History Main / GallowsHumor

* ''Film/DeepImpact'': After the plan to destroy the comet fails and result in it splitting in two and the smaller fragment hurtling towards earth. Since it's determined that nothing can be done about the smaller pice, the crew of the Messiah discuss that the only way to destroy the larger comet is to inside it and plant the remaining nukes and set them off. When one of the crewmmebers asks how they're supposed to accomplish that when they have almost no fuel to maneuver properly, never mind return to Earth, it dawns on the crew that [[HeroicSacrifice they won't go back to earth]]. One of the crewmwmemebrs quips: "well, look on the bright side. We'll all have high schools named after us."

-->-- '''Creator/BoBurnham''', ''[[https://youtu.be/ejc5zic4q2A?t=781 what.]]''

Thankfully, there's a way to keep sane: humour. People who are easily hurt, [[StopHavingFunGuys or like to keep things 'dignified' and 'serious']], may say "[[DudeNotFunny This is not a laughing matter]]." But the truth is there is a healing power to comedy. If you can make fun of yourself, talk about your problems and have someone laugh with you, you feel better and your problems don't seem quite so bad anymore.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8358093/1/Love-in-Shades-of-Green-and-Gray Love in Shades of Green and Gray]]'', [[Franchise/TeenTitans Beast Boy]]'s final words to Raven (a natural death at the age of 211, with her living three centuries more) are "How do you keep a beautiful half-demon in suspense"?

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Harry's brand of snark become increasingly loaded with this as time goes by and the near-death (and occasional actual death) experiences pile up, remarking when told that he's being essentially guided to face off against Thanos that he'll try to "fit him in between Surtur and [[spoiler: myself as a galaxy eating abomination]]." [[StepfordSnarker It is quite transparently a coping mechanism.]]
* In ''Fanfic/TheUnfantasticAdventuresOfBizarroNo1'', Bizarro-Flash, who is being trialed by the non-existent murder of his obviously living wife (long story), agrees to fight the [[ManOfKryptonite Blue-Kryptonite Men]] because "All they can do is shorten sentence". Bizarro identifies his witticism as "gallows humor".

* ''Fanfic/ThePeaceNotPromised'': Lily learns that [[PeggySue in his first life]], Severus was killed by Voldemort, and attempts to lighten the mood by replying, "Hey, we have something in common!" Severus isn't in the right mental space to appreciate it, though.

'''Colonel Trautman:''' Hell of a time for humor, John.\\

%%* Half of ''LightNovel/WelcomeToTheNHK'' is nothing but this, particularly with Satou and Yamazaki.

** An episode of where the Defiant was hit with a warhead, and Quark and a Gamma Quadrant merchant are stuck right next to it. It turns out the merchant sold that kind of warhead to the Defiant's attackers, but it was designed to go off on impact. Quark jokes that they deserve a refund. To a Ferengi, that would be almost a sin, but considering they were that close to death, he and the merchant burst into laughter. The merchant also prided himself on only selling [[HonestJohnsDealership top quality merchandise.]]

** During his losing battle with cancer, he announced he had it in an article called "[[IncrediblyLamePun Topic of Cancer]]," and said that, because his cancer was so developed he had "joined the cancer elite." He also said: "I make preparations for living and dying every day. But with the emphasis on not dying, and on acting as though I was going to carry on living."

-->'''Black Widow''': A boat is coming to pick you up in fifteen minutes -- try to hold out. If the enemy gets past us, my advice is for you to commit suicide.
-->'''Punisher''': You ought to do that anyway.

---> '''Roose''': You have lost [[spoiler:[[AnArmAndALeg a hand]]]].\\

--> '''Hazel:''' It's primarily his hotness.
--> '''Gus:''' It can be sort of blinding.
--> '''Hazel:''' It actually did blind our friend Isaac.
--> '''Gus:''' Terrible tragedy, that. But can I help my own deadly beauty?
--> '''Hazel:''' You cannot.
--> '''Gus:''' It is my burden, this beautiful face.
--> '''Hazel:''' Not to mention your body.
--> '''Gus:''' Seriously, don't ever get me started on my hot bod. You don't want to see me naked, Dave. Seeing me naked actually took Hazel Grace's breath away. ''*He nods toward Hazel's oxygen tank*''

--> '''Horatio:''' Still, I imagine it would be a damn close-run thing.\\

--> '''Soldiers''' (''singing''): “Mama said there’d be days like this”

-->'''Boris:''' Double-cross my heart and hope you die!

