Millions of deaths, countless jobs lost, thousands swept below the poverty line, and a crippling financial crisis – the Coronavirus pandemic took us to hell and back, the effects of which we are still suffering. Innumerable families have lost their loved ones to the virus and it’s the kind of loss which is hard to recover from.
It was also a time when people came together to help each other out, whether it be sharing resources to notifying about hospital beds and oxygen cylinder availability. Society had to come together because the world wasn’t prepared for the calamity that we were facing.
But when a standup comedian goes on stage and performs a set joking about the calamity and people’s struggles, it can be unsettling for some people to hear. According to India Today, a standup comedian named Daniel Fernandes joked about the lack of ICU beds and people sharing Covid resources on social media and a video of his set is receiving massive backlash online.
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Here’s a look at the video:
Thankfully, this guy is neither a doctor nor a hospital administrator., or even a good standup. The only thing he is, is a sorry excuse of a human who thinks it’s fun to get to decide eligibility of medical care based on whom the patient voted for. pic.twitter.com/zPol3pu2Qg
— Amit Thadhani (@amitsurg) March 2, 2023
Several people online thought that his jokes were extremely insensitive to those who suffered at the hands of the pandemic. They were also surprised that there were people in the audience who thought that his jokes were actually funny and laughed. Here’s what some of them said:
Really? He thinks he’s funny? Moron. Probably God has been kind not to take away from him anyone him loved, in the Covid wave. But his kindness bred insensitivity in this guy to make a mockery of other people’s pain and suffering just to trigger a few laughs. Show some humanity.
— Monika Rawal (@monikarawal) March 3, 2023
Such insensitive jokers exist in the name of standup comedy! Shame, whoever this is.
— Madhukar Reddy Banuri (@MadhukarBanuri) March 4, 2023
I personally know, quite a few people who couldn’t make it, due to unavailability of timely medical treatment. Relatives, friends, acquaintances, all gone, to this “pandemic”
Whatever may be the agenda, the deaths were real, the tragedy was real, the loss was real.
Don’t mock it— rajiv jasani (@rajivhjasani) March 3, 2023
Hi. I am no follower of BJP. But you don’t make jokes about people gasping for breath or looking desperately for a ventilator. Disgusting
— Devlina دیولینا 🌟 (@AarKiBolboBolo) March 3, 2023
Can’t believe people clapping found anything hilarious in it !
— Shraddha Murdia (@ShraddhaMurdia) March 2, 2023
During Covid I distributed butter milk to cops as a token of thanks. I live in a non BJP state and yet we came forward in whatever means we could help without asking anyone their religion, caste, region, language and political beliefs.
— Critical Thinker 🇮🇳 (@TimesUp_Libs) March 3, 2023
Is this remotely humour / comedy of any kind?? How sick (the conventional meaning of sick!) is this guy’s idea of a stand-up routine! Using the grimmest, most tragic time that we lived in, and the spin of some “chai” joke he thought was brilliant!!! Yuck.
— Sonali Mujumdar (@sona_en_inde) March 3, 2023
struggle was devastating. Shouldn’t be said in this manner.
— IRfan 🇮🇳 (@_Khanirfan) March 3, 2023
During the pandemic, I read an article by The New Indian Express talking about the rise of coronavirus memes and humorous content. In it, the author had written something that stayed with me ever since.
“It’s one thing to keep one’s sense of humour intact in perilous situations. It’s quite another to laugh at a calamity the world is struggling to comprehend, let alone tackle.”