"in my opinion, the fact that you abhor such vile comments needs to be explicitly indicated afterwards."

I disagree for two reasons.

1, because if you read my "smokey" post in its entirety with the full context included it is very clear not only that I do not agree with those comments but that I hold a disparaging view of them - hence the satirical slant.

2, because if I were a satirist I would not want to underestimate the intelligence of my audience. Explaining it in the way you suggest would be like explaining a joke ...

    "what's black and white and red all over ... a newspaper ... you see a newspaper is printed in black and white, but it is 'read' all over so I've played a word game with the words 'red' and 'read'"

Can you imagine if a stand up comic did that after every joke? - He might satirize the idea as I just have but if he did it in all seriousness he would be as much fun to go and watch as a sleeping accountant.

Tommy Tiernan is a satirist - when you go to see him you expect satire - he should feel no obligation to explain, after each satirical observation that it was a satirical observation. The fact that he is a satirist and puts on shows featuring satire is enough of a clue that his comments on stage are likely to be satirical ones.

It is loosely comparable to going to see a singer live and expecting the artist to explain that he has just sung you a song.


But most importantly, just because you don't think a joke isn't funny it doesn't follow that it's offensive.

You may not have found my satirical slur against smokey funny, but all that says is that I am not a very good satirist and also that you don't see whats so funny about it.

That has nothing to do with whether or not my comments are offensive.

I don't expect anyone to find my version funny.

I do expect you to acknowledge 100% that there is categorically nothing for me to apologize for or any need for me to clarify my actual view any further.


It is important to be clear about what constitutes racism, and satire that lampoons racism does not fall into that category.