Bernard Manning RIP

Of course it is very easy to like him if you are a white, male, straight and able bodied individual. What it would be like to be non of that list and watching him would be different I imagine.

So what you're saying is that you're only offended by racism if you're of a different race, or homophobia if you're gay.

Two black guys on a bus (cut)
two lesbians walking down the road (cut)
two Jews in a restaurant (cut)
two white men on a train


That sounds incredible. Bolt yourself down , I'll make you laugh some more -

Two women in a car,
three Asians on a skateboard,
five blind men in a lift.

[/QUOTE]'Doctor, if I convert to being a Muslim, will I live longer'?[/QUOTE]

I see what you mean now, the notion that all Asians are muslims, f***ing hell, that's revalatory. I'm now converted,

Looks like we've found the lowest common denominator people. I'll laugh at anything as long as it's funny, it's just that what he came out with was less sophisticated than the kids in the playground at primary school.

If you are a racist then that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion, however at least have the courage of your convictions and come out and say it rather than hiding behind a man using jokes out of Christmas crackers with the word "c***" on the end of them.
 
CharethCutestory said:
Of course it is very easy to like him if you are a white, male, straight and able bodied individual. What it would be like to be non of that list and watching him would be different I imagine.

So what you're saying is that you're only offended by racism if you're of a different race, or homophobia if you're gay.

Two black guys on a bus (cut)
two lesbians walking down the road (cut)
two Jews in a restaurant (cut)
two white men on a train


That sounds incredible. Bolt yourself down , I'll make you laugh some more -

Two women in a car,
three Asians on a skateboard,
five blind men in a lift.

'Doctor, if I convert to being a Muslim, will I live longer'?

I see what you mean now, the notion that all Asians are muslims, f***ing hell, that's revalatory. I'm now converted,

Looks like we've found the lowest common denominator people. I'll laugh at anything as long as it's funny, it's just that what he came out with was less sophisticated than the kids in the playground at primary school.

If you are a racist then that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion, however at least have the courage of your convictions and come out and say it rather than hiding behind a man using jokes out of Christmas crackers with the word "c***" on the end of them.
Click to expand...

Whilst I agree with the sentiments behind your comments I find your outraged presentation somewhat ridiculous
It's this kind of dismissive ridicule that people like Manning fed off.
In fact, it's also the kind of attitude that Brass Eye satirised to perfection.

All you succeed in doing is raising the desire to hit back at you.
Which means your point of view is lost. Only the memory of your anger lingers.
 
This is a Bernard Manning joke, by saying, "Oh yes, it's bad, but it's funny" you're endorsing opinions like this -

A black bloke walks into a bar with a parrot on his shoulder.
'Where'd you get that then?' said the barman'
'Oh, you can find them all over the jungle' said the parrot.

You should be ashamed of yourself.
 
Helen Bach said:
Whilst I agree with the sentiments behind your comments I find your outraged presentation somewhat ridiculous
It's this kind of dismissive ridicule that people like Manning fed off.
In fact, it's also the kind of attitude that Brass Eye satirised to perfection.

All you succeed in doing is raising the desire to hit back at you.
Which means your point of view is lost. Only the memory of your anger lingers.
Click to expand...

You don't half talk some shit dear.
 
"Manning courted controversy because he was one of the few English comedians whose act often contained views which were commonly aired in the United Kingdom during the 1970s"..... and they just stayed there, stuck in the 70s!
 
Ben Chill said:
I have spent my life arguing against racism and other isms.
As a younger man growing up in Wythenshawe I often found myself in heated debates in the pub or at work, telling anyone who would listen how comedy was always used as a weapon to belittle and undermine races in order to exploit them.
I saw Bernard Manning as an ignorant man who simply didn't understand that he was continuing an evil tradition that had the blood of millions of people on its hands.
History proves that if you can show your enemy to be less than human, to be foolish, uneducated, simple, stupid, unclean, backward or money-grabbing then treating them badly will be excused by 'your own people' who are always desperate for a reason to feel superior or better about themselves.

