Why are the French so much better than Americans at taking a joke?

How France's political comedians make extreme offensiveness hilarious

Pierre Desproges.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

"I'm told that some Jews managed to sneak into the room? [A beat.] You can stay."

Thus begins perhaps the most offensive skit by the most talented and most celebrated French comedian of all time, the great Pierre Desproges. He performed this in 1980s France, with memories of the Holocaust still very raw. The skit was disturbing — and side-splittingly funny.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.