February 1, 2008

Comedy, Yes; 'Cheap Laughs,' No

To the Editor:

Many thanks to Thomas Bartlett for his article about the New Jersey Comedy Festival ("Funny You Should Say That," The Chronicle, January 11). As a comedian myself, I find that too many of my fellow comedians rely on sexism, racism, homophobia, etc., to get a cheap laugh.

Making jokes that trivialize rape isn't only dismissive of rape victims, it's lazy writing. And the laugh comes at the expense of women who are raped.

Ben Atherton-Zeman Acton,