The first time I would have to say I was confronted with dark comedy was probably in high school (go figure). I was introduced to dark comedy before but the thing is, I really didn’t know it was a genre of comedy. The television shows and the people I was around when I was growing up made dark jokes (usually humor of hypothetical violence/tragedy). But the one who showed me dark humor in literature was my senior year English teacher, Mr. McDun.
Back in my days of high school, I was fortunate enough to meet one an insane and senile as McDun was. The first time I met him was my sophomore year as he supervised my study period. He knew me from my brother, who was currently in his Senior English class. At first, I thought he was crazy. I heard many stories about him such as him giving you 40 A’s in one day but still have a failing grade. He would sing old songs in class and play his kazoo to “Role down the Barrel”. Every now and then alumni would come by and McDun will know where he sat, what class he was in, everything about his family, what grade he got, but could not remember his name. He was quite the character.
Anyways, he always had books over on his podium that I always took an interest in (anything to procrastinate studying). One study period I was looking through the book, and saw pictures in one. The book was Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. It was hilarious to see someone actual draw out a sketch of an asshole. When asking my teacher what kind of book had pictures in it, he called me a Gumba (he called a lot of people Gumba’s). He explained that it was novel written by America’s greatest novelist and explained the book with the terms of “dead-pan satire” and “dark humor”.
After being intrigued and bored, I decided to read the book. I soon learned that Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions was written as a birthday present to himself. It was written with simple, childlike illustrations and it has a patchwork story that eventually defies the constraints of the stories format itself that leads up to a message of self-liberation. This book really consumed me with its humor for the humor was not like anything else I have experienced before. Take this joke:
“Teachers of children in the United States of America wrote this date on blackboards again and again, and asked the children to memorize it with pride and joy: 1492. The teachers told the children that this was when their continent was discovered by human beings. Actually, millions of human beings were already living full and imaginative lives on the continent in 1492. That was simply the year in which sea pirates began to cheat and rob and kill them.” (Breakfast of Champions)
I couldn’t help at laugh at Vonnegut’s cynical-ism but I also got the feeling of “what the fuck is wrong with humans?” It gave me an uncomfortable feeling and made me really do something I never done before, analyze jokes. It was the first time I felt humorous and angry at the same time.
Breakfast of Champion really put more meaning into dark comedy for me and really got me into the genre. Maybe I confused dark comedy with obscenity but after breakfast of champions, I started to appreciate dark humor more.
Back in my days of high school, I was fortunate enough to meet one an insane and senile as McDun was. The first time I met him was my sophomore year as he supervised my study period. He knew me from my brother, who was currently in his Senior English class. At first, I thought he was crazy. I heard many stories about him such as him giving you 40 A’s in one day but still have a failing grade. He would sing old songs in class and play his kazoo to “Role down the Barrel”. Every now and then alumni would come by and McDun will know where he sat, what class he was in, everything about his family, what grade he got, but could not remember his name. He was quite the character.
Anyways, he always had books over on his podium that I always took an interest in (anything to procrastinate studying). One study period I was looking through the book, and saw pictures in one. The book was Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. It was hilarious to see someone actual draw out a sketch of an asshole. When asking my teacher what kind of book had pictures in it, he called me a Gumba (he called a lot of people Gumba’s). He explained that it was novel written by America’s greatest novelist and explained the book with the terms of “dead-pan satire” and “dark humor”.
After being intrigued and bored, I decided to read the book. I soon learned that Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions was written as a birthday present to himself. It was written with simple, childlike illustrations and it has a patchwork story that eventually defies the constraints of the stories format itself that leads up to a message of self-liberation. This book really consumed me with its humor for the humor was not like anything else I have experienced before. Take this joke:
“Teachers of children in the United States of America wrote this date on blackboards again and again, and asked the children to memorize it with pride and joy: 1492. The teachers told the children that this was when their continent was discovered by human beings. Actually, millions of human beings were already living full and imaginative lives on the continent in 1492. That was simply the year in which sea pirates began to cheat and rob and kill them.” (Breakfast of Champions)
I couldn’t help at laugh at Vonnegut’s cynical-ism but I also got the feeling of “what the fuck is wrong with humans?” It gave me an uncomfortable feeling and made me really do something I never done before, analyze jokes. It was the first time I felt humorous and angry at the same time.
Breakfast of Champion really put more meaning into dark comedy for me and really got me into the genre. Maybe I confused dark comedy with obscenity but after breakfast of champions, I started to appreciate dark humor more.
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