Let's explore past the phrase "laughter is the best medicine" which we all agree with. How to get there varies and differs with each person. It is subjective to be sure as one person will laugh and another frown and everything in between. The comedy shows of the fifties went to great lengths to find that tickle spot. Why? The stakes were very high if you wanted to succeed in show business. Sponsors (investors) were hard to come by. Laughter opened the door to much wealth, power and fame for many
FUN leads to FUNNY
When I watched some of the shows growing up each had a different flair or attraction to entertain to make sure you tuned in again next week. All of the shows starting out tried too hard and quickly learned to relax and let the laughter come. Include the audience by invitation i.e. engagement and timing called pause.
AUDIENCE FEED BACK IN THE MOMENT
This allow a reaction to what was said or done and whether to keep going, expand or move-on with the skit. Bob Hope wondered why he wasn't getting laughs. But he was! He just wouldn't slow down to let the audience join-in and give back their approval via laughter & then applause. When he did, he took-off!
FORCED LAUGHTER
Humor is an interesting dynamic. We all want it & many want to give-it but forcing it actually makes it go in another direction. I have felt sorry for people who told jokes (incorrectly or inappropriately) & failed to get that approval. Instead they created awkwardness, ridicule, unworthiness and dismissal for their labors
LAUGHTER CONSISTS OF MANY THINGS
You can hear it, feel & sense it, watch it & join it even create it & then wait to see what happens. I know how to tell a funny story & build people up to a punchline. I thought it was just me until I discovered many Jewish comics especially those from Brooklyn able to do the same thing. To be gifted with humor is very special. I also discovered it can heal, change lives, attitudes and negotiations. Very powerful dynamic
TIMING
I have told what I considered to be funny sayings or statements that failed plain & simple. Instead of bathing in embarrassment I learned to argue. That made it worse. I then shifted to simply saying what happened i.e. DID I FAIL IN MY HUMOR and people couldn't wait to respond to that one. I recovered better for it.
NOTE: I have had two foot in mouth episodes of failing to make people laugh both before large groups which caused me to want to crawl away & die. Bad news? I learned a hard lesson. Good news? I survived it. Good news about the bad news. I am alive, not perfect and I took a risk. Life honors that if nothing else
TICKLING
For some odd reason we have funny bones and two are found under the arms and at the bottom of the feet. My brother will jump, squirm, laugh, dodge and try to escape unsuccessfully if I go for his underarms. Even if he is mad or not in the mood he succumbs. He is not alone. Caution when applying this to others!
MAKING FUN OF SELF
When this is done correctly people tend to open up and become less guarded. Good because the laughter corridor is lit and ready to travel in! Sharing your big feet, mouth or appetite puts other at ease. How strange? Is it because they harbor a secret too? Laughing at you allows them to now laugh at themselves
MAKING FUN of SOMEONE?
Only the gifted can enter here. An amateur will mess this up every-time and be booed and judged at as a bad person while the gifted humorist will carefully craft the spin without putting anyone down. I once talked with a woman who answered everything with: I am doing this for my kids. After hearing it 6 times, when my turn came, I mimicked her and repeated it back and she bursts out laughing. We both did.
PUTTING DOWN on SOMEONE?
Not funny at all yet there are people who are prejudiced, biased, mean and angry who jump on this right away. When that happens we are no longer talking about humor but instead dysfunction and destruction of self and others. Disabled, sick, elderly and challenged people are all off-limits. Nothing funny about this
GUT-LAUGHTER
If we could only purchase this. Trillions of dollars with lines miles long would this produce if we could buy gut laughter. I have had maybe 30-50 times in my lifetime where I not only couldn't stop laughing but had trouble breathing and kept adding to it. Each fond episode is in by treasure chest and I am fighting back laughter now from the mere thought of those times. This laughter also goes away in stages and not all at once if at all. Cleans out the whole person & produces well-being, contentment & satisfaction. Who knew?
WHEN WE MOVE AWAY FROM LAUGHTER
We become more serious. We tend to under or over react. Thinking starts to fill the void. We also become judgmental at the ones laughing and having a good time & wasting time & whatever happens to them they deserve. The removal of laughter allows for a bleak, hopeless & despaired life. Laugh if you can. You must
LOOK FOR IT
Be assured it is out there constantly looking for others to join in. It can set good moods, lighten a load and carry us through some challenging times. A laughter break? Look how ell-named this is. A break from whatever we are doing so we can laugh. Oh may we we break more often
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