Comedian charged: Not funny

Sat, 15 July 2006, 10:13 pm

Maybe it's an east-west thing, but something is lost in the translation for me in the reported charging of ABC Chaser's comedian Chas Licciardello.

As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald and on the ABC's own website, The Chaser's War on Everything funny man Licciardello has been charged with "offensive conduct" for filming a prank in which he tried to sell a "Bulldog's supporters kit" that included a balaclava and fake knuckle dusters. The Herald's report noted that "crowd violence when the two teams met earlier this year sparked a crack down on anti-social behaviour at Bulldogs games, with NSW police deploying its riot squad to all their games since."

Apparently NSW Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Denis Clifford described Chas Licciardello's actions as disgraceful and said they were "clearly an act of mindless stupidity that had the potential to stir up the large crowd and cause serious problems".

Erm... a comedian, quite appropriately, pokes fun at the appalling and disgraceful behaviour of some rugby fans that apparently need a police riot squad to keep them in line and the comedian is accused of mindless stupidity?

Yes, maybe he is stupid. I expect he was lucky one of the supporters didn't deck him. But whose at fault here? If he was flattened by a Bulldog's supporter, would the supporter have been able to claim he was provoked???

The NSW Premier said Chaser "overstepped the bounds of taste and certainly descended into grossly irresponsible behaviour".

The impacts of recent anti-terror legislation on performing artists has been discussed elsewhere on this website. Other law is obviously coming into play here. In this case though, who is the law protecting?

I'll watch the outcome of the case with interest.

Cheers
Grant

"Sounding like yet another

Fri, 4 Aug 2006, 01:57 pm

trevnosh

"Sounding like yet another whining lefty"? What do you mean, "sounding like"? Like all whining lefties you are under a misapprehension as to the nature of "justice". I too used to work at a community legal centre, where matters were predetermined, on ideological grounds, prior to any dispute resolution being undertaken. The tenant is always a 'victim' of the landlord, an Aboriginal is always a 'victim' of racist attitudes, pick your favourite minority group and demonise their polar opposite ad nauseum. "Justice" is not a consciousness raising exercise or a presumptive social engineering project to be pursued by idealistic know it alls in opposition to what the majority may have voted for. Justice in this sense (i.e., as a result) diminishes the capacity of an individual to make any kind of choice, however unwise. "Justice" is one of those fluffy motherhood concepts into which people pour their own moral and political priorities. True justice is not the outcome but the PROCESS by which an outcome is reached (e.g., was the person afforded an opportunity to rebut evidence etc.)

Thread (32 posts)

Threaded Flat

Comedian charged: Not funny— Grant Malcolm15 July 2006

Yes it was stupid of this— melody16 July 2006
- oh dear.....— Walter Plinge18 July 2006
  - oh so does that mean you're— melody21 July 2006
    - Well, seeing as you asked— Walter Plinge23 July 2006
    - no:-)— Walter Plinge26 July 2006
i fucken luuurve the chaser— Walter Plinge20 July 2006
- Oh dear god....again...— Walter Plinge26 July 2006
  - Vindication so sweet— Labrug26 July 2006
Dumb and dumber?— Walter Plinge24 July 2006
As a satirical gesture— Logos24 July 2006
- more to a story— Walter Plinge26 July 2006
"Wha' happen??"— Bass Guy25 July 2006
- What about the great Leunig— Na25 July 2006
  - Ergo... what, precisely?— Bass Guy25 July 2006
    - They had no right to take— Na25 July 2006
- lawyerish?— Walter Plinge26 July 2006
I notice that someone— Logos25 July 2006
- Not noticing...— Grant Malcolm25 July 2006
And we wonder why we end up— Walter Plinge25 July 2006
that show is hilarious! i— melody26 July 2006
Bad Money chases out good— Logos26 July 2006
- Defending the indefensible?— Grant Malcolm26 July 2006
OK you got me— Logos26 July 2006
- I too believe we should get rid of the legal profession— Walter Plinge27 July 2006
  - "Sounding like yet another— trevnosh4 Aug 2006
It's your profession that— Logos27 July 2006
- your confusing parliament and lawyers there I think— Craig K Edwards27 July 2006
Whatever your opinion of the show- aren't you worried?— Neville Talbot28 July 2006
Wow— Walter Plinge28 July 2006
At the end of the day, what— daindobro18 Aug 2006
Recent update— Labrug29 Aug 2006

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