{{short description|Comedy genre}} '''Insult comedy''' is a comedy genre in which the act consists mainly of offensive insults, usually directed at the audience or other performers.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G2nZzPKpwjkC&pg=PA167 | title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing |author=James Mendrinos, Jim Mendrinos |isbn=978-1-59257-231-1 |publisher=Penguin |year=2004}}</ref> Typical targets for insult include people in the show's audience, the town hosting the performance, or the subject of a roast. The style can be distinguished from an act based on satire, or political humor. Insult comedy is often used to deflect or silence hecklers even when the rest of the show is not focused on it.
== Performers == {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Fred Allen, especially towards his longtime friend and industry rival Jack Benny<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HxBhNQcJBUC&pg=PA141 |date=1991-10-10 |title=Fred Allen's Radio Comedy |isbn=978-0-87722-810-3 |author=Alan Havig|publisher=Temple University Press }}</ref> * Bianca Del Rio<ref name=nyt>ENCINIAS,JOSHUA . [https://www.bkmag.com/author/joshua-encinias/ "YOU’RE GONNA GET WET: DRAG INSULT COMIC BIANCA DEL RIO COMES TO BROOKLYN], ''BKMAG'', February 28, 2024</ref> * Greg Giraldo<ref name=BiancaDel>O'Connor, Anahad. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/arts/30giraldo.html "Greg Giraldo, Insult-Humor Comic, Dies at 44"], ''The New York Times'', September 30, 2010</ref> * Bob Hope<ref name=rtc>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gcKC3Ht5aEUC&pg=PA13 |year=2005 |title=The road to comedy |isbn=978-0-275-98257-7 |author= W. McCaffrey|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}</ref> * Pudgy<ref name="e855">{{cite | last=Ferretti | first=Fred | title=PUDGY, FIRST LADY OF INSULT, IN TOWN | date=February 27, 1981 | issn=0362-4331 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/27/arts/pudgyfirst-lady-of-insult-in-town.html | website=The New York Times | language=en-US | access-date=May 7, 2026 | page=}}</ref> * Don Rickles, widely considered the master of the genre<ref name=rtc/><ref>{{cite news |date=April 6, 2017 |first=Gary |last=Levin |title=Master of the insult: Comedian Don Rickles dies at 90 |newspaper=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/04/06/don-rickles-dies-90/100127122/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite interview |date=October 13, 1967 |interviewer=Don Page |title=From the Archives: A 1967 interview with Don Rickles, the ever-busy insult comic who never writes anything down |last=Rickles |first=Don |author-link=Don Rickles |website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-from-the-archives-don-rickles-interview-20170406-story.html }} </ref> * Rob Smigel, specifically when puppeteering Triumph the Insult Comic Dog {{div col end}}
== See also == * Roast (comedy) * The dozens
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
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Category:Comedy genres Category:Roast (comedy) Category:Stand-up comedy
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