'Hopscotch to oblivion', Barcelona, Spain

A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor.^[1] The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

History and etymology[link]

Coinage in France by André Breton[link]

The term black humor (from the French humour noir) was coined by the Surrealist theoretician André Breton in 1935,^[7][8] to designate a sub-genre of comedy and satire^[9][10] in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism,^[7][11] often relying on topics such as death.^[12][13]

Breton coined the term for his book Anthology of Black Humor (Anthologie de l'humour noir), in which he credited Jonathan Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor, and included excerpts from 45 other writers. Breton included both examples in which the wit arises from a victim, with which the audience empathizes, as is more typical in the tradition of gallows humor, and examples in which the comedy is used to mock the victim, whose suffering is trivialized, and leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as is the case with Sade. Black humor is related to that of the grotesque genre.^[14]

Breton identified Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor, particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants (1731), A Modest Proposal (1729), A Meditation Upon a Broom-Stick (1710), and a few aphorisms.^[8][11]

The terms black comedy or dark comedy have been later derived as alternatives to Breton's term. In black humor, topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo, specifically those related to death, are treated in an unusually humorous or satirical manner while retaining their seriousness; the intent of black comedy, therefore, is often for the audience to experience both laughter and discomfort, sometimes simultaneously.^{[citation needed]}

Adoption in literary criticism[link]

Bruce Jay Friedman, in his anthology entitled Black Humor, imported the concept to the United States, labeling with it very different authors and works, arguing that they shared the same literary genre. The Friedman label came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. Early American writers who employed black humor were Nathanael West ^[1] and Vladimir Nabokov.^[1] In 1965 a mass-market paperback, titled Black Humor, was released. Containing work by a myriad of authors, which included J.P. Donleavy,^[5][6] Edward Albee,^[5][6] Joseph Heller,^[5][6] Thomas Pynchon,^[5][6] John Barth,^[5][6] Vladimir Nabokov,^[5][6] Bruce Jay Friedman,^[5][6] himself, and Louis-Ferdinand Celine,^[5][6] this was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the conception of black humor as a literary genre; the publication also sparked nation wide interest in black humor.^[6][15] Among the writers labeled as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl,^[16] Thomas Pynchon,^[9] Kurt Vonnegut,^[9] Warren Zevon, John Barth,^[9] Joseph Heller,^[9] and Philip Roth.^[9] The motive for applying the label black humorist to all the writers cited above is that they have written novels, poems, stories, plays and songs in which profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner.

The purpose of black comedy is to make light of serious and often taboo subject matter, and some comedians use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues, thus provoking discomfort and serious thought as well as amusement in their audience. Popular themes of the genre include murder, suicide, depression, abuse, mutilation, war, barbarism, drug abuse, terminal illness, domestic violence, sexual violence, paedophilia, insanity, nightmare, disease, racism, homophobia, sexism, disability (both physical and mental), chauvinism, corruption, and crime.

Comedians, like Lenny Bruce,^[10] that since the late 1950s have been labeled "sick comedy" by mainstream journalists, have also been labeled with "black comedy." After Lenny Bruce,^[10] others have been Sam Kinison, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Jimmy Carr, Daniel Tosh, Frankie Boyle, Chris Morris and the Monty Python team.

By contrast, blue comedy focuses more on crude topics, such as nudity, sex and bodily fluids. Although the two are interrelated, black comedy is different from straightforward obscenity in that it is more subtle and does not necessarily have the explicit intention of offending people. In obscene humor, much of the humorous element comes from shock and revulsion, while black comedy might include an element of irony, or even fatalism. For example, the archetypal black-comedy self-mutilation appears in the English novel Tristram Shandy. Tristram, five years old at the time, starts to urinate out of an open window for lack of a chamber pot. The sash falls and circumcises him; his family reacts with both chaotic action and philosophic digression.

Visual media[link]

Motion pictures[link]

Black comedy is commonly used in dramatic or satirical films, retaining its serious tone, working as a tool of many films, television shows and video games. Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove presents one of the best-known mainstream examples of black comedy.^[9] The subject of the film is nuclear warfare and the possible 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 instead 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, Group Captain Mandrake serves as the only sane character in the film, while Major Kong fills the role of the hero striving for a harmful goal.

