Shock humour

Shock humour is a style of comedy intended to shock the audience. This can be achieved through excessively foul toilet humour, mocking of serious themes (a.k.a. black comedy), or through tactlessness in the aftermath of a crisis.

In radio, shock jocks use this brand of humour. In conservative communities, such risque broadcasting can cause controversy, such as Jim Quinn and Don Jefferson's "Stupid Human Tricks" segment of their late-80s WBZZ-FM show.

Examples of shock humour include Andrew Dice Clay and Norm MacDonald. The television shows Family Guy and Da Ali G Show. have also been described as shock humour.

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References

George Carlin

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic and author. Carlin was noted for his black comedy and his thoughts on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Carlin and his "Seven dirty words" comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a 5–4 decision affirmed the government's power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.

He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians: One newspaper called Carlin "the dean of counterculture comedians." In 2004, Carlin was placed second on the Comedy Central list of "Top 10 Comedians of US Audiences" compiled for an April 2004 special. The first of his 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. From the late 1980s, Carlin's routines focused on sociocultural criticism of modern American society. He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture. He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era, and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live. His final HBO special, It's Bad for Ya, was filmed less than four months before his death. In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.