Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Dark Humor

"I wanted to die laughing, so I changed my name" 

. . .
Dark humor or black comedy from the French humour noir is an expression coined by the surrealist theoretician, André Breton in 1935, and refers to satire, where laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism, most often about the topic of death. 

"Life’s greatest gift is the freedom it leaves you to step out of it whenever you choose." 
André Breton (Anthology of Black Humor)

Breton's book, Anthologie de l'humour noir (Anthology of Black Humor) was banned, but was again published in 1947 and then again in 1966. Some of the writers included in his "black humor" include: 

Edgar Allan Poe
 "I have great faith in fools - my friends call it self-confidence"


Jonathan Swift

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in confederacy against him." 


Charles Baudelaire
"Remembering is only a new form of suffering"



Lewis Carroll
 "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there"



Friedric Nietzsche
"In heaven, all the interesting people are missing" 

 
Arthur Rimbaud
"Life is the farce we are all forced to endure"


 
O. Henry
"The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate"

 
Franz Kafka (though I haven't a clue as to why)
"I am a cage, in search of a bird"


Jean-Pierre Duprey
"I shouldn't have gotten stuck in this galaxy"


It is said that introverts prefer more subtle, ironic humor and that extroverts enjoy more outrageous comedy. As for me, I like to think of myself as a Comedienne, when I tell people this they laugh and laugh...

Just do it... 
(That's my darker side speaking)

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