# Witty people have a dark sense of humor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743 "2003-10-16T06:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/1 "2003-10-16T06:07:55Z")
I ran across [this](http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=2815) charming little quote from Grant Morrison. > [@](#): > > I saw Henry McCoy as an incredibly clever, witty, cultured, well-traveled, experienced, well-read character so I brought out those parts of his personality which seemed to me to fit the profiles of the smartest and most worldly people I know - his sense of humor is dark and oblique. I thought about some of my friends of above average intellect and they would definitely qualify. Often times they would laugh at inappropriate jokes or the cruelness of life on others. So, do you notice the same in some of the smarter people you know? Would you consider yourself or your friends to have a dark sense of humor? ---
**Author:** ![luluBahrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e5b9ba/32.png) [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/2 "2003-10-16T06:12:16Z")
I’m not sure if I qualify as witty (maybe sometimes) but i definitely have a dark sense of humor. And every other member of my family(besides me) is a member of Mensa, we’re all sick, sad puppies. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/3 "2003-10-16T09:07:44Z")
Dark humor is the best kind of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/4 "2003-10-16T09:52:35Z")
If this isn’t a trend, it is at least a trend in general opinion. I think most people would agree that the really smart people they know have darker senses of humor. It’s probably because intelligent people tend to be outsiders as they grow up, and so they develop a sense of humor outside the mainstream as well. Very intelligent people who were also cheerleaders or star quarterbacks, perhaps, might be less prone to comedy that pokes fun at the fundamental inanity and absurdity of life, because they haven’t experienced it to be so. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/5 "2003-10-16T09:54:51Z")
Well, I happen to think that comedians are some of the smartest people there are. Me? I have a 140 IQ and I’ll admit, I’m sick, sick, sick. So… ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/6 "2003-10-16T13:21:42Z")
Well, my IQ is pretty high too, and while I occasionally veer into twisted humor, I’m much more prone to wordplay and flat-out slapstick. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/7 "2003-10-16T13:39:20Z")
I have been known to be witty. I have a (relatively) high IQ. I have a very dark, sick and heinous sense of humour (_way_ too sick for the sensitive souls of the SDMB, so I never display this side of me here). ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/8 "2003-10-16T14:44:31Z")
Roadkill makes the most best frisbee. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/9 "2003-10-16T15:02:45Z")
I’m fairly intelligent, or so I think, and I love dark humor. ---
**Author:** ![jellen92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@jellen92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellen92)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/10 "2003-10-16T16:56:47Z")
I have been told many times that I am very witty, but I have a pretty average IQ. I consider myself to have a dark sense of humor, although most people refer to it as simply “pessimistic”. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/11 "2003-10-16T17:18:44Z")
You know what they say: _It’s not funny until someone puts an eye out._ ---
**Author:** ![Hellboy37](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hellboy37](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellboy37)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/12 "2003-10-16T17:31:44Z")
I’m stupid as hell and afraid of the dark… ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/13 "2003-10-16T19:10:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Uvula Donor \* > You know what they say: _It’s not funny until someone puts an eye out._ And then it’s HILARIOUS! > [@](#): > > _The secret source of all humor is sorrow._[ul]Mark Twain[/ul] We are given the choice of laughing or crying when confronted with this world’s trials and tribulations. As the kitschy T-shirt slogan says: “We are all born crying, some of us learn to stop.” Mark Twain is absolutely correct. In order that we not collapse from grief, we instead construe comic relief from sorrowful situations. I find a strong connection with one’s “dark side” to be an extremely healthy outlet for negative emotion and antisocial inclinations. It permits an individual to reconfigure unacceptable thoughts and desires into communicable ideas and (often) extremely funny material. What’s more, I routinely find those who avoid or flee from their own darkness to be some of the most vapid, vacuous and (sometimes) dangerously stupid individuals I have ever met. I’ve seen it said at these boards that many comedians are extremely dark and bitter people. This is not entirely surprising when one considers how frequently truly sorry specimens of humanity nonetheless rise someway to prominence or notoriety. Making fun of them is much more sensible (however less satisfying) than killing these morons outright, no matter how deserving they are of such a fate. Channeling such tendencies into a way of brightening our lives with the gift of humor is at times almost miraculous in its healing properties. As an example, I’LL provide you with one of my own jokes. It was made up after a prolonged period of involuntary celibacy. In the contex of these boards, we shall call it “Zenster’s Second Law.” _NEVER EAT OYSTERS WHEN YOU’RE LONELY._ ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/14 "2003-10-16T19:27:21Z")
I use a lot of sarcasm these days, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/15 "2003-10-16T20:36:50Z")
What qualifies as dark humor? Would Steven Wright be considered “dark”? His jokes are deadpan and dry, and he doesn’t even smile when he tells them. I’d call that dark. Maybe intelligent people use dark humor because it often has multi-layered meanings (my opinion of a good joke). That, and dark humor is unnerving for light-hearted folks. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/16 "2003-10-16T20:40:26Z")
I’d consider myself fairly intelligent and witty…and yes, I too have a very dark sense of humour. Most of my intelligent friends are the same way. I think (dare I say) that “more intelligent” people realize that much of what happens in our day-to-day existance is really quite trite and insignificant. This causes us to find humour in those who make a big fuss about it. ---
**Author:** ![sultana\_of\_slash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@sultana\_of\_slash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sultana_of_slash)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/17 "2003-10-16T20:47:28Z")
Maybe intelligent people get too bored with humor that isn’t twisted. Maybe they can’t laugh if they saw the punchline coming before the teller got there. Or maybe they’re just a bunch of dark, evil bastards. I can unfortunately think of about 100 examples from work, but if I told you any of them, I’d have to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/18 "2003-10-16T21:15:38Z")
I have a fairly dark sense of humor. I don’t indulge it very frequently because it’s so easy to give people the wrong impression. I also have a reputation as an intellectual. I leave it to others to decide if said reputation is deserved. All I know is, I live the life I live, the only way I know how. That’s just a little more than the law will allow. Uh… no, wait a minute. The “laughing so you don’t cry” thing makes a lot of sense. People who don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how the world works don’t seem to understand that there aren’t any rules and life isn’t fair and sometimes good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people because the universe isn’t designed to make sense. It isn’t designed at all, really, in my view. As I said in a recent GD thread, “The world seems mad and cruel only because we have an unreasonable expectation that it should be otherwise.” So either you bewail the injustice inherent in an unstructured universe, or you cultivate a dark sense of humor as a coping mechanism. By contrast, if you think the world is a warm, comforting place that takes your personal needs and feelings into account, then it makes sense that you’d find big-eyed kitten greeting cards to be the height of good humor. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*Roadkill makes the most best frisbee. \*\* For best results, back up and drive over it again a few times. Especially if it’s a big-eyed kitten. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/19 "2003-10-17T03:14:39Z")
Is that rigor mortis, or are you just happy to see me? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743/20 "2003-10-17T05:14:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*Is that rigor mortis, or are you just happy to see me? \*\* Dead on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/witty-people-have-a-dark-sense-of-humor/207743.md?page=2)