As I pen this edition, I can’t help wondering why I did not receive a single comment on FC #132, even from the regulars. Maybe I put my foot in the mouth, writing about “foot in the door”?
The week of 13th February was very busy, and yet I managed to complete this edition. I suspect I may not be able to post FC 134 on the 26th Feb as I am traveling with family and not sure of finding time or the right mindset to write the post. Please bear with me, if you don’t see the post on the 26th Feb.
🤭 Dry & Dark Humour
Dry humour and dark humour are not synonymous. They are quite different from each other.
Dry humour is witty, and the narrator usually has a deadpan expression and makes no physical movement or for that matter does not even chuckle. The joke is said just like any other comment. Like this one by Robert Bloch: “The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.”
Dark humour or black humour or black comedy is all about making light of a matter or issue which is otherwise serious. Dark humour is like food. Not everyone gets it. It is believed that dark humour is the way to laugh in the face of adversity, and it can make you feel alive when you’re feeling down. Like this anecdote :A priest asks the convicted murderer at the electric chair, “Do you have any last requests?” “Yes,” replies the murderer. “Can you please hold my hand?”
One has to be very careful and circumspect not to be offensive. The company you keep when making a dark joke should help you to say it or bite your tongue. Like, you are being introduced to a person from a royal family, and you are told that they fired 21 guns when he was born. You had better not joke and say, “too bad that they all missed him”.
More often than not, dry humour can go unnoticed. It may be mistaken for rudeness or insult. If it is said out of context, it can be misconstrued. Delivery & context are key to dry humour. Sometimes, a person may say something which turns out to be a dry humour.
For example, this anecdote which many of you know:
Judge: Do you know you have been hauled up here for drinking?
Accused: Gee! When do we get started?
Laughter breaks out in the courtroom.
Judge: Order, Order
Accused: Gin & Tonic would just do fine
Judge: You deserve to be sent behind bars
Accused: Any bar will do Guv! I’m not particular.
We laugh when jokes are funny. But stand-up comedians and other jokers are very adept at mixing dry humour which makes people laugh out loud. It requires a lot of effort to engage the audience in a monologue. The challenge lies in innovation and avoiding rehashed jokes. Appropriation and plagiarism are a strict no-no. One has to work hard to master the ability to keep the audience riveted. It is often said that a stand-up comedian resorts to a ‘clown’s prayer’. It is not clear who wrote it, but it goes like this:
As I stumble through this life,
help me to create more laughter than tears,
dispense more happiness than gloom,
spread more cheer than despair.
Never let me become so indifferent,
that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child,
or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.
Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,
make them happy, and forget momentarily,
all the unpleasantness in their lives.
And in my final moment,
may I hear You whisper:
"When you made My people smile,
you made Me smile."
Dry humour is not as simple as it appears in theory. The comedian is required to display a range of gestures, expressions, and a unique delivery method. For instance, a deadpan comedian can say the funniest of things with a completely straight face. The main idea is not to make it blatantly obvious that you are telling a joke. It always takes at least a few moments before everyone realizes it was a joke, after all.
Oscar Wilde, the Irish poet, is renowned for his dry humour. He is famous for giving common words and phrases a twist. Read on:
“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.”
“The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.”
“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.”
“A bore is someone who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.”
“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.”
“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.”
Though Oscar Wilde was dying of cerebral meningitis, he had his wit very much intact. He is rumoured to have said: “This wallpaper will be the death of me. One of us will have to go.”
However, dark humour will not be considered offensive if it is self-deprecating. People are quite willing to laugh if you are laughing at yourself. Try this:
“My uncle died in his sleep. He did not wake up even when all his passengers were screaming.”
“I just got my doctor's test results, and I'm really upset about it. Turns out, I'm not gonna be a doctor.”
Are there situations when dark humour is best avoided? If you are at a funeral, you can't be insensitive and say something that offends the grieving family. Like: “Just yesterday, he told me I would rather be dead than working for you! “
Dark humour is best avoided if you are having a heated argument with someone. For example, you don’t say “you are beginning to sound like Trump” when you know quite well that he is not a Trump supporter.
Commiserating with someone for a loss is best done in the most sincere manner. Injecting some humour in the hope of lightening the situation may not go well. For instance, a person is very upset that his vintage Ford car can no longer run. You should think twice before telling him “Get an Ox to draw it, you will have an ‘Ox-Ford’. These are days when everything has to be politically correct. Please read 🔗FC #016 to know more.
Tarun Kunzru sent me a few and I find them fitting in here nicely:
“I have a few jokes about unemployed people, but none of them work.”
“Heard about the new restaurant ‘Karma’? There’s no menu. You get what you deserve.
“I tried to sue the airlines for losing my bag. I lost my case.”
“Is Thesaurus an articulate dinosaur with good vocabulary?”
Finally:
“I shot my doctor dead when he said I have less than a year to live. The Judge gave me fifteen.”
Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Please humour me with your comments even if it is dry or dark! 😀
dry, dark, satire....refined expressions of comedy .....more enjoyable and tasteful than the loud, expressive and gaudy types....
talking of a combination of dry and dark humour I cannot resist the temptation to recall the great Master Hirannaiah....his plays were such an optimal dose on the dark side of politics enacted in such a matter-of-fact dry manner ......
Humour is Humour - Dark Rum or Dry Gin both work. They leave me high spirited!!