What makes comedy “dark”? You heard the one about the comedian who murdered a joke? Is that what we mean? Not exactly.
There is a tradition in theatre called “Black Comedy”. The idea of laughing at misfortune seems distasteful. But the idea of experiencing something that is slightly disturbing, or weirdly out of place, a comedian who murders their audience, literally.
There are many examples on the telly, The Young Ones is a classic example of darkly anarchic comedy. Inside No. 9 or Black Mirror explore the irony or twisted reality that reflects a side of life you may not wish to experience, or a future that has run away with itself.
I recall a wonderful old horror film called Dead of Night – which was a 1940s black and white exploration of the weird. A ventriloquist dummy that bit the hand that manipulated it, a hearse driver calls up “just room for one inside, sir” repeated by a bus conductor who looks exactly the same just before the bus crashes. The film of American Psycho is darkly humorous poking fun at our values. Or on TV – familiar cartoons Family Guy and of course Southpark. Or the excellent Breaking Bad. Incredulity stretched.
What kind of production does Dark Comedy make? We like twists and surprise endings that need exploration. We like sequels up to a point. Do not repeat yourself, or run an idea dry. We like to make scripts, get actors to record them, edit and mix them with sound effects and reinvent the radio play with an edge.
We also like the work of really funny people telling their stories, and a youtube video of your living room standup act may be just the tonic locked down people need.