one issue of 2006”.

My personal favorite:
"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion - be you Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

On the other hand, John

Humor is a double edge sword. Use it well and be marveled at. Use it badly and be disapproved of. Where exactly is the fine line between being a funny comedian and being an insensitive prick?

One of the common advices most of us have received was to avoid ALL political, racial and religion based jokes, no matter how tempting they may be. As long as we stay away from them, we have a shot at being funny without offending anyone. However recently two men with solid steel balls – a standup comedian and a well- respected chief constable – went ahead to break the norms. One did exceptionally well and became an overnight Internet sensation. The other – sadly – was ridiculed by the media.

Let’s first look at the man who hit it big with the audience – Stephen Colbert.

Stephen Colbert became the man ever since he delivered a 20-minute satirical speech on Bush administration at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month. Although some critics dismissed his speech as lacklustre, the entire blogsphere hailed him as “the man with the iron-steel balls”. There was even an entire site dedicated to Colbert’s single speech in Wikipedia, a speech that Time Magazine Online called “the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006”.

My personal favorite:
"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion - be you Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

On the other hand, John

matter how tempting they may be. As long as we stay away from them, we have a shot at being funny without offending anyone. However recently two men with solid steel balls – a standup comedian and a well- respected chief constable – went ahead to break the norms. One did exceptionally well and became an overnight Internet sensation. The other – sadly – was ridiculed by the media.

Let’s first look at the man who hit it big with the audience – Stephen Colbert.

Stephen Colbert became the man ever since he delivered a 20-minute satirical speech on Bush administration at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month. Although some critics dismissed his speech as lacklustre, the entire blogsphere hailed him as “the man with the iron-steel balls”. There was even an entire site dedicated to Colbert’s single speech in Wikipedia, a speech that Time Magazine Online called “the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006”.

My personal favorite:
"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion - be you Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

On the other hand, John

ht Internet sensation. The other – sadly – was ridiculed by the media.

Let’s first look at the man who hit it big with the audience – Stephen Colbert.

Stephen Colbert became the man ever since he delivered a 20-minute satirical speech on Bush administration at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month. Although some critics dismissed his speech as lacklustre, the entire blogsphere hailed him as “the man with the iron-steel balls”. There was even an entire site dedicated to Colbert’s single speech in Wikipedia, a speech that Time Magazine Online called “the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006”.

My personal favorite:
"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion - be you Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

On the other hand, John

ociation Dinner last month. Although some critics dismissed his speech as lacklustre, the entire blogsphere hailed him as “the man with the iron-steel balls”. There was even an entire site dedicated to Colbert’s single speech in Wikipedia, a speech that Time Magazine Online called “the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006”.

My personal favorite:
"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion - be you Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

On the other hand, John

one issue of 2006”.

My personal favorite:
"And though I am a committed Christian, I believe everyone has the right to their own religion - be you Hindu, Jewish, or Muslim, I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior."

On the other hand, John Vine, a well-respected chief constable who was also the Past President of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, left his audience stunned and embarrassed with his one-liner joke on the Iraq bombers. It is worth noting that this joke was unplanned for (and even uncalled for). But out of our desperation to revive his bored audience, he made a decision to tell an off-color joke.

The joke went like this: Two Al-Qaeda fathers are ruminating about their suicide- bomber sons. “Ah, kids!” goes the punchline, “they blow up so quickly these days.” One lousy decision and this poor man ruined his hard-earned reputation. If only he has made an early decision to improve on his public speaking skills, say join a Toastmasters Club…

So what can we learn from these two separate incidents?

1. ALWAYS test-run your jokes!

If Vine has tried this joke on his close friends during his rehearsal (I wonder if he even rehearse his speech?), his friends may have warned him against cracking that off-color joke. And probably the only sin he would have committed was being a boring speaker, which equates to a chance of redeeming himself. On the other hand, Colbert has been a standup comedian for a long time. He is se