Off-color humor
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| Off-color humor has been used in [[Ancient Greek comedy]], primarily by its most famous contributor and representative, [[Aristophanes]]. His work parodied some of the great tragedians of his time, especially [[Euripedes]], using sexual and excremental jokes which received great popularity among his contemporaries but would be considered embarrassing in the Christian milieu. | Off-color humor has been used in [[Ancient Greek comedy]], primarily by its most famous contributor and representative, [[Aristophanes]]. His work parodied some of the great tragedians of his time, especially [[Euripedes]], using sexual and excremental jokes which received great popularity among his contemporaries but would be considered embarrassing in the Christian milieu. | ||
| - | Dirty jokes were once considered [[subversive]] and underground, and rarely heard in public. Comedian [[Lenny Bruce]] was once tried, convicted, and actually jailed for [[obscenity]] after a stand up performance that included off-color humor in [[New York City]] in [[1964]]. Comedian and actor [[Redd Foxx]] was well-known in nightclubs in the 1960s and '70s for his raunchy [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up act]], but toned it down for [[Sanford and Son]] and [[The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour]], stating in the first monologue of the latter show that the only similarity between the show and his nightclub act was that "I'm smoking" [http://207.36.165.13/foxx.html]. American society has become increasingly tolerant of off-color humor since that time. Due in part to the mainstream success of comedians such as [[Dolemite]], Andrew Dice Clay's [[Andrew Dice Clay|"The Dice Man"]], and [[Richard Pryor]] in the 1970s and 1980s, such forms of humor came to be distributed widely, and grew socially acceptable. | + | Dirty jokes were once considered [[subversive]] and underground, and rarely heard in public. [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up comedian]] [[Lenny Bruce]] was once tried, convicted, and actually jailed for [[obscenity]] after a stand up performance that included off-color humor in [[New York City]] in [[1964]]. ==See also== |
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| - | In the 1990s and modern era, such comedians as [[George Carlin]] (and, in a more moderate form, [[Dave Chappelle]]) use "dirty" or otherwise shocking content to draw attention to their criticism of social issues - especially [[censorship]] and the socioeconomic divide. [[The Aristocrats (joke)|The Aristocrats]] is perhaps the most famous dirty joke in the US; certainly, it is one of the best-known and most oft-repeated among comedians themselves. | + | |
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| - | ==See also== | + | |
| *[[Toilet humour|Toilet humor]] | *[[Toilet humour|Toilet humor]] | ||
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Revision as of 11:52, 24 August 2007
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The term off-color humor (also known as dirty jokes or blue humor) is an Americanism used to describe various jokes, prose, poems, black comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morals in a culture. Most commonly labelled as "off-color" are acts concerned with sex, a particular ethnic group, or gender. Other off-color topics include: violence, particularly domestic abuse; excessive swearing; national superiority or inferiority, dead baby jokes, pedophilic content, and any other topics generally considered impolite or indecent. Generally, the point of off-color humor is to induce laughter by evoking a feeling of shock and surprise in the comedian's audience. In this way, "blue" humor is related to other forms of postmodern humor, such as the anti-joke.
Off-color humor has been used in Ancient Greek comedy, primarily by its most famous contributor and representative, Aristophanes. His work parodied some of the great tragedians of his time, especially Euripedes, using sexual and excremental jokes which received great popularity among his contemporaries but would be considered embarrassing in the Christian milieu.
Dirty jokes were once considered subversive and underground, and rarely heard in public. stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce was once tried, convicted, and actually jailed for obscenity after a stand up performance that included off-color humor in New York City in 1964. ==See also==
