believe that the message was too clever to be comedy.

Conclusion

Chappelle’s Show is funny, yes, but with so many messages hidden within the laughter I just feel that it was too clever to just sit back and laugh at. While funny at times I believe that the popular sketch memorabilia shouldn’t have even been displayed in this manner. It could have done much better things with its wisdom. It’s a shame that it didn’t.

Robert Kingett is AmericasComedy.Com’s Chief Gay Blind Writer Correspondent and is in charge of all the other gay, blind writers at this website. Follow him on Twitter @rkingett and read his blog here!

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On the heels of a news report that just so happened to out a gay former 49ers football player, comedian Artie Lange asked a simple question to current 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver during Super Bowl media week: Are gays welcome on the team?

Culliver responded negatively, saying, ”I don’t do the gay guys man. I don’t do that. Ain’t got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff.”

Culliver then told Artie that if a player is gay, he should come out 10 years after he’s done playing.

Obviously the story made huge news with the Super Bowl just around the corner. On Saturday, Feb. 2, Artie did an interview with  USA Today. Regarding the controversy he said, “When I asked the question (about accepting a teammate who was gay) I was just joking around, and then he wouldn’t stop talking. I said to myself, ‘I gotta play this tape but he’s a young kid and doesn’t know any better.’”

Lange was very insightful in his analysis soon after the interview with Culliver happened. While speaking on The Artie Lange Show he said, ”This is an issue I find fascinating about the NFL. No matter how politically correct the world gets, the NFL – and certain cultures – will always be homophobic in my eyes. And these guys don’t even care about getting in trouble.”

Check out Artie below speaking soon after his interview with Culliver and let us know your thoughts about Culliver’s statements.

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Jeff Ross dressed as Joe Paterno, flanked by two “young” football players in only towels & helmets (don’t worry, they’re both 27 year old comedy writers),  set the tone for the rest of the Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne.

That is, if the tone was “Jeff Ross really is the master of this roast.”  By all accounts, the Roast of Roseanne  was a more collegial affair than the recent roasts of celebrities like Donald Trump, Pamela Anderson and last year’s blockbuster edition targeting Charlie Sheen.   The dais housed roasters Carrie Fisher, Ellen Barkin, Wayne Brady, Katey Sagal, Seth Green,  Gilbert Gottfried,  Anthony Jeselnik, Amy Schumer, “surprise” guest Tom Arnold and Roastmaster Jane Lynch.  But it’s Ross who’s getting all the attention in the lead up to the August 12 airing.

Like Amy Schumer’s controversial Ryan Dunn joke last year, it’s Jeff Ross’ “too soon?” joke that’s struck a chord.  TMZ reports that the joke at Seth Green’s expense, referencing the recent shooting at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, will be edited out of the broadcast.  But you have to imagine that for every executive tugging nervously at his necktie, wondering how many people in Kansas will complain to sponsors that Ross has gone too far, there’s two more high-fiving each other for the great publicity leading up to a roast without the train wreck factor that Sheen brought.

The attention will likely also give a boost to two other Jeff Ross vehicles airing on Comedy Central next week - Jeff Ross Roasts America and The Burn.  Jeff Ross Roasts America premiers August 11 and is a stand-up special compiled from Ross’ spring/summer nationwide stand-up tour that featured custom jabs at each city he visited and a “speed roasting” segment where audience members volunteered to face the wrath of Ross.  The Burn is a new weekly series, premiering August 14, that features host Jeff Ross skewering the week’s events solo in his opening monologue then with the help of a panel of comedians, along with pre-taped segments featuring Ross making fun of of folks like parking enforcement and flea marketers.  Both shows bank on the popularity of Ross as a professional meany who dances gleefully across “the line” so it seems like the perfect time for him to trade in that old Colonel Qaddafi outfit for a disgraced coach’s whistle.

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During this week’s Olympic broadcast, NBC edited out a tribute to the July 2005 bombings of the London underground to air a segment of Ryan Seacrest interviewing Michael Phelps. Understandably, the viewing public regards this as bonehead move.

The folks at The Daily Show are among the large majority of viewers who are outraged by the decision. On Monday night’s episode of The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart exclaims,  “NBC – the network that, to commemorate 9/11, actually re-runs 9/11.  You wouldn’t air a six-minute tribute to the rest of the world’s terrorist victims? Because the world’s most overexposed land-based mammal had a chance to speak to the world’s most overexposed water-based mammal?”

Stewart also responds to NBC’s defense that they tailor their programming for an American audience by joking about their recent line up. Among the shows that Stewart jests are not what American audiences want to see are Harry’s Law and Smash. Stewart calls out his own “slam” to the network saying, “You’re NBC, you don’t know how to tailor television for an American audience!”

What are your thoughts? Do you think that NBC made the wrong decision?

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