The audience was having a terrific time. They had watched Jimmy Carr present his hit TV show 8 Out of 10 Cats, and thought him incredibly funny. Now at last they had a chance to see him live, recording a Christmas special called His Dark MaterialThe title is inspired by a trilogy of books by Philip Pullman. The author is one of those who has condemned Carr. for Netflix. What would be the subject of his next joke?

"When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy of six million lives being lost to the Nazi war machine," he said, "but they never mention the thousands of Gypsies killed by the Nazis." Then came the punchline: "Because no one wants to talk about the positives."

Many of the audience laughed. But when a clip from the show began circulating on Friday, a lot of people did not find it funny at all.

"We are absolutely appalled at Jimmy Carr's comment about persecution suffered by RomaA travelling community who are thought to have originated in India. and SintiA Central European community who used to be travellers but are now mainly settled. people under Nazi oppression, and horrified that gales of laughter followed his remarks," said the head of the Holocaust Memorial Day TrustA charity founded by the British government to support the annual commemoration..

Carr, however, defended his joke, saying that it was educational for those who only knew about Jewish victims of the Holocaust. "A lot of people don't know, because it's not really taught in our schools, that the Nazis also killed, in their thousands, Gypsies, homosexuals, disabled people and Jehovah's WitnessesA Christian community who believe that the end of the world is imminent.."

Comedy, he argues, is on its way out because people are now so quick to take offence.

Victoria Coren MitchellA journalist and TV personality. She is married to the comedian David Mitchell. defended Carr. She said that although he had made "about a thousand jokes I wouldn't make myself", he was "full of goodness and kindness".

But David BaddielA comedian and writer. Like Coren Mitchell, he is a friend of Jimmy Carr's, and also Jewish. said the joke was indefensible. "You can obviously tell a Holocaust joke that is cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist. Or you can tell one that targets the oppressors, or draws attention to the fundamental evil of it, or shines a light on the humanity of the victims."

Writing in Wired, the novelist Sunny Singh argued that many others were complicit in Carr's solecismBad behaviour or mistake.: "Dozens and dozens of people are part of production, filming, post-production, marketing, the whole film and TV apparatus."

Traditionally, a lot of comedy involves being offensive. Old-fashioned comedians made jokes about mothers-in-law being horrible.

In the 1960s, the American comedian Lenny Bruce was famous for joking about politics, religion and sex. He was arrested several times for obscenity, and barred from entering Britain.

In 1979, the Monty Python film Life of BrianThe film is about someone who is born at the same time as Jesus and is constantly mistaken for him. caused an outcry among people who thought it was making fun of Christianity.  

The difference today, the writer Jon Ronson argues, is that people automatically take offence at certain words and topics, without considering the context: "Nobody seems to be able to tell the difference between a racist joke and a liberal joke that comments on racism."

But the comedian Hall Cruttenden does not feel he is being silenced: "People will always look for something that might shock them. They have an appetite for hearing something edgy, something that hasn't been controlled."

Yes: Comedians know their careers could be ended if people take offence at their jokes. As a result they have started to censor themselves - but comedy can only flourish when the imagination works freely.

No: Comedians always thrive on controversy. The more some people complain about a joke, the more others will want to see him perform. We all enjoy being shocked: the riskier the material the better.

Or... It is perfectly possible to make people laugh without offending them. Some jokes focus on the differences between people, but there is lots of comedy to be found in the things we all have in common.