1. Katie And Harvey Price
Depending on whether or not you have subjected yourself to the torture of watching a Katie Price reality television program, you may know that her first son Harvey suffers from septo-optic dysplasia and autism, as well as other physical conditions. In the world of comedy that Boyle inhabits, that has a tendency to make you a "target". Boyle's original joke about Harvey was broadcast on an episode of Tramadol Nights, and led to that rarest of occurrences - people feeling sorry for Katie Price. The joke in question which attracted a notable amount of complaints to Ofcom and brought down a lot of criticism from Price went as follows:
"Apparently Jordan and Peter Andre are fightin' each other over custody of Harvey, but eventually one of them'll lose and have to keep him. I have a theory that Jordan married a cage fighter cause she needed someone strong enough to stop Harvey from f*****g her." http://youtu.be/K6kwXdA78I8 Of course, making light of a person's disabilities, especially when they are too young to defend themselves is a massive taboo of social practice. However, since the incident Boyle has referenced the criticism of Price and other television viewers for that joke, stating that the only reason for making that joke was to consider Price's relationship with the media. He justifiably argues that he wouldn't know a great deal about Harvey unless he wasn't constantly exposed on one of her many fly-on-the-wall documentaries, and claimed that she should be trying harder to keep elements of her personal life private. With reference to claims that this would cause kids to bully Harvey, Boyle replied:
"I find it hard to believe there are kids at that school who would like to slag Harvey, but cant think of an angle." Whether you agree with Boyle's joke in this or any other situation, it must be said that his shock humour has developed both a cult following and a heap of outrage. His profession is to make others laugh, and he has done so for years through shock comedy. Though it is not unfair to suggest that he goes too far on occasion, in the end he is simply part of the comedic culture of Britain. Love it or hate it, this country is proud of its laughing heritage, and perhaps we should be proud that we put few limits on what can and can't be joked about. Let's face it, if we did, Boyle wouldn't have a career.