This whole "comedy" debate is kind of irrelevant.
When we call something a comedy in this context we're not referring to the extent which we were made to laugh or not. It's just a categorization. And the categorization is only a starting point, not something meant to shape exactly how we consume media (in fact it's the least important aspect I can think of).
OitNB is not a "comedy." It's a drama. Now, was it a funny show? I'd say hell yes! I would go so far as to say it's an outright hilarious show. I laughed out loud constantly throughout (and this is always more common when you're watching something with other people, which I was, so it's understandable if solitary viewing led you to only laugh on the inside). Therefore we can say it was a drama, but one which was carried by a large degree of humor.
Good dramas like The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights, and even something like The X-Files (oh yes I went there) practically always have large elements of comic relief. It's in large part what made them good dramas. This doesn't clash with the fact that they have serious themes and dramatic content for much of their screen time, because the humor isn't coming from their show categorization (and often it's not even coming from outright jokes), but from good/clever/witty writing. Heck, even a show like Hannibal can often make you laugh or grin. Not simply because you're witnessing deeds of cruelty, but rather ones that are wickedly clever, twist your expectations, and activate your "oh no he didn't!" sensor.
If you want to think of OitNB as being in large part a black comedy you're not wrong and you aren't committing some sort of categorizational sin. You just need to realize why it shouldn't be in the comedy category at the Emmys, or simply filed in the "comedy" section of the DVD store.
