Rowan Atkinson Says Comedy’s Job Is to Offend and That Can’t Be Stopped: ‘Every Joke Has a Victim’
variety.comZack Sharf Rowan Atkinson took a stand against “cancel culture” in a recent interview with the Irish Times, sharing his belief that the goal of comedy is to offend or at least to have the potential to offend.
The English comedian is famous for playing the title characters on sitcoms “Blackadder,” “Mr. Bean” and “Johnny English.” Atkinson next joins Netflix for the comedy series “Man vs.
Bee.”“It does seem to me that the job of comedy is to offend, or have the potential to offend, and it cannot be drained of that potential,” Atkinson said of “cancel culture.” “Every joke has a victim.
That’s the definition of a joke. Someone or something or an idea is made to look ridiculous.”When asked if comedy should only kick down authority figures and not target those without power, Atkinson responded, “I think you’ve got to be very, very careful about saying what you’re allowed to make jokes about.
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