He who laughs last... (cont)
We should laugh more, and more generously.
This is a revised and longer version of yesterday’s short post…
There is that saying, “He who laughs last, laughs best,” which makes it sound like jokes and humour are a contest. Unfunny. Then again, having the last laugh is not just the best revenge, sometimes it’s all one can do.
As I said yesterday, on the political front, there is little to laugh about these days. Of course, that is not entirely true. It depends a lot on what you are listening to. And obsessing about. Too much news is bad for you.
There are always things to laugh about.
Laughter requires detachment. That’s the gift it gives, stepping back, relief. Often people involved in very serious business who are exceptional negotiators have a way of standing back for a moment to chuckle at things, even themselves. Tension is released and everyone gets back to business refreshed.
But humour can be disarming, as discussed in my previous post Funny Business, in which I review a book intent on untangling the dark mystery of #471. Humour, whether used in defence or offensively, can throw a wacky curve into a difficult conversation, completely frustrating others who need to be taken seriously. It can stop them in their tracks.
There is so much talk these days about weaponizing this and that. Comedy is no exception but, as I said yesterday, humour need not take sides, contributing to the insufferable seriousness of everything.
Can we just return to a lighter kind of playful humour? Professor Marcel Danesi, whose book Comedic Nightmare I reviewed last time, thinks not. I’d like to believe he’s wrong but I’ll have to stop listening to the news and spend some time watching/listening to comedy to see.
We might speculate, for example, that slapstick might work. Or theatre of the absurd. It’s worth thinking about. What makes you laugh these days?
Until next time.
#47 refers to the current President of the United States. You know who he is because he’s a shameless attention seeker. Which is fine. Whatever. But people I know actually can’t bear to speak, hear or read his name. Which I respect.