Television[link]

The most successful television situation comedy also to be a black comedy is M*A*S*H, which, like the film version of M*A*S*H that had inspired it, treated the Korean War as a subject of black comedy; it deliberately kept recorded laughter out of the operating room sequences, and many of the episodes described the absurdity of many combat situations, even in sequences where the characters were weathering hostile fire.

See also[link]

• Comedy horror
• Cringe humor
• Crude humor
• Gallows humor
• Macabre
• Problem plays
• Schadenfreude
• Shock value

Notes[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Merriam-Webster, Inc (1995) Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of literature, entry black humor, p.144
2. ^ Garrick, Jacqueline and Williams, Mary Beth (2006) Trauma treatment techniques: innovative trends pp.175-6
3. ^ Lipman, Steve (1991) Laughter in hell: the use of humor during the Holocaust, Northvale, N.J:J Aronson Inc.
4. ^ Kurt Vonnegut (1971) Running Experiments Off: An Interview, interview by Laurie Clancy, published in Meanjin Quarterly, 30 (Autumn, 1971), pp.46-54, and in Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut, quote:

   The term [Black Humor] was part of the language before Freud wrote an essay on it -- 'gallows humor.' This is middle European humor, a response to hopeless situations. It's what a man says faced with a perfectly hopeless situation and he still manages to say something funny. Freud gives examples: A man being led out to be hanged at dawn says, 'Well, the day is certainly starting well.' It's generally called Jewish humor in this country. Actually it's humor from the peasants' revolt, the thirty years' war, and from the Napoleonic wars. It's small people being pushed this way and that way, enormous armies and plagues and so forth, and still hanging on in the face of hopelessness. Jewish jokes are middle European jokes. And the black humorists are gallows humorists, as they try to be funny in the face of situations which they see as just horrible.

5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Bloom, Harold (2010) Dark Humor, ch. On dark humor in literature, pp.80-88
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Freud (1927) Humor
7. ^ ^{a b} Real, Hermann Josef (2005) The reception of Jonathan Swift in Europe, p.90 quote:

   At least, Swift's text is preserved, and so is a prefactory note by the French writer André Breton, which emphasizes Swift's importance as the originator of black humor, of laughter that arises from cynicism and scepticism.

8. ^ ^{a b} Lezard, Nicholas (2009-02-21). "From the sublime to the surreal". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/feb/21/anthology-of-black-humour. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-blackhum.html
10. ^ ^{a b c} "black humor - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about black humor". Encyclopedia.farlex.com. http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/black+humor. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
11. ^ ^{a b} André Breton introduction to Swift in Anthology of Black Humor, quote:

    When it comes to black humor, everything designates him as the true initiator. In fact, it is impossible to coordinate the fugitive traces of this kind of humor before him, not even in Heraclitus and the Cynics or in the works of Elizabethan dramatic poets. [...] historically justify his being presented as the first black humorist. Contrary to what Voltaire might have said, Swift was in no sense a "perfected Rabelais." He shared to the smallest possible degree Rabelais's taste for innocent, heavy-handed jokes and his constant drunken good humor. [...] a man who grasped things by reason and never by feeling, and who enclosed himself in skepticism; [...] Swift can rightfully be considered the inventor of "savage" or "gallows" humor.

12. ^ Thomas Leclair (1975) Death and Black Humor in Critique, Vol. 17, 1975
13. ^ . JSTOR 306869. 
14. ^ Merhi, Vanessa M. (2006) Distortion as identity from the grotesque to l'humour noir
15. ^ Bloom, Harold (2010) Dark Humor, ch. On dark humor in literature, pp.82
16. ^ James Carter Talking Books: Children's Authors Talk About the Craft, Creativity and Process of Writing, Volume 2 p.97 Routledge, 2002

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Micah S. Katt Williams^[1] (born September 2, 1973)^[2] is a U.S. comedian, rapper, and actor. He is best known for his role as Money Mike in Friday After Next. He is also known for his stint on Nick Cannon’s MTV improv show, Wild 'n Out, for playing the fictional character Bobby Shaw on the program My Wife and Kids, as well as providing the voice for the character "A Pimp Named Slickback" in The Boondocks.

