I think the main difference is laughing at yourself. One of the first lessons that got hammered into me when I first took to the standup stage (and I think even you’ve reminded me a time or two yourself) was to make yourself the target of the humour, not others. Shows like “AFHV” do have us laugh at others, but only because others are submitting the video because they see the humour in it – the same reason audiences laugh at a comic telling self-deprecating material, sure they are laughing at others’ shortcomings (ie the comic’s), but he’s the one telling the joke, so it’s OK.

Shows like “Gags”, on the other hand, are just juvenile humour. Unfortunately they sell because juvenile humour sells (if you ever meet Tom Green, ask him how much money he has for proof of this.)

I think another reason I don’t appreciate the “prank comedy” is because I was way too often the victim of it growing up (a comic who was teased as a child! How novel! What’s next, a Jewish comic?) – which is probably why I was reticent at the start to do self-deprecating material (and still am to a degree) because it traumatized me so much. Until it was explained to me that it’s me who is picking on me, not others. I bet those who still laught at Borat and “Gags” still pick on people weaker than themselves too, where others grew up.

It does bring up a related issue about the effects of having a camera on you. Like Colbert has said in the past, “the camera lobotomizes whatever it is pointed at”. I think that’s very true. Another mildly comedic show that I hold in great disdain is MTV’s “I Bet You Will”, whereby people are pressured into subjecting themselves to regrettable stunts (a woman having her head shaved, a student allowing the contents of his backback destroyed) all for a couple of bucks. I know from having worked in radio promotions that people will do *anything* they’re told to if they have a camera or mic in their face. There’s a huge responsibility that goes along with that, and I think too often the line is crossed.

I know what Cohen is trying to do in exposing people’s true opinions by lulling them into a false sense of security, but as Colbert and the TDS correspondents showed, there are other ways of doing that.

There is always an exception to the rule and in this case it is Chris Morris’ Brass-Eye. Yes, his way of asking celebrities to read out utterly ludicrous charity campaigns (“Did you know a paedophile has more DNA in common with a crab than you or me?”) was mean to people who essentially just wanted to help, but it also proved that these clueless folk will read out anything put in front of them without a second thought.