Hey, Can I Get A Laugh? It Depends…
Actually, I’m eager to have you READ…my posts. Lately, I’m wondering if everyone has gone on vacation or your internet access has. That’s okay. We’re all busy. But often we humans are drawn to humor more than serious stuff–which is what I usually write. I enjoy humor immensely, but I can’t create it. Sorry.
Did you know that humor takes more brain power than the serious shit? Comedians with a verbal presentation are off whip-smart. Or their writers are. Because these are the folks that break through our coverups. Comedians are often our truth tellers.
LAUGHTER AND HEALTH
Laughter relieves tension. Laughter has been proven to boost the immune system by decreasing stress hormones and increasing immune cells and antibodies that ward off disease. WE ALL NEED TO LAUGH!
When writer Norman Cousins was diagnosed with a severe connective tissue disease, he made the decision to use humor as a cure. He read funny books, watched comedic films and played tricks on the nurses, like pretending to drink his urine sample which was really apple juice. In his book, Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient, he recounted his experience that led to his recovery. The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine printed Cousins’ summary of his experience and his book became a best seller.
DAILY LIFE AND COMEDIC ELEMENTS
I love that women are now major contributors to comedy. Our POV is totally different from a male’s on many issues. Check out the series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the story of Midge Maisel who in 1958 in New York City, goes through a divorce and decides to become a stand-up comedian to help support her family. If you like Jewish humor, and I do, you’ll love this.
It’s essential to find humor in our own mistakes. It makes us human. Learning to bake a cake, I misread the directions and added 7 cups of milk to the flour instead of 7 tablespoons. The stick of butter, also called for, floated around like some yellow submarine. I kept thinking things would thicken as I used the mixer. No. Disaster. But now I can laugh about it. THAT IS THE SOURCE of most humor: a comedian looks at her life and turns the experience on its head. This from Eleanor Roosevelt: A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. Mrs. FDR was in hot water a lot.
THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENCE DINNER
Last night Michelle Wolf was the stand-up at the annual WHCD, often called The Nerd Prom, because its attendees are writers that make their living reporting and dissecting the news. POTUS 45 did not attend, again. Such an absence calls for comedy directly aimed at him. And those that surround him. Wolf let it fly, explaining that Kelly Anne Conway has the perfect name for what she does, (Con) and by calling the Press Secretary a Liar.
Of course today this is blowing up on social media. As one reporter said, and this is not a direct quote, the content of the WHCD made some women clutch their pearls. I don’t wear pearls, so no clutching for me. Another commentator said that we now live in a time where each of us can be an equal opportunity offender. Maybe.
But in the aftermath of the joking, which is what always occurs and often is biting and nasty, their is truth. If the White House reflects crassness, accepts “locker room talk” about women and thinks it’s funny, then society will do the same. COMEDY FACES THE TRUTH. Whether it’s that you find yourself in hot water or have no idea how to bake a cake, COMEDY reveals human foibles.
Thus the words flying around during Wolf’s talk reflect unfairness to women in the past, hypocrisy in the present and the crass “Hey sorry but this is a fact” elements in her talk. FACT: FLINT MICHIGAN STILL DOES NOT HAVE CLEAN WATER. She could have said something about Puerto Rico too. Wolf’s condemnation of the current administration was that it is as helpful to women AS AN EMPTY BOX OF TAMPONS. I love that.
Not all news people agreed with Wolf’s anger and thus the tenor of her talk. Dana Milbank who writes for The Washington Post and EJ Dionne, also of the Post, decried the coarseness and awfulness, asking that instead we celebrate FREEDOM OF THE PRESS and out First Amendments rights by highlighting the lives of reporters who have died bringing to us the truths occurring world-wide. It’s a great idea. But I would argue that we also need to celebrate those in that room last night, though gowned and drinking wine, who work hard every day to bring us truths. So far, they are still living. And we need those truths. Michelle Wolf provided some hot ones.
Because by their very nature comedians are often offensive. They bring to us the underbelly of living. But our leaders need to stand up tall, quit the lies and defend our freedoms with honesty. Laughter? Sure we need it. But please. I would rather have serious stuff happening in the White House. Comedy Central can handle the rest. PS See–I always do better with the serious shit. Thanks for reading.
(Visited 11 times, 1 visits today)