Career[link]

Williams started being a comedian in his neighborhood, Avondale, most notably appearing on BET's Comic View. He has also played supporting characters in movies such as First Sunday and Norbit, but is probably more widely recognized for his character Money Mike in the movie Friday After Next. He has also used the Money Mike stage name when rapping for songs by such artists as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free.

Williams has provided numerous skits and video appearances for artists such as Nick Cannon, DJ Drama, E-40, The Game, Lyfe Jennings, Lil Jon, Lil’ Kim, Lil' Scrappy, Ludacris, Outkast, T.I., Cyrano Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Machine Gun Kelly, and others. He was a cast member on Wild 'n Out for several seasons; he voices "A Pimp Named Slickback" on the Adult Swim's The Boondocks; he plays himself as an onstage comedian in Grand Theft Auto IV; and Williams has appeared in several episodes of My Wife and Kids as character Bobby Shaw. He was also on Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.

Anti-Mexican rant[link]

On August 27, 2011, at a standup performance in Phoenix, Arizona, Katt Williams got into an argument with a heckler in the studio audience. Once the offending audience member of Mexican descent claimed that Arizona was Mexican territory, Williams started arguing that the country should have fought to maintain California and that U.S. citizens of Mexican descent should "get back over there" if they are more patriotic to Mexico than the USA, and then chanted "USA." He then went on to say, that he has love for his Mexican American homies and seemed to win the crowd over. The member of the studio audience was later ejected from the venue by security staff. ^[3]

Legal problems[link]

A mugshot of Williams in 2011.

On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase.^[4] On December 14, 2006, Williams pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years probation, ordered to pay restitution, and was given credit for the three days he spent in jail.^[1]

In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond.^[5] Police later charged Williams with burglary and criminal trespass.^[6]

On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection of an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30pm local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries.^[7] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon and Williams for felony intimidation of a witness. ^[8] Williams was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail. ^[9]

Personal life[link]

Williams currently lives in Los Angeles and is a father of eight including one biological son, Micah, from his former marriage, and seven adopted children. He moved to the east-coast with his eight children in 2008 and set-up a temporary residence at Eaton House, Watchung, NJ, which he later attempted to purchase as a permanent residence for him and his family. He recently won back custody of one of his adopted children after a former nanny who claimed an eight-year-old girl was her biological child and had won custody after Williams had failed to make a court appearance; after Williams filed a claim the following month that the nanny was a "shameless fraud", Williams won back custody of the child.^[10]

Filmography[link]

• Friday After Next (2002)-Money Mike
• Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003) -Neighbor(Uncredited)
• Repos (2006) (V)
• Katt Williams: Live: Let a Playa Play (2006)-Himself
• Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1 (2006)-Himself
• Norbit (2007)-Lord Have Mercy
• The Perfect Holiday (2007)-Delicious
• American Hustle: The Movie (2007)-Himself
• Epic Movie (2007)-Harry Beaver
• Internet Dating (2008)
• First Sunday (2008)-Rickey
• It's Pimpin' Pimpin' (2008)-Himself
• Lonely Street (2009)-Rodent
• Katt Williams Presents: Katthouse (2009)-Himself
• Katt Williams: Pimpadelic (2009)-Himself
• Katt Williams: 9 Lives (2010)-Himself
• Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010)-Seamus

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Katt Williams

• Official website
• Katt Williams at the Internet Movie Database
• VIBE Profile
• Katt Williams as Host of Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav

Jack Black
Jack Black, Los Angeles, California on October 4, 2011
Background information
Also known as	Jables, JB
Born	(1969-08-28) August 28, 1969 (age 42)[1] Santa Monica, California, United States
Genres	Rock, comedy rock, heavy metal, hard rock, acoustic rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, actor, comedian
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, percussion, keyboard
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Epic, Sony BMG
Associated acts	Tenacious D, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Probot, Foo Fighters, Meat Loaf, Ronnie James Dio
Website	www.tenaciousd.com

Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969)^[1] is an American comedian, actor and musician. He makes up one half of the comedy and satirical rock duo Tenacious D. The group has three albums as well as a television series and a film. His acting career is extensive, starring primarily as bumbling, cocky, but internally self-conscious outsiders in comedy films. He was a member of the Frat Pack, a group of comedians who have appeared together in several Hollywood films, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe award. He has also won an MTV Movie Award, and a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award as well as hosting the 2006, 2008, and 2011 Kids Choice Awards.

