Black comedy 118365 224760181 2008-07-10T08:41:51Z McGeddon 455421 rv arbitrary, partial change to American spelling as per [[WP:ENGVAR]] {{otheruses1|the tone of comedy}} {{Articleissues|OR=August 2007|unreferenced=November 2006}} [[Image:Hopscotch to oblivion.jpg|thumb|''[[Hopscotch]] to [[Oblivion]]'', Barcelona]] '''Black comedy''', also known as '''black humour''' or '''dark comedy''', is a sub-genre of [[comedy]] and [[satire]] where topics and events that are usually treated as taboo or seriously (such as [[death]], [[war]], [[hostilities]], [[rape]], [[murder]], [[substance abuse]], [[domestic violence]], etc.) are treated in a humorous or satirical manner. Synonyms include '''dark humour''' and '''morbid humour'''. Although very similar, it is not to be confused with '''[[gallows humour]]''' and '''[[off-colour humour]]'''. == Humour == Black comedy should be contrasted with [[obscenity]], though the two are interrelated. In obscene humour, much of the humorous element comes from shock and revulsion; black comedy usually includes an element of [[irony]], or even [[fatalism]]. This particular brand of humour can be exemplified by a scene in the play ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'': a man takes off his belt to hang himself, and his trousers fall down. Writers such as [[Terry Southern]], [[Joseph Heller]], [[Niall Griffiths]], [[William Gaddis]], [[Thomas Pynchon]], [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Harlan Ellison]] and [[Eric Nicol]] have written and published novels, stories and plays where profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner. == Genre == In America, black comedy as a literary genre came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. An anthology edited by [[Bruce Jay Friedman]], titled "Black Humour," assembles many examples of the genre. Current writers and directors employing the art of black humour in their work include author [[Chuck Palahniuk]], director [[Todd Solondz]], cartoonist [[Jhonen Vasquez]], and writer/essayist [[David Foster Wallace]]. According to [[John Truby]], when black comedy is used as a basis for a story's plotline, it involves a society in an unhealthy state and a main character wanting something which, for whatever reason, is not a thing that will be ultimately beneficial to himself or society. The audience should usually be able to see this for themselves, and often a supporting character within the story also sees the insanity of the situation. The main character rarely ever learns a lesson or undergoes any significant change from the ordeal, but sometimes a relatively sane course of action is offered to them. One such example of this sane course of action being taken is in the comic series ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]],'' which ends with the title character voluntarily leaving town and checking himself into a mental institution. ==Black comedy in films== [[Image:Slim-pickens riding-the-bomb enh-lores.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Major "King" Kong riding a nuclear bomb to oblivion, from the film ''Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb''.]] The 1964 film ''[[Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb]]'' presents one of the best-known examples of black comedy. The subject of the film is [[nuclear warfare]] and the [[annihilation]] of life on Earth. Normally, dramas about nuclear war treat the subject with gravity and seriousness, creating suspense over the efforts to avoid a nuclear war. But ''Dr. Strangelove'' plays the subject for laughs; for example, in the film, the fail-safe procedures designed to prevent a nuclear war are precisely the systems that ensure that it will happen. Plotwise, Captain Mandrake serves as the one sane character in the decayed society, and Major Kong fills the role of the hero striving for a harmful goal. ==See also== *[[Anthology of Black Humor]] *[[Crude humor]] *[[Gallows humour]] *[[British humour]] *[[Macabre]] *[[Problem plays]] *''[[Black Comedy]]'', a play by [[Peter Shaffer]] *[[Charles B. Griffith]] *[[Film genre|List of movie genres]] *[[Shock value]] [[Category:Black comedy|*]] [[ca:Humor negre]] [[de:Schwarzer Humor]] [[es:Humor negro]] [[fr:Humour noir]] [[he:קומדיה שחורה]] [[nl:Zwarte humor]] [[ja:ブラックジョーク]] [[no:Svart komedie]] [[nds:Swart Humor]] [[pl:Czarna komedia]] [[pt:Humor negro]] [[ru:Чёрный юмор]] [[simple:Black comedy]] [[sk:Čierny humor]] [[fi:Musta huumori]] [[sv:Svart humor]] [[tr:Kara mizah]] [[zh:黑色幽默]]