# Do you enjoy dark humor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816 "2017-12-07T19:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/21 "2017-12-08T02:16:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I like dark humor, but I don’t think _Animal House_ is. It’s more of a goofy, anarchic style of humor. To me, a film such as _Beetlejuice_ or _Throw Momma From the Train_ is dark humor. > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Animal House isn’t “dark humor, gallows humor”, or humour as we’d say. > > It’s adolescent toilet humour, fart and poo jokes. It’s funny because it offends somebody else. My favorite example of dark humor is my all-time favorite movie, the 1942 version of _To Be or Not to Be_. It got panned when it came out, because a comedy about the Nazis fell flat in 1942, but it’s considered one of the greatest films ever now. It has 0 poo and fart jokes in it. You can certainly mix the two: _M_A_S_H\* is dark humor with some potty humor mixed in. Monty Python was masterful at mixing the two. But humor isn’t dark just because it’s offensive. Sometimes it’s merely juvenile. _Animal House_ is juvenile. I don’t think it has any pretensions not to be though. I also think you have to use the full title: _National Lampoon’s Animal House_. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/22 "2017-12-08T02:21:52Z")
I quiver with mirth during Samuel Beckett plays. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/23 "2017-12-08T02:24:34Z")
> [@Crazy\_Canuck](#): > > While I love it, I’ve found that dark humor is like food. Not everyone gets it. Just so long as you realize someone not liking it doens’t mean they don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/24 "2017-12-08T04:12:59Z")
_Kind Hearts and Coronets_ But I cannot stomach mocking the vulnerable and unfortunate, for even the darkest humor. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/25 "2017-12-08T10:57:56Z")
Love it. Too soon my ass. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/26 "2017-12-08T11:52:03Z")
Agree with the others that Animal House is sophomoric (unusually deliciously so, IMHO). Dark humor is Louis CK asking the audience how long they waited after 9/11 to resume masturbating, and then confessing that he resumed even before the second tower collapsed — and to do otherwise would be letting the terrorists win! As another poster mentioned, the bar is set higher for dark humor — it has to be wonderfully insightful or revealing to be funny. I think this qualifies. So, for the poll, the best answer for me was “yes, unreservedly,” though I’ve encountered plenty of attempts at dark humor that DIDN’T do it for me (unfunny, un-insightful, or both). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/27 "2017-12-08T12:04:23Z")
ETA: As for the feature-length, semi-artsy, unlikely-to-laugh-out-loud sort of dark humor, this only works for me about half the time. For example (to cite one genre, film), the Coen Brothers’ _Fargo_ warmed my cockles, while Terry Gilliam’s _Brazil_ left me cold (funny, that). ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/28 "2017-12-08T15:54:42Z")
Life is fundamentally absurd and if you can’t laugh at the darker moments you can’t shine a light on them. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/29 "2017-12-08T16:09:06Z")
Dark humor is like a kid with cancer. It never gets old. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/30 "2017-12-08T16:10:55Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [Anthony Jeselnik](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjg4LKt7_jXAhVM32MKHY55CswQtwIILTAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DT9SKkd79AjQ&usg=AOvVaw1vX72kPR-sTk7vA-znhWqd) is dark humor. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > He’s a guy I always change the channel to avoid. I love Anthony Jeselnik. He’s the guy I always crank up when he is on the radio (I nearly exclusively listen to comedy on Sirius). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/31 "2017-12-08T16:27:06Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I love Anthony Jeselnik. He’s the guy I always crank up when he is on the radio (I nearly exclusively listen to comedy on Sirius). Yep, damn funny. First heard him on Sirius as well and found out two albums of his are on Amazon Prime. Winning! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/32 "2017-12-08T17:22:18Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > I love Anthony Jeselnik. He’s the guy I always crank up when he is on the radio (I nearly exclusively listen to comedy on Sirius). Wow, funny stuff. I loved the Eric Clapton one. Even though I hate myself even more now. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/33 "2017-12-08T17:43:15Z")
Nazi extermination camp inmates told jokes about their situation. One example (from _The Twelve-Year Reich_): One inmate says to another: “Don’t worry. Soon we’ll be in a better life – as a bar of soap in a shop window.” If they can joke about _that_, anything is fair game. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/34 "2017-12-08T17:57:58Z")
I love one-liners and quick, meaningless jabs. But I’m not going to entertain a gross or debaucherous story and/or set-up. As others have mentioned, it has to be smart, or so completely unexpected that it catches me off-guard. If not, it’s just gratuitous. If the stage is already set and the joke can be delivered quickly and cleanly, bring it on. As \*\*kayaker \*\*said, “Too soon my ass”. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/35 "2017-12-08T22:14:16Z")
Yes, but it depends on many things. My mood at the time, the context of the humor, how good the joke teller is at telling jokes etc. There wasn’t an option in the poll that fit me so I didn’t actually vote. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/36 "2017-12-08T23:17:11Z")
> [@B-Rad](#): > > And I voted for the wrong Yes in my own poll, and then botched this explanation. I am a retard. OK, now _that’s_ funny. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/37 "2017-12-08T23:18:53Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I love it and I don’t think any subject is off limits. That’s not the same as saying anything at all can be said in any situation on any subject. This. I have a very dark sense of humor, I would consider no topic off limits, but that doesn’t mean some jokes aren’t just badly executed, in poor taste or not funny due to making a mockery of victims. I am turned off by jokes that ‘‘punch down.’’ Generally, the more a comedian is lauded for being ‘‘shocking’’ the less I like them. Humor value comes to me not from shock per se but from the unexpected. Some shocking jokes are funny but shocking in itself doesn’t make you funny. I love _Rick and Morty_, and one of the best, most hilariously dark episodes is when Morty has to bury his parallel universe body in the backyard and take its place. But there has to be a kind of intelligence behind the humor, an awareness about what it’s doing, in order for it to click for me. Sometimes I think our only chance for survival is through humor. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Nazi extermination camp inmates told jokes about their situation. One example (from The Twelve-Year Reich): One inmate says to another: “Don’t worry. Soon we’ll be in a better life – as a bar of soap in a shop window.” As Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Sometimes that way is humor. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/38 "2017-12-08T23:53:10Z")
> [@Greathouse](#): > > Dark humor is like a kid with cancer. It never gets old. Well played! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/39 "2017-12-09T00:24:08Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Many times, I have thought ‘that is sooo wrong’ while snortling. I can’t say I ever looked at the long, white line and had that thought. 😃 I don’t know if this film holds up quite so well, but _Very Bad Things_ is one of my favorite dark humor movies. Well, maybe not my favorite, but ti was up there. _Eating Raul_ wasn’t bad, either. Same with _The Adjuster_. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816/40 "2017-12-12T16:31:22Z")
Yeah, Very Bad Things is a pretty good example of dark humor. Last night I watched Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which reminded me of this thread with a lot of good dark humor in it. However, if you really want to see dark humor in action, go buy a few ER nurses a drink after their shift. I dated one for a while, and that was eye opening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-enjoy-dark-humor/803816.md?page=3)