BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Too soon? Or is it a matter of taste?

Steve Martin once said that “Comedy is not pretty,” but during a show at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles on Thursday, actor/comedian Dane Cook used a joke about the Aurora movie theater shootings as part of his routine.

Cook said, according to The Denver Post, that “The Dark Knight Rises’” was such a crappy film that “…if none of that shooting had happened, I’m pretty sure that somebody in that theater, about 25 minutes in, realizing it was a piece of crap, was probably like, ‘Ugh, f*****g shoot me.’”

The Huffington Post reported that Cook’s joke was captured on tape by an audience member who taped his set without permission. The immediate reaction was a few groans, which led to a smattering of laughter and then applause.

Cook's remarks received mainly a bad reaction, and he took to Twitter to apologize, saying, according to E! Online, "I am devastated by the recent tragedy in Colorado & did not mean to make light of what happened. I made a bad judgment call with my material & regret making a joke at such a sensitive time. My heart goes out to all of the families & friends of the victims."

12 people were killed and 58 were injured during the shootings at an Aurora movie theater on July 20.