Although the story is serious, it also includes plenty of
gallows humor, particularly when it comes to Bryan's encounters with his "ghosts." Eventually Bryan teams up with Ayah, a cheeky assassin who's into comic books, and who has stealth weaponry in place of her missing left hand.
It's called
gallows humor, and it may not be a bad thing - as the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine.
She tells us why she decided to tackle such a taboo topic, how
gallows humor can be a survival mechanism, and whether it matters if the joke-teller is Jewish or not.
It might not hit the breathless delirium of pure farce, but it's full of
gallows humor, twistier than the summer of 62 and much cleverer than your average comic caper.
Populated with original characters and creatures, the text is a quirky composite of tongue-in-cheek and
gallows humor. No word is wasted and the pace is breathless.
A key to the trickster element of the tale smiles out from the rattlesnake's laughing fanged expression: Comic relief and
gallows humor combine effortlessly.
That juxtaposition "seems really Indian-v to me--there's a strong thread of
gallows humor in our shows," says Ramirez, who is of Tuscarora heritage herself.
"
Gallows humor" is a staple in the professions which have to deal with grief and suffering, from medicine to law (and law enforcement), to personal defense.
His works such as Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) and Breakfast of Champions (1973) blend satire,
gallows humor and science fiction.
Watson leads off with an example of medical
gallows humor and concludes by applying her list of considerations to it, yet the conclusion she reaches has a tentative feel: we are on "thin ice," she allows.
Once inside, get ready for a little
gallows humor and a chance to have your picture taken standing behind the bars of one of the old jail cells.
Even our president says there's a certain amoung of "
gallows humor" going around the White House.