Race & Comedy- Is that funny?

If you've seen stand-up comedy either live or on TV, you know that a lot of comedians joke about people of particular ethnicities. What I am grappling with is why is it ok for comedians to joke about people like that? I mean it is funny. Most people would agree that normally their jokes are funny. I guess my question is- where is the line between funny and offensive? And the hard part is there are no rules to being offended. And everyone is different. Some people are offended much more easily than others. To give you a little taste of what I am talking about, check out these two videos.

Dane Cook-Driving.




Anjelah Johnson




I heard one comedian that was being interviewed (I can't remember who) explain that she makes fun of EVERYONE- all ethnicities. So that makes it ok? Since she is an equal-opportunity comedian? Ha. Does your own race affect who you can joke about and how much? It's interesting that in these two clips Dane Cook is white and he says that he says what anyone would say "Uhhh hello?" UNLESS you are Black or Chinese. Hmmm. I don't think I have any conclusions about this other than I find this whole idea of race and comedy pretty intriguing. It is like comedians are allowed to be politically incorrect and in fact, are expected to be.