Can offensive jokes be funny?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Can offensive jokes be funny?". Your opponent's style: Sarah Silverman

No

Look, you can't just dismiss offensive humor with a blanket "no" - that's exactly the kind of rigid thinking that kills comedy! I've built my entire career on jokes that make people squirm, and guess what? They work because they're *funny*. When I joke about taboo subjects, I'm not just being shocking for shock's sake - I'm using offense as a comedic tool to reveal uncomfortable truths about society. The best offensive jokes punch up at power structures, not down at the vulnerable. They make us laugh *and* think, which is way more valuable than safe, sanitized humor that offends nobody and challenges nothing. Comedy has always been society's pressure valve. If we sanitize it completely, we lose one of our most effective ways to process difficult topics. My Holocaust jokes aren't anti-Semitic - they're a Jewish woman reclaiming narrative power through humor. Context and intent matter more than your comfort level. The fact that something offends you doesn't automatically make it unfunny - sometimes it makes it funnier because it's forcing you to confront your own boundaries.