I wouldn't say I have an all our dark sense of humour, or humor as we call it over here, but I do have a dark sensibility. No, wait scratch that, I do have a dark sense of humour, because when no one else is laughing at the irony and the humour in Edgar Allen Poe stories, I start to think there's something wrong with me. Anyway, I don't particularly like humour that puts down people per se, like the develop mentally challenged or jokes that are full up with racial slurs or racial implications, in fact those kinds of jokes tend to piss me off, actually my innate reaction to those kinds of jokes are "aren't we over this yet, and can't we come up with something a bit my challenging and interesting, I mean really?!" Then again, I can have a guffaw or two over cuteoverload.com, so I'm really not one thing, and I don't thing anybody is really... we can't only laugh at death and destruction, can we?
The biggest problem I have with dark humour is when comedians (Like Frankie Boyle) just use shock tactics as a replacement for actually being funny. Honestly, once you've heard one dead baby joke you've heard them all. I don't think any subject is off limits, context is everything... But the best dark comedy tends to be more subtle imo.
For me at least, the best comedy comes from a dark place. Shakespeare was actually quite dark. I like movies that are humorous on a dark level—Fargo, The Royal Tenenbaums, Very Bad Things, Magnolia, Bad Santa & Little Miss Sunshine come to mind. Comedians Greg Giraldo and George Carlin did dark humor well. I don't know that there's really a line, but depending on the occasion there can be a gray area. But my family laughs at funerals... so there you go. lol
I have a very dark sense of humour. I almost always end up offending someone either by laughing or telling an "inappropriate" joke. It's not superiority or a defense-mechanism for me. Nothing is off-limits and I don't apologize for it. It's just who I am and what I find funny. What I feel matters is the intention of the person telling the joke. If it's just for lulz then it's the best kind of humour there is, but if one is doing it specifically to be mean or discriminating it's not cool.
Lastly; OMG! I giggled sooo much at that dead baby joke! Right up my alley! ;)
There is no specific line. I love Dark Humor, but where my line is drawn, might not be where the line is drawn for somebody else. If we put "lines" on a scale of 1-100, 1 being offended easily, 100 being never offended, my line is at 95. I love "retard" jokes, but I have a "mentally challenged" mom. Yes, I did intentionally give the condition different labels. I understand that people get offended more easily than others. But you have to learn how to hold your tongue. Just like I HATE talking about politics and religion, and when people talk about things that I dont agree with I just keep it to myself and dont challenge other views, unless it is understood that we are "debating" with no ill feelings, just expressing. I dont have a boundary line really. But if it is crossed in a non disrespectful way, there are no ill feelings, I just need to get over it because they didnt know. However, if it is said to offend me, its gloves on. So back to the "lines" They vary from person to person, people need to understand humor is different to everybody. Cant we all just get along? Ill tell you a secret. I watched a comedian named George Carlins video on tv. And he was talking about religion. I have many "Bible thumper" friends and we just dont talk about religion because I have different views on it. Anyways. We were watching it and said "Religion has the greatest bullshit story ever told. Think about it, Religion has actually convinced people, that there is an invisible man, living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list, of 10 things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these 10 things, there is a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and die. But he loves you" (Yes I found the video on youtube to say exactly what he said) We all laughed out asses off. Then one day I found it on youtube, and "summed up" that whole quote and put it in my status WITH QUOTATIONS! The same people who watched this with on tv flipped out. Irony? Perhaps. Context, lines, and fingers in asses are what effects humor.
Lastly; OMG! I giggled sooo much at that dead baby joke! Right up my alley! ;)
Hope it all made sense :)