coping with horror through comedy...
Gore et Uma is the name of a Russian play that translates as Woe from Wit; it was produced in London about 10 years ago as Chatsky or the Importance of Being Stupid.

Theodor Adorno declared that it is barbarous to write a poem after Auschwitz. but isn't that precisely when we need poems, and comedy too. consider Benigni's film Life is Beautiful, or Brooks' The Producers (with its "Springtime for Hitler"). and for the spectacular how about the destruction of the world in Dr. Strangelove....

unspeakable horror can, in the healing process, become fertile soil for comedy. this need not be a trivialization of victims and survivors' reactions, but an adaptation and a renewal in the face of death. the heart of comedy is often fed by outrage and deep sadness.

G.W. Bowersock writes of September 11:
"Like the phoenix, comedy can emerge unscathed from the flames and the ashes. Right now, in the midst of smoldering rubble, it may be hard or even impossible to discern this magical creature through our present nightmare. But it is not dead. It will re-appear...."