Pranks Going Too Far?

I'm a comedian, so I'm a big fan of jokes...let that be said on the record. But I saw this image to the right and was a bit taken aback. What you're seeing is a mostly naked Sacha Baren Cohen taking a dive into Eminem's lap and basically forcing a "69" position on him out of nowhere.

Apparently the white rapper was infuriated and stormed out of the MTV movie awards. On a personal note, I happen to think there are plenty of reasons to storm out of the MTV movie awards....the main one being that you're at the MTV movie awards.

Anyway, so this royal prankster descends from the rafters, fakes an entanglement so that he ends up inverted, and then takes a nose dive into Eminem's crotch...all the while wearing a thong. Really? Force feeding your junk on some other dude's face in the middle of a huge high-profile crowd? Eminem was pissed and rightfully so. There's quality pranks that get everyone laughing, and then there's just blatant lewdness and line-crossing. If you want to be a jackass and take the stage in a thong because that's all you can think of to be funny....that's one thing, but to force your junk on another man's face? That's a splendid way to get your ass kicked in a hurry!

Sacha Baron Cohen is a fine actor and has a gift for comedy, for sure. But my respect for him is plummeting because it seems that lewdness is all he can do. He's clearly in the market to shock. And anyone who makes a career out of shocking others horrendously (and most of the time, this shocking is done with offense) has a lucent insecurity that needs fixing. I'm reminded of a scene in Borat about the meek family who owned the antique shop, and his character performed a series of ridiculous falls and he bascially trashed this couple's store. All for what? A hardy chuckle? That was their living and he basically trashed it in order to give us a glimpse into his soul.

In the world of comedy, I fear we're navigating toward a mentality that says "everything is funny, no matter what!" This is ridiculous. Not everything is funny. Purposeful humor requires thought and intellectual talent. If you can't be funny and draw positive attention without crossing over into some innocent person's territory and using that as currency to buy your laugh, then you're not really funny, you're not offering anything...you're just an asshole who wasn't hugged enough growing up. Think harder.