Early life[link]

Black was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of two satellite engineers, Judith (née Cohen), who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, and Thomas William Black.^[2][3] His mother is Jewish and his father converted to Judaism (Black attended Hebrew school).^[4][5] On The Tonight Show, he said his surname may have come from the occupational name Blacksmith.^[6] Black's parents divorced when he was 10; Black moved to Culver City with his father and frequently visited his mother’s home. As a child, Black appeared in a commercial for the Activision game Pitfall! in 1982,^[7] which was later shown during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and again on The Tonight Show with Conan O' Brien. When Black entered high school, his parents enrolled him at the Poseidon School, a private secondary school engineered specifically for students struggling in the traditional school system.^[8] Black also attended the Crossroads School, where he excelled in drama. He later attended UCLA but dropped out during his sophomore year to pursue a career in entertainment, at which point his father discontinued his financial support.^{[citation needed]} Fellow UCLA alumnus Tim Robbins later cast Black in Bob Roberts. He also had recurring roles on the HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

Black's acting career began with prime time television. He played roles on shows including Life Goes On, Northern Exposure, Mr. Show, Picket Fences, and The X-Files. Black appeared in the unaired TV pilot Heat Vision and Jack, directed by Ben Stiller, in which he played an ex-astronaut pursued by actor Ron Silver. He was accompanied by his friend who had merged with a motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson.

Black later took on small roles in Airborne, Demolition Man, Waterworld, The Fan, Mars Attacks!, Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking, and others. He had a small role in True Romance as a security guard, but the scene was deleted. In 2000, he appeared in High Fidelity as a wild employee in John Cusack's record store, a role Black considers his breakout.^{[citation needed]}

His career soon led to leading roles in films such as Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Year One and Gulliver's Travels. He received particular praise for his starring role in the well-received School of Rock, earning critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Musical Or Comedy.^[9] In a rare move, he starred in a dramatic role as the obsessed filmmaker Carl Denham in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, a performance he based on Orson Welles. He voiced the title role in Kung Fu Panda, which grossed $20.3 million on its opening day, June 6, 2008, and Kung Fu Panda 2; it is a role he considers his favorite, with a performance enhanced with the tutoring of co-star and two time Academy Award winner, Dustin Hoffman. On September 13, 2009 before nominees for best rock video at MTV Video Music Awards Black led the audience in a Satanic prayer in which he told the audience to throw up their horns.^[10] His next film, The Big Year, a competitive birdwatching comedy co-starring Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and JoBeth Williams, was released in October 2011. He is referred to in the media as a member of the Frat Pack,^{[citation needed]} a group of comedy actors who frequently work together, which also includes Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell.

He guest-starred on The Office along with Cloris Leachman, Jessica Alba, and Steve Carell in a movie within the show. He also guest-starred in iCarly, in the episode iStart a Fan War.

Black has appeared numerous times on the "untelevised TV network" short film festival Channel101, created by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab, starring in the shows Computerman, Timebelt, and Laserfart. He also provided an introduction for the unaired sketch comedy Awesometown, donning a Colonial-era military uniform. In the introduction, he claims to be George Washington (and takes credit for the accomplishments of other American Presidents such as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln). Black also guest starred in the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" show Tom Goes to the Mayor, as a bear-trap store owner. Black also guest-starred on Dan Harmon's show Community.

Black hosted the 2006 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards on April 1, 2006 and hosted it again March 29, 2008, and April 2, 2011. He also appeared on the MTV video music awards on August 31, 2006. Black has made five appearances on Saturday Night Live: three times as a host, once as a musical guest (with Kyle Gass as Tenacious D), and another appearance with Tenacious D, not as a host or musical guest. He produced and appeared on VH1's Internet video show Acceptable.TV.^[11]

Black voice acted for The Simpsons episode "Husbands and Knives", which aired November 18, 2007, voicing the friendly owner of the rival comic book store, Milo. Black took part in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? celebrity edition along with Denis Leary, Jimmy Kimmel and others and was handed the prize of US$125,000 in October 2001.^[12] On December 14, Jack Black hosted the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards. He provided the voice of the main character, roadie Eddie Riggs, in the heavy metal-themed action-adventure video game, Brütal Legend. In 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards, he earned the Best Voice award for the voice of Eddie Riggs in Brütal Legend. In April 2009, Black also starred in an episode of the children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba!" on Nick Jr. vocalized funny kid songs such as "It's Not Fun to Get Lost", "Friends" and "The Goodbye Song". He was also voiced as Po on Kung Fu Panda.

