Off-color humor
humor of a vulgar nature
Off-color humor (also known as vulgar humor, crude humor, crass humor, coarse humor or shock humor) is humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or vulgar. Many comedic genres (including jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy, cringe comedy and skits) may incorporate "off-color" elements.
Most commonly labeled 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 or profanity; toilet humor; national superiority or inferiority, pedophilic content, and any 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, off-color humor is related to other forms of postmodern humor, such as the anti-joke.
History
Off-color jokes were used in Ancient Greek comedy, including the humor of Aristophanes. His work parodied some of the great tragedians of his time, especially Euripides, using τὸ φορτικόν/ἡ κωμῳδία φορτική (variously translated as "low comedy", "vulgar farce", "disgusting, obscene farces") that received great popularity among his contemporaries.
William Shakespeare, the 16th-century playwright and poet, is well known for his ribald humor. Almost every one of his plays contains suggestive jokes and innuendo.
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