What could Jerry Seinfeld and William Shakespeare have in common? Apart from wearing a puffy shirt, not much. One thing they do have in common is the use of comedy. These two champions of funny lived almost 400 years apart and yet they have the “comedy connection.” Humor, and its close relatives, funny and comedy, seem to be a rising power in today’s society. As they climb the ladder of success, they leave laughter in their wake. They infect everyone and everything. It’s more contagious than bird flu but also more likely to kill you. There’s only one cure for laughter and Humor: a Debby Downer, but even Saturday Night Live has made that funny. Thank you, Rachel Dratch. Anyway, Humor is one of the ironies of human life. We all have some kind of a sense of Humor but it’s different depending on the person. Humor, unlike many things, is one of the few things that are important to society as a whole. In fact Mark Twain even said, “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” Laughter is a way to make it through the best of times and the worst of times. Whenever a person reaches a bump in the road, the best thing they can do is laugh and keep on keeping on. Comedians and everything that goes with them, meaning the audience and the salaries, can brighten anyone’s day. By simply telling a few jokes, comedians can help people get over the worst of days. For this reason, comedians and comedy movies can usually make a lot of money. Society asks for something with substance and depth but we all know that at the end of the day, nobody will turn down a half an hours of a sitcom starring such greats as Tim Allen, Tina Fey, or even Ray Romano. For that matter, many stars have had their careers launched by comedy. These include the above three but also Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler, and countless others. Many people find that when they laugh together, they can stand each other long enough to experience more laughter. “Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” At least that’s what entertainer Victor Borge thinks. Humor is a way for two or more people to get to know each other. Have you ever noticed that people often get along when they laugh together? That is no coincidence. The health field sees the benefits of laughter. Some studies show that a good laugh may help blood pressure, reduce stress, elevate mood, boost immune system, improve brain function, or even just make you feel better. By the way, that information came from helpguide.org, I didn’t just make it up.Some of you may have noticed that Humor has been capitalized throughout this entire story. You can take a minute to look back; we can wait…are you good? Okay, so anyway, the reason I do this is because Humor deserves to be treated like a human being and should have a name. The name is original, I know. As I leave you on your way to discover more Humor and such, I leave you with a poem, a limerick actually, written by a person by the name of Anonymous: “There once was a young man from Lyme Who couldn’t get his limericks to rhyme When asked “Why not?” It was said that he thought They were probably too long and badly structured and not at all very funny.”
