If every BCG member was asked "What's the most offensive joke you've ever heard?" I'd be prepared to bet that nobody could come up anything to beat the one recently told by Jimmy Carr on his current tour.
I'm not going to quote it because even I wouldn't put it into words on this forum - so that gives you an idea of how bad it is!
All I'll say is that it concerns people of restricted growth.
As ever, Google is your friend.
I think it was something like "Dwarves are abortions that survived" which might also be described as a paradox, so can't possibly be true.
Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 21st June 2019, 4:08 PMI think it was something like "Dwarves are abortions that survived" which might also be described as a paradox, so can't possibly be true.
You're close, Paul.
It was "made it" rather than "survived" and that difference is colossally important, comedically speaking.
Either way, it was an appallingly distasteful thing to say but the way Jimmy phrased it proves what a stunningly talented comedian he is.
I could explain (at considerable length) why that is but there are one or two BCG members who wouldn't welcome the explanation and would interpret it as my condoning the telling of the joke. Believe me, I don't condone it.
I'd love to know how the audience reacted to it: it's the sort of joke that might well provoke a mass walkout in many venues unless, of course, the audience can't walk out because they've fainted!
Bloody Hell, Jimmy - what the hell were you thinking? 
Jimmy can be near the knuckle but I think even his fans would have been shocked and surprised he said it. It's not very well thought out which is not like Jimmy so maybe it was spur of the moment instead of a planned gag.
I forget which tour it was but Frankie Boyle is talking about Jade Goody an he makes a very crude joke about Jade and her illness affecting her genitals. That's as descriptive as I want to get. I was never keen on Jade but I don't like jokes about the deceased.
I don't actually get offended by anything. I firmly believe that offence isn't given, it's taken. If you don't take offence, nobody can offend you.
I believe the most offensive joke in the Universe begins "Mark and Aaron entered a brothel when..."
Surely if you don't overstep the mark now and then you're not pushing the boundaries of comedy ? Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle fly closer to the sun than most. That's testament to their skill. They're also very popular on TV. We know those two have X rated humour, so people can easily be not offended if they so wish.
Some of the very best comedy offends people: the question is whether or not those people deserve to be offended. Some certainly do but, on the other hand, others certainly don't.
I've always taken a dim view of Jade Goody (more so after the Shilpa Shetty incident): nobody is ever going to offend me with a joke aimed at her, no matter how distasteful it might be. The more the merrier, I say.
Likewise, a comedic H-bomb dropped on the head of Katie Price isn't going to offend me. Again, the more the merrier.
However, a dreadfully cruel joke aimed at an entirely inoffensive yet vulnerable person (or group of people) is an entirely different matter.
Frankie Boyle's jokes about Rebecca Adlington would have been absolutely brilliant if she were a thoroughly nasty piece of work. The problem, however, is that she seems to be a very nice person who has never done anybody any harm. I have to say, therefore, that Frankie went way over the line on that occasion. His disregard for that innocent woman's feelings was verging on psychopathy.
Similarly, Jimmy Carr's joke about midgets was spectacularly ill-judged and almost unbelievably cruel. In Britain, there are approximately 6000 people of restricted growth - absolutely none of whom deserves to be ridiculed. As soon as I read about the joke, my mind went immediately to one particular celebrity who gives every impression of being an exceptionally nice man. He also has a wife and family who are similarly affected by restricted growth.
Even now, several days after the event I can hardly believe Jimmy said what he did, even though I know he did. 
You make a fair point Rood. Those two jokes were mistakes. But if entertainment isn't allow to make mistakes, everyone would play it safe, imagine how bland it would become.
So you can only be offensive to people you don't like - not ones you do.
There were at least two times I hated myself for laughing but couldn't help it - Jack Dee on The Elephant Man (Paramount City) and Andrew Dice Clay on homosexuals.
I've lost all interest in whether I offend people because if you start worrying about how each individual may react, you'll never have the guts to get on stage again. Remember: For every person who hates you, there's someone else who hates you.
PS This attitude has got me chucked out of almost every venue in town, even Open Mic, including the Open Mic I jointly set up myself. Result!
Chubby Brown, possibly the most offensive comedian of his time packed every venue out to standing room only.
I take from that, that a lot of people like offensive material - they pay money to hear it.
So we have a minority of complainers shouting the loudest... Such is life these days.
Stewart Lee I think has the best line on this. It's a lot to do with the status of the comic. Boyle makes derisory jokes from his pedestal of wealth and power. Jerry Sadowitz, arguably the most offensive comic in the world, makes utterly vile jokes but from the status of being below everybody punching up.
And as it happens, if a joke's funny I don't really care who it's aimed at. What's everybody's opinion on the latest debacle with Jimmy Carr? He made a joke about people with dwarfism. What I found interesting was a fellow comic attacked him for it, Tanyalee Davis, who has dwarfism, called for him to drop the joke from his set.
Quote: Sitcomfan64 @ 22nd June 2019, 8:41 PMHe made a joke about people with dwarfism.
Sitcomfan - you're an absolute master of understatement! 
He didn't just make a joke about dwarfs: he made a stunningly offensive joke about dwarfs.
Worse than that even: he made the most offensive joke I have ever heard in my life, regardless of subject matter. I'm pretty confident many millions of people in Britain feel exactly the same way.
However, let me be clear: the joke doesn't offend me personally and I'm most certainly not offended on behalf of the dwarf community. When I heard the joke, my immediate thought was about the thousands of perfectly innocent people (most of whom have never been to a Jimmy Carr gig) who would be seriously hurt and saddened when they read about that joke in their morning newspapers. I'm talking primarily about dwarfs and their friends and families. My heart (to the extent that such a thing exists) went out to them.
Quote: Sitcomfan64 @ 22nd June 2019, 8:41 PMWhat I found interesting was a fellow comic attacked him for it, Tanyalee Davis, who has dwarfism, called for him to drop the joke from his set.
I'm not at all surprised it had that effect on Tanyalee. I think it probably had a similar effect on tens of millions of other people too - comedians and non-comedians.
You know how much I deplore the PC Brigade but this joke isn't a matter for the "brigade": it's a matter for everyone in Britain who wants to see innocent people protected from vicious attacks - comedic or otherwise.
He has to drop it from his set.
I'd also advise him to apologise for it and to make a substantial donation to a suitable charity.
I always laugh when people go to see Dice and say they're offended. If you're easily offended, go watch Bambi. It's like watching a porno and saying, What a disappointment: no plot or characterisation or message...
Check out Jerry Sadowitz. Or rather, don't. He makes Jimmy Carr look like a Tellytubbie.