The term off-color humor (also known as dirty jokes) is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy and skits that deal with topics considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture.
In the 1990s and modern era, comedians such as Dave Chappelle use shocking content to draw attention to their criticism of social issues, especially censorship and the socioeconomic divide.