No matter how much unemployment, bad housing, poverty and sickness prevailed amongst, in my case, the white English working class, they could always comfort themselves with the thought that at least they weren't a 'stupid thick Paddy' or a 'smelly Paki' or a 'tight-fisted Jew' etc.
And comedians like Bernard made this kind of twisted thinking acceptable.
How often were we told that 'it's only a joke' or 'it's not meant in a bad way'?
That's fine so long as it's not your child that's being spat at in school (this continues as I found out recently), or your father that's refused a job or your mother or sister that is abused in the street or in a shop.

As true as all this is I have to admit that I think Bernard Manning was a comedic genius. I worked at Manchester Airport in the very early eighties and would often get free admission to The Golden Garter nightclub after doing a late shift at the airport.
Anybody that knows about this club will tell you about the top class cabaret entertainment that appeared there.
One night the turn was Bernard Manning.
It was my intention to keep a straight face during his performance and keep mental notes of specific racist remarks he would make in order to confront my pals with it the following day.
But after a couple of minutes I was nearly rolling on the floor with laughter.
All the racism and cruel attacks on people were hilarious. In fact part of the fun was knowing how wrong it was.

So, for me Bernard was a real problem. I know about the power of racist humour and how it was/is used for evil.
I can argue all night long about the part racist humour played in the conflict between Ireland and England, Germany and the Jews, Africa and Europe, etc., etc.
But I also have to agree that Bernard Manning was probably the funniest man I have ever seen.
It's just a shame that he chose the wrong subject matter.

A flawed genius?
I know a few of them.
Click to expand...

^^^This^^^

I went to the Embassy some years ago as part of some Manchester & region Textile do, I thought I was going to hate it, despise it even, but I didn't, it was one of the best nights of entertainment I've ever had. Did I feel bad about that? Yes I did, but it was very funny. Did I feel bad about feeling bad? Yes I did.

Peter
 
Uncleskinny said:
^^^This^^^

I went to the Embassy some years ago as part of some Manchester & region Textile do, I thought I was going to hate it, despise it even, but I didn't, it was one of the best nights of entertainment I've ever had. Did I feel bad about that? Yes I did, but it was very funny. Did I feel bad about feeling bad? Yes I did.

Peter
Click to expand...

I think that's the thing, I don't have a problem with laughing at anything..... as long as it's funny, for me Bernard Manning wasn't I thought his jokes were predictable and his timing was atrocious. It's interesting that it's still just about ok to laugh at racism, but other topics are to sensitive. To my mind, it's all or nothing, you can't have it both was.
 
Uncleskinny said:
^^^This^^^

I went to the Embassy some years ago as part of some Manchester & region Textile do, I thought I was going to hate it, despise it even, but I didn't, it was one of the best nights of entertainment I've ever had. Did I feel bad about that? Yes I did, but it was very funny. Did I feel bad about feeling bad? Yes I did.

Peter
Click to expand...

because you wasn't a 'target' for his jokes or humour, it felt safe for you and it feels like a confession to say you felt bad about it!
 
CharethCutestory said:
I think that's the thing, I don't have a problem with laughing at anything..... as long as it's funny, for me Bernard Manning wasn't I thought his jokes were predictable and his timing was atrocious. It's interesting that it's still just about ok to laugh at racism, but other topics are to sensitive. To my mind, it's all or nothing, you can't have it both was.
Click to expand...

Contradicting yourself, m'dear.

And what a pity that you never got to give Bernard your tips on timing. I'm sure he would have had much more success if only fate had brought you together.
You could've learned him a thing or two about comedy.
 
the more you explore me! said:
because you wasn't a 'target' for his jokes or humour, it felt safe for you and it feels like a confession to say you felt bad about it!
Click to expand...

All true. There was a story in the local (Bradford) paper about some do at the Midland Hotel a few years ago when he had a go at a black waitress. I was appalled at that. There's no denying that as a white native Englishman I feel very uncomfortable about his humour, and at the same time knowing I would be less of a target, it's true. I'm not defending him, but he was genuinely funny. He just picked his targets as easy targets, because that's what was easy. It's very uncomfortable for me to say I found him funny, because some of his target material is at odds with my beliefs and values. I felt the same uncomfortableness watching the Borat movie.

Peter
 
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