Lesson 36 · The line · 6 min · Edge
Dark humor: handle with care
Why it kills on stage and often dies at dinner
The big ideaDark humor jokes about death, illness and disaster. On stage, the audience bought a ticket for it. At a dinner, you don't know who just lost someone. The safest dark humor is about your own experience.
Watch the pro do it
Watch forJeselnik plays a smug, cruel character and tells shockingly dark one-liners with a straight face. The audience laughs partly because it's a performance by a known villain character. Notice how much of the laugh is the shock itself. That's exactly why it doesn't transfer to a dinner table.
Via Netflix Is A Joke on YouTube
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