An oddity yet a fact of life, the documentary Tasteless rears it’s interesting head and plunks it on DVD and Digital HD in a tell all. A number of comedians, writers, talk hosts and even the actual writer of “Truly Tasteless Jokes” come to the book’s aid, some rap it, and others even taunt the book that some called filth. But, yet the book achieved the honor of Edwin McDowell’s number one seller of Mass Paperback in the country in 1993. This is their story and so take-it or leave it!
Back when “Political Correct” (PC) wasn’t even a phrase, people across the nation made fun of each other and most all was just in fun. In today’s social climate however, you’ll be hard pressed to find people calling a person from another ethnic group, of color, handicapped, or sexual orientation, etc. something that may hurt their pride, feelings or integrity. And especially make a joke about them today. But back in the 1980’s and early 90’s books filled with off color comedy were the rage with no-one or group or even animals being excluded from a politically “incorrect” punchline.
Of course, today there are still some exceptions, but are left to late night TV talk shows and celebrity “Roasts”. Also some of today’s comedic comments have been quite harsh and even sadistic at times, but back in the day they were mostly just off color and mainly absent of extreme curse words and violence.
Although she wasn’t the first to use politically incorrect humor, writer of “Truly Tasteless Jokes”, Ashton Applewhite left no stone unturned covering everyone and everything in a joke form. Her fifteen paperback books under pen name Blanche Knott had Roman numerals in the titles there were so many. To find out what groups were being bashed however, you had to open the cover and read a few before buying. She even featured some of her jokes in anthologies like “The Worst of Truly Tasteless Jokes” and “Truly Tasteless Blonde Jokes”.
Some of the featured interviewees in the documentary include comedian Jim Norton “Mouthful of Shame” Netflix Special, comedian Jesus Trejo, comedian Helen Hong, host of “HQ Trivia” Scott Rogowsky, Mark Norland podcast “Tuesdays with Stories”, comedian Kevin McCaffrey, Frank Castillo “Roast Battle” season two winner, Brian McGuinness “Playable Characters Poscast”, book editor Michael Barron, Dan Soder “The Bonfire” on Sirius XM, Jordan Carlos writer for “Divorce” on HBO, author Wayne Gladstone “Internet Apocalypse Trilogy”, Christian Finnegan writer comedy album “60% Joking”, Myq Kaplan “Small, dark and Handsome” Amazon special, and comedian Lenny Marcus.
I do like the way the documentary spools out with a lot of funny comments along with tongue in cheek questions about everyone being uptight over PC. It was very different back 30 years and having lived during the publication’s comedy wave of jokes that were admittedly tasteless without a doubt, I laughed at them knowing another group would be targeted on the next page.
In addition to Applewhite’s books, others have followed including Larry Wilde’s many titles like The Official Polish Joke Book, Official Jewish Joke Book, The Official Italian Joke Book, The Official Back Folks Joke Book as well as The Official White Folks Joke Book, even a The Ultimate Pet Lovers Joke book and many more. There are several minutes devoted to Larry Wilde in the film.
Tasteless has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains language. Now available on DVD and Digital HD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A nicely presented nostalgia on tasteless humor. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Director: Jeff Cerulli and Matt Ritter
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains language
Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 1 hr.
Video Release Date: August 27, 2019
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: 5.1 Surround
Video: Widescreen, 16×9
Subtitles: Closed Captions
Number of Discs: 1 disc
Distributed by: Virgil Films & Entertainment
Released on: DVD, Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
