Society has many techniques of discussing difficult topics such as: sex, violence, suicide, money, inequality, etc. One of these techniques is dark humor. Dark humor is controversial because, by definition, it makes light of subjects that nobody wants to talk about in public. It is not a new form of humor that has gained popularity only recently. The concept of dark humor was coined in 1940 by Andre Breton (Britannica). During the 60’s many movies like Little Shops of Horror (1960) used dark humor and gained a massive following (Dixon). This post-JFK assassination era audience enjoyed less censorship and embraced the absurdity of life. More recently dark humor as been a controversial comedy technique with a lot of grey area. What is okay to joke about? Is that different from person to person? After analyzing many dark humorist’s works, like Amy Schumer, Louis CK, and Lenny Bruce, it appears that dark humor is useful when it is created for productive societal change; not simply for shock factor. These comedians create jokes with dark humor because they see a problem in society they would like to change or at least bring into the spotlight for discussion.

Dark humor enables us to look at life from a different angle which views all suffering and existence as ironic and pointless. Most see this as an advantage of dark humor and use it well. However, somewhere along the line the jokes became more grotesque. Featuring dead babies, genocide, and rape, these jokes go well beyond what most would deem acceptable. Although there are many groups that gather to share these jokes on sites like Reddit - which are known to let their users say whatever they would like without repercussions -  they still get some ridicule. Many people will argue to them, “you can’t joke about that!” to which they will normally respond, “I can say and joke about whatever I want, freedom of speech.” The joke’s creator will also add that if anyone does not like the humor they can quite easily block and avoid these posts, besides, dark humor is not for everyone. This is true: anyone can joke about whatever they would like.

In fact, without this freedom dark humor would be non-existent. Dark humor consistently makes claims against the government and society. Like the famous comedian Lenny Bruce once said, “Take away the right to say ‘fuck’ and you take away the right to say, ‘fuck the government.’” He would also use the N-word is his stand up, and talk about problems in the nation while explicitly naming races and groups with no “political correctness.” Today, Louis CK can tell his audience that no Jews are allowed, and he will continue, unless ticket sales plummet.

However, freedom of speech does not excuse the fact that these extremists are not actually using dark humor, rather hiding in the shadows behind it. Dark humor needs to have a purpose. Whether it is illuminating a ruthless tyrant or making fun of racists, there is a productive idea behind each joke. When Louis CK told Jews to leave his show, he was making fun of the ridiculous amount of people who have hated Jews (MON). When Lenny Bruce used the N word, it was in hopes to openly discuss and possibly solve a societal problem. On the other side of the spectrum there are the extremists: laughing at rape victims, racism, terrorism, all for no purpose. Dead baby jokes never came from a constructive thought process such as, “Wonder how I can use humor to help the world?” Although some may find these jokes funny, they are not helping society in any way. Which makes it un-needed to describe gruesome situations.  

The claim “anything is funny” does not pertain to dark humor. There is a line. Every time we draw lines there are huge debates about where the line should be drawn, and no matter how much effort and time we spend debating there will still be the grey area. But with dark humor, this is not necessarily true. If a joke is good it will comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable (Self). A simpler metaphor is punching up, not punching down. The essential idea behind these phrases is to ensure that a joke will not hurt those who are already in deep hurt. Once one starts to think about jokes with this lens, it gets easier to argue the morality of a joke.

A great example is a specific rape joke Sam Morril used in a stand-up show. “My ex-girlfriend never made me wear a condom. That’s huge. She was on the pill.” Pause. “Ambien.” (Solnit). This joke is referring to the use of Ambien by rapists to take advantage of women once they are unconscious. It is a rape joke. But one must analyze before jumping to conclusions. Who is this punching/afflicting? Rape victims. Who is this comforting? Those who enjoy having sex with others who are unconscious (rapists). Still, this joke is distasteful. This is not socially progressive. This helps to desensitize men to rape and make rape victims appear weak. The dark humor here is not true dark humor, like Lenny Bruce used to discuss racism and politics, this is shock or sick humor. 

In contrast, there is a way to discuss the same topic without punching rape victims further to the ground. Amy Schumer’s show Football Town Nights passes the test in a scene where football players are arguing against the “no rape” rule the team has (Solnit). The players make excuses like, “Can we rape at away games?” and “What if it’s Halloween and she’s dressed like a sexy cat?” to which the coach repeatedly says no. Who is this afflicting? This scene is making fun of the excuses made by men accused of rape. Many claim that if the victim did not have sexual intent, she should have dressed more conservatively. Who is this comforting? Those who hate rape, and possibly rape victims as well.  By making rapists look stupid and childish it ridicules rape culture, while exposing that the logic used in court cases makes little sense. This is what dark humor is meant to do; address, expose, and ridicule problems with society. 

Lenny Bruce, a Jewish comedian in America who hit his peak popularity around the 60’s, used his comedy primarily to discuss national problems. Unlike most comedians today, those such as Louis CK, this social commentary makes up most of his stand up rather than a small part of it. When Bruce appeared on the Steve Allen show in April of 1959, he opened with a skit discussing what he finds offensive. He brings this up under the subject of his own offensiveness, which he says he developed as a child in school, and goes on to say that there are words that offend him, too. Here we see that even a man who constantly crossed social lines of humor, admitted that even to himself, there is a line.

Bruce then lists off words and others that offend him, “Governor Faubus,” – the then current governor of Arkansas who is remembered for his stand against desegregation of schools – “…some night time television…the shows that exploit homosexuality, narcotics and prostitution under the guise of helping the societal problem…” He says they are offensive because they use exploitation, “…for just the sake of exploitating.” Bruce addresses films that were based around race relations or homosexuality, but never made a point about the problem (Historic Films). Normally these films will have a cliché plotline without adding anything to the conversation. These films could be compared to click bait today: they use an interesting topic or title to get interest but that is as far as they go. To Bruce there is not a purpose in bringing up controversy without saying something about it. This helps to show why dark humor should only be used if it is helping society. Do not bring up hurtful ideas for the sake of attention, bring them up and say something about them.

These comedians are much more than just comedians. Lenny Bruce, Amy Schumer, and even Louis CK are people who constantly think about society and its darkness, and they fight using humor. There are multiple interviews with Lenny Bruce in which he is not so comical; rather he is discussing what he thinks about racism and sexism, with poised intellect. He is not an emotionless fool hiding behind a computer screen, screaming every time someone does not like his rape joke. Bruce’s humor is backed up line by line with a stance on society.

This is the point extreme “dark humor fans” miss. It is unfortunate that the largest Reddit page on dark humor contains, for the most part, one liners with no purpose. This gives dark humor as a whole a bad name, and is why many have grown to hate even slightly dark jokes. If these extremists would like to actually make a change and not be seen as unhuman, disgusting, desensitized, and creepy, they could begin looking at humor to help society. Continue making your jokes, but reframe them to punch up and not down. 
