Comfort

• Jokes help provide a certain comfort level when discussing taboo subjects. An object of ridicule, by definition, is less threatening than an object of fear, and laughing at something naturally allows an individual to feel superior to it. While speaking about a taboo subject seriously may provoke discomfort, awkwardness or flat-out outrage, a joke on a taboo subject defuses the tension and allows people to approach it more readily.
  
  

Tension

• Conversely, since taboo subjects often elicit tension in the listener, a comedian can use it as a "set up" for his jokes. Without tension, laughter loses much of its potency, as it has nowhere from which to "come down." Though a joke-teller must proceed with caution, he can use taboo subjects to engender that tension and then break it with a well-executed punchline, increasing the level and effectiveness of laughter.
  
  

Social Change

• Taboo subjects aren't necessarily evil or wrong; indeed, in many cases their forbidden nature enables grave injustices to take place. Topics such as homosexuality, women's rights and race relations were once considered taboo by most of society. One couldn't discuss such issues without inciting controversy. Humorists, on the other hand, could challenge the preconceptions that led to such taboos, and engender positive social change through their jokes. For example, stand-up comedian Richard Pryor helped break down many stereotypes about African Americans by making jokes about previously taboo subjects, while Mark Twain's comic novel "Huckleberry Finn" helped expose the inherent injustice of slavery.
  
  

Power

• Use of a taboo subject in a joke can increase the potency of that joke by shocking or surprising the audience. Catching a listener off-guard constitutes a key element in humor, and a comedian can do that very readily by accessing a forbidden subject. In many cases, such tactics betray an overall weakness in the joke itself, which the comedian disguises through use of the taboo. (For example, consider the number of two-bit comedians who indiscriminately spout curse words to elicit shocked laughter.) When properly articulated, however, the use of taboos can constitute some of the most daring and successful jokes of all time. (In contrast to the earlier example, consider George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," which also uses curse words, and is considered one of the greatest comedy routines of all time.)