US NEWS | Father of Parkland victim delivers blistering comedy set in response to Louis C.K. mocking
When Manuel Oliver walks on stage for his comedy set, it doesnt take long for the laughs to stop.
Recently, I heard this great line from a comedian. He said, If you want people to forget that you were jerking off, at which point the audience begins to chuckle in anticipation of the punchline, just make a joke about kids getting shot.
The room quickly falls silent.
The set is, in fact, not for comedic purposes at all, but rather a , an organization created by Oliver and his wife, Patricia, working to empower young people to use their voice to fight for safer gun laws.
It comes on the heels of Louis C.K. reportedly joking yet again about the Parkland shooting that left 17 people dead, the majority of whom were teenagers.
If you ever need people to forget that you jerked off, what you do is you make a joke about kids that got shot, C.K. said during the January set, .
Olivers son, 17 year old Joaquin Oliver, was killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018.
Did you hear the one about the kid that walks into the schools on Valentines Day? Skinny kid, wearing headphones, and gets dropped by his dad, Oliver says. He says I love you and gets out of the car and walks into the school, and then gets shot to death a couple of hours later.
He goes on to ask the audience if theyve ever heard jokes about dead babies.
I got a dead baby. His name was Joaquin Oliver. Hes going to be 18, but now hes dead. And thats not a joke.
Oliver then walks off the stage with his head down.
The PSA ends with a clear message: Have some guts. Stand up to gun violence.
It was not clear if Oliver performed the act at an comedy club or if it was filmed beforehand. Oliver did not immediately respond to the Daily News for comment.
Louis C.K. had previously mocked the victims of the Parkland shooting.
Youre not interesting because you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you? How does that make you interesting, he said in an audio clip from a December 2018 routine. You didnt get shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way and then, now I gotta listen to you talking?
The comments came a year after C.K. admitted to the sexual misconduct allegations against him, and said he would now step back and take a long time to listen.
