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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 6:03 pm Post subject: B.C. comedians feeling chill of human-rights case |
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A discrimination complaint before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has cast a chill over stand-up comics in the Lower Mainland, a comedy club manager says.
Comedian Guy Earle stands accused of firing homophobic slurs at a woman who was heckling him during a May 2007 show Earle hosted at Zesty's Restaurant on Commercial Drive in Vancouver.
Lorna Pardy alleges the comedian, the restaurant and the restaurant's owner violated the B.C. Human Rights Code when she and her same-sex partner became the subject of a tirade of homophobic comments launched by Earle, according to lawyer Devyn Cousineau.
The comic's lawyers say it was all part of the act and is protected by freedom of expression guarantees in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
James Lickers, a manager at Lafflines comedy club in New Westminster, said that ever since the Earle case resurfaced, comedians he's booking have been unusually mild-mannered.
"They've very, ahhhh, they're very hesitant" when dealing with hecklers, Lickers said.
"I go out and I frequent rooms in the city because that's how I find my talent. And I would say that people who are performing in rooms on a regular basis are a little bit more careful about their interaction with the crowd.
"I know that comics who have usually taken an antagonistic approach with the crowd are a little bit more � they sugar-coat their words now."
The tribunal, which is expected to deliver its ruling Friday, is the sole agency responsible for enforcing the B.C. Human Rights Code, which applies to all provincial and municipal government institutions, private businesses, credit unions, non-profits, rental accommodations and real estate transactions.
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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/04/04/bc-comedian-rights-tribunal.html#ixzz0mkFj8aMv
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The British Columbia �Human Rights� Tribunal, under the same commissar who presided over a lengthy analysis of the �tone� of my own jokes, is currently trying stand-up comedian Guy Earle for his allegedly �homophobic� put-down of a heckler. Mr. Earle isn�t a right-wing hater like me and Miss Coulter. Until he fell afoul of his Sapphic heckler, he appears to have held conventionally Trudeaupian views. Left to his own devices, he would be more likely to essay an anti-Bush gag than one of Miss Coulter�s camel jests. But he�s wound up in court anyway, having lost three years of his life and facing $20,000 in punitive damages for a remark he made in the course of a stage act for which he received a $50 bar tab. The B.C. Supreme Court advised the tribunal against proceeding with their show trial on the grounds that it was not clear they had jurisdiction. So the tribunal went ahead anyway. Susan Cole�s Canada doesn�t �work� for Guy Earle. In fact, it�s destroyed him. �You better hope and pray that you aren�t next,� he writes. �And yet no one cares.�
Very true. Canada is now a land that prosecutes comedians for their jokes. You�d think that Mr. Earle�s fellow comics might be a little disturbed about where this leads. Yet the fellows who pride themselves on their �edgy,� �transgressive� comedy are remarkably silent on what�s happening in Vancouver. |
http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/04/08/true-north-strong-not-free/
Will the total state be placing O'Brien in stand up clubs around the country? |
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rollo
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: China
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| Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| i READ ABOUT THIS. He was very rude and his language waS way overboard. she could have left but stayed. Now She claims post traumatic streSs disorder. She threw two drinks in hiS face, apparently from witnesses, he deserved that. bUT THIS IS JUST WILD. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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| rollo wrote: |
| i READ ABOUT THIS. He was very rude and his language waS way overboard. she could have left but stayed. Now She claims post traumatic streSs disorder. She threw two drinks in hiS face, apparently from witnesses, he deserved that. bUT THIS IS JUST WILD. |
Who cares what he said? He's a comedian. Comedians say outrageous things. That's more or less their social purpose: to push the boundaries. If she can't cope with that, she shouldn't go to comedy shows. Pathetic little worms like this woman and the politicians that cater to her kind are doing inestimable damage to Western society. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 1:30 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| rollo wrote: |
| i READ ABOUT THIS. He was very rude and his language waS way overboard. she could have left but stayed. Now She claims post traumatic streSs disorder. She threw two drinks in hiS face, apparently from witnesses, he deserved that. bUT THIS IS JUST WILD. |
Who cares what he said? He's a comedian. Comedians say outrageous things. That's more or less their social purpose: to push the boundaries. If she can't cope with that, she shouldn't go to comedy shows. Pathetic little worms like this woman and the politicians that cater to her kind are doing inestimable damage to Western society. |
Well, I wouldn't exactly say that yelling homophobic slurs qualifies as "pushing the boundaries", given that up until quite recently, and still to some extent, homophobic slurs were generally considered socially acceptable. I remember going to see a comic in the late 80s, and he did a parody of the Beverly Hillbillies song that went...
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Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed
San Francisco fagg, made his money givin' head |
You can pretty much imagine the rest.
But yeah, it's hard to feel too sorry for this woman, since comedians are known to be in the business of provoking offense, if not actually pushing boundaries. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 1:46 am Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Well, I wouldn't exactly say that yelling homophobic slurs qualifies as "pushing the boundaries", given that up until quite recently, and still to some extent, homophobic slurs were generally considered socially acceptable. |
Actually right now, I would say any statement like this (especially in Canada) could very reasonably be construed as pushing the boundaries. The social convention against this kind of statement has become very intense, as we can see with how he was treated. Sure, these social boundaries crept up on us pretty quickly, but I don't feel that makes them less real.
Mind you, I don't think he said it as part of his act (though he claims he did), but the point remains that anyone who goes to a comedy show should be reasonably aware they might hear some things that they find shocking, disagreeable, or offensive.
This seems to me like a far, far greater injustice than taking the fingerprints of foreigners visiting Canada. This man is essentially being sacrifice on the altar of identity politics, and it's horrible. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 1:59 am Post subject: |
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| I wonder if we'd feel any different if they were racial slurs? |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 2:03 am Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| I wonder if we'd feel any different if they were racial slurs? |
Probably depends how it was delivered. Don Rickles could probably get away with race-baiting a heckler, since anyone who goes to a Don Rickles show knows what to expect. Michael Richards not so much. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| I wonder if we'd feel any different if they were racial slurs? |
When Michael Richards started shouting racist slurs against the guys who were heckling him, I remember thinking his lack of composure was embarassing (especially since his rant seemed genuinely supremacist in nature) but I certainly would never support him being arrested over it. The social consequences are more than sufficient. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 8:05 am Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| I wonder if we'd feel any different if they were racial slurs? |
The state can not police civility and feelings. That is not a slippery slope. It is absolutely tyrannical and uncivilized.
The HRC's must die. They won't. They're a government parasite now. |
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TECO
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 2:32 am Post subject: |
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| rollo wrote: |
| i READ ABOUT THIS. He was very rude and his language waS way overboard. she could have left but stayed. Now She claims post traumatic streSs disorder. She threw two drinks in hiS face, apparently from witnesses, he deserved that. bUT THIS IS JUST WILD. |
When I was back home a few months ago, I heard him do an interview on CBC Radio. He claims that the victim was pretty aggressive and hostile, and she did throw a drink in his face. He then said he grabbed her glasses and threw them on the floor and stepped on them -aha! She tried to punch him or shoved him and then it was broken up. Now she claims that she has nightmares and has suffered trauma, etc., from his comments. |
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