--> '''Tal:''' Well... living and living...

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

---> "S'il est vrai que l'humour est la politesse du désespoir, s'il est vrai que le rire, sacrilège blasphématoire que les bigots de toutes les chapelles taxent de vulgarité et de mauvais goût, s'il est vrai que ce rire-là peut parfois désacraliser la bêtise, exorciser les chagrins véritables et fustiger les angoisses mortelles, alors, oui, on peut rire de tout, on doit rire de tout. De la guerre, de la misère et de la mort.". Translation: "If it's true that humor is the politeness of despair, that laughter sacrilege blasphemous bigots of all the chapels are taxing of vulgarity and bad taste, if it's true that laughter there can sometimes desecrate stupidity, exorcise real sorrows and castigate mortal anguish, then, yes, we can laugh of everything, we must laugh of everything. of war, of misery and of death."

** His book "L'Almanach", which he wrote while in the final stages of his cancer, and was published after his death, is literally rife with Gallows Humour. Including, but not limited to, one different darkly sarcastic subtitle for Picasso's ''Guernica'' for each week of the year.

-->'''Lucille''': "Oh, it's so good to laugh again."\\
'''GOB''': "Oh, feels good."\\
'''George, Sr.''': "It does."\\
'''Michael''': "They say seven minutes heals all wounds."

* In the climax of ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'', when the Sheriff of Nottingham is preparing the hangman's scaffold to hang Friar Tuck, Nutsy, one of his henchmen, decides to test out the TrapDoor and triggers it, causing the Sheriff to fall through and [[TrapDoorFail get stuck in it]].

** Another story of the Terror tells of a commoner who was being tried and faced the guillotine. Assuming he was a nobleman, the court called out for him to stand, adding a "de" in front of his name. The prisoner stood up and testily replied : "Je ne suis pas ici pour qu'on m'allonge, mais qu'on me raccourcisse" (translation : I'm here to be shortened, not made longer). Reportedly, the judge liked his wit and answered "Eh bien, qu'on l'élargisse !" (lit. "very well then, let him be widened !", but in French legalese meaning "[[DeadlyEuphemism release him]]").

* While on the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic, Webvideo/ToddInTheShadows took the opportunity to highlight in his {{One Hit Wonder}}land show Corona's "The Rhythm of the Night", and also show that the video's comments were rife with people trying to laugh at how the other corona was hindering their lives ("1994: Corona went viral. 2020: Same.", "Today, Corona is the most popular group of the year #1 trend in China, Italy and America and goes viral in Europe, Iran, Arab countries, Brazil,Turkey,Argentina Chile and East Asia", etc.).

** The crew of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Sheffield_(D80) HMS Sheffield]], a British destroyer sunk in the Falklands in 1982, sang "Always look on the Bright Side of Life" from ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' while waiting for rescue.

--->'''George:''' [[spoiler:''[after losing an ear]'']] With the whole world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?

** Taken UpToEleven in his song for World War 3, "So Long Mom (I'm Off To Drop The Bomb)", on ''Music/ThatWasTheYearThatWas''.

* ''Film/{{Severance}}'' is a particularly good example of this. The comedy up until the middle of the movie is almost entirely BlackComedy, including the discovery that the meat pie the main characters have been eating contains a human tooth being met with the insistence that, "It's not all bad, I cooked it for the whole hour!" The movie actually ends with [[spoiler:the four surviving characters, two of whom are strippers, rowing to escape in a small boat. Things look bleak and no one really has any hope for survival when the sole male in the boat turns to his coworker and says, "Foursome?"]] It is the last line in the film.