first recorded 1961, from black (adj.) in a figurative sense of "morbid;" compare French pièce noire. In a racial sense, from 1921.

A story that substitutes morbid, unfunny situations for carefree, funny ones.

A literary genre involving the use of morbid, cruel, violent, gory, grotesque and tragic situations for comic purposes -- such works allow audiences to face difficult realities in a somewhat light-hea [..]

From the French humour noir. A term coined in 1935 by the French Surrealist theoretician André Breton to describe a subgenre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from attitudes of skepticism [..]

Black comedy is a subgenre of comedy that's all about making light of terrible situations. We're talking about really terrible situations here, like death, disease, racism, and violence. Pre [..]