In addition to using comedy to find catharsis on a sensitive social issue, there are some who use it to come to terms with personal tragedy. Doug Stanhope is a unique entity in the comedy world. Living in the small town of Bisbee, Arizona, and not interested in acting roles or making it in Hollywood, he describes his fan base as "’school shooters who didn't have bullets,’ but says they are also ‘doctors and lawyers and people who just hate society … hate the veneer of what other people think is real.’”  
This anachronistic worldview was on full display in his 2013 special, Beer Hall Putsch. Stanhope describes a time when he and his siblings assisted their mother in a suicide as a relief from her struggle with emphysema. They all gathered together, settling on a morphine overdose as the most comfortable way for her to go, had a party, and helped her end her life exactly the way that she wanted. “What's notable is that Mr. Stanhope's matter-of-fact, even hopeful style does not invite sympathy or melancholy. In his telling, death does not come off as tragic or sacred. The incongruity of offhand tone and grave subject matter is part of a fairly consistent worldview.” Again, the delivery may be off-putting for some, but it’s hard to deny that this is a refreshingly frank and honest look at something which we all are forced to deal with at some point in our lives. In taking such an unconventional approach to a topic such as death, a comedian may be able to find, not only humor, but beauty.  
Taste, in everything, is relative. No one should ever take it upon themselves to tell someone else whether or not they should think that something is funny. That is up to each individual to decide. It is in each individual’s best interest, however, to remain open to different ways of thinking and viewing the world. Only by crossing the imaginary lines, or accepting that there is no line to be crossed, can we, as a society, truly come to understand ourselves, and each other. 
