by Bennett Creighton, Staff Writer
Some find it hard to call shock comedy “comedy,” while others laugh because they happen to be surprised by its nerve. However, the best “dark humor” comedians don’t just say outrageous statements for the sake of it—they say it for a reason. For context, shock humor is a style of comedy intended to shock the audience. This can be achieved through excessively foul toilet humor, overt sexual themes, mocking of serious themes (often referred to as black comedy), or through tactlessness in the aftermath of a crisis.
One of the best examples of this is George Miller, or Filthy Frank. The YouTube channel FitlhyFrankTV popped up around 2009 and lasted until about 2017. This was a different time on the Internet, without copyright strikes or e-begging. However, as the platform already showed signs of change, PG channels began to develop and “hack” the system. Then along came Filthy Frank. He was like nothing anyone had ever seen, making profound and unapologetic statements. He was an anti-Youtuber before there was even a word for it, with a channel featuring gems like "PINK GUY-HITLER'S EVIL SON," "VOMIT CAKE," and "100 ACCURATE LIFE HACKS.” In addition to his risque videos, Filthy Frank also had a rising career in music, and his channel featured a show about a group of characters with names like Salamander Man, Chin-Chin, and Pink Guy.
It’s true that Filthy Frank may be considered a degenerate of the Internet, with his crude stories about repulsive characters, particularly in the more family-friendly YouTube community we know today. Yet it can be argued that his vulgar content inadvertently showed how the beautiful and the unpleasant are intertwined to make life. Filthy Frank, with his repulsive behavior, actually brought some much-needed justice to the Internet. His show has since stopped, but the idea of shock comedy has not yet succumbed to the oncoming wave of PC jokes and squeaky clean media. And that’s the filthy truth.