Music career[link]

Jack Black with Kyle Gass of Tenacious D.

Black, also known as JB or Jables, is the lead singer for the rock comedy band Tenacious D. Along with Kyle Gass, they have released three albums, a self-titled debut, the follow-up, The Pick of Destiny, and Rize of the Fenix. One of their songs "The Metal", from their album "The Pick of Destiny" was used in the music video games "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock" and "Brütal Legend". "Rock Your Socks" from the album "Tenacious D" was played in the music videogame "Rock Band Unplugged", and "Master Exploder" from "The Pick Of Destiny" went on to be used in music video games "Guitar Hero Van Halen" and "Rock Band 2", along with their song "Tribute" from "Tenacious D". "Master Exploder" and "The Metal" featured in the film Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. The film, directed by Tenacious D veteran Liam Lynch, features recurring characters such as Lee the superfan and Sasquatch. Tim Robbins cameos as does Dave Grohl and Satan. Ben Stiller also makes an appearance as a worker at Guitar Center, and also another appearance in the music video for "Tribute".

Tenacious D helped the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation^[13] to raise awareness and funds in San Diego on June 16, 2007. Tenacious D can be seen performing in the Pauly Shore film Bio-Dome where the duo is performing its song "The Five Needs" at a "Save the Environment" party. Black was also a guest star on an episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show entitled "Ellen the Musical", alongside Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth and teenage singer-actress Olivia Olson. On the show, besides singing, he discussed his then-upcoming film Nacho Libre with the host.

Black has also appeared on Dave Grohl's Probot album, providing vocals for the hidden song "I Am The Warlock", and Lynch's Fake Songs album, providing vocals for the song "Rock and Roll Whore". Black performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in the last sequence of High Fidelity. He lent his musical abilities to the Queens of the Stone Age song "Burn the Witch" with rhythmic stomps and claps, some performed with his eyes closed. He also provided vocals for The Lonely Island's track "Sax Man" from the album Incredibad.

Black has also recorded a duet on Meat Loaf's new CD Hang Cool Teddy Bear. The song is called Like a Rose. Meat Loaf has also played Black's father in the Pick of Destiny movie. Hang Cool Teddy Bear also features Hugh Laurie, Kara Dioguardi, Brian May, Steve Vai & Patti Russo, produced by Rob Cavallo.

Black performing in 2006

Black has appeared in music videos of Beck "Sexx Laws"; Foo Fighters "Learn To Fly", "Low", and "The One"; The Eagles of Death Metal's "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)"; Sum 41's "Things I Want"; Dio's "Push"; and Weezer's "Photograph." In October 2010, Tenacious D appeared at BlizzCon 2010, a convention hosted by the game designers, Blizzard Entertainment.

Personal life[link]

In January 2006, Black became engaged to Tanya Haden. She is the daughter of the jazz double bassist Charlie Haden, and sister of violinist and singer Petra Haden. Haden herself is an accomplished cellist. Both attended Crossroads school and met again 15 years after graduating, at a friend's birthday party. Black proposed marriage around Christmas 2005. They married on March 14, 2006, in Big Sur, California.^[14] Their son, Samuel Jason "Sammy" Black, was born on June 10, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.^[15] On May 23, 2008, Black and his wife had their second son, Thomas David Black.^[16] Black is an atheist, but is still considering sending his children to a Jewish school.^[17][18]

Filmography[link]

Television work[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jack Black

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jack Black

• Jack Black at the Internet Movie Database
• Jack Black at AllRovi
• Jack Black collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Margot at the Wedding
• Suicide Girls interview
• Jack Black in King Kong
• The Tao of Jack Black, Steve Ramos, Cincinnati CityBeat, October 8, 2003