The Power Of Laughter

     Without doubt, the funniest thing I've ever personally witnessed happened in the middle of Lincoln, Nebraska's "O" Street back in the winter of '72 or so.  We were in the back of schoolmate Doug Wilken's parents covered pickup when my other schoolmate Jerry Scott decided to moon the car behind us.  The sight of him alternately looking forward to see if Doug's parents were looking back while looking back to see if the driver of the car behind us was looking forward (certainly hope he was) while at the same time trying to yank his pants down in a moving car that was stopping all too inconveniently often while trying to negotiate

weekend "O" Street traffic still brings me to laughter if I think about it a little.  It was quite the sight.  Know how sometimes you get to laughing so hard all that comes out is a series of silent AH AH AH's?  It was like that.
     See, the ability to make one a laugh is an amazingly powerful thing.  Guys in school who weren't that good looking could almost always get a weekend date if they could create laughter in girls who under normal circumstances wouldn't give them a second glance.  The guys who were good looking, popular, or played sports could of had the IQ of a house plant - and most did - and the humor quotient to match and still got dates. Some guys - like me - had neither.  But over time I learned to adapt by developing a nasty albeit off-centered sense of humor.  Had to.  Because my looks weren't improving.
     I can still remember watching Jackie Gleason on my parent's old black and white television ending his monologue with "And....Away We Goooooo!!"  That was probably my first comedic influence, but not my last.  I progressed not soon after to Monty Python (the Albatross sketch is brilliant), and eventually to Robin Williams who is one of only a very few human beings who can make me laugh right out loud.  And Don Rickles too, now that I think about it.
     See, laughter is a great tonic for the masses.  It breaks ice between people who have little to nothing in common, between people of divergent nations, crossing socio-economic boundaries with the leap of a single pratfall, and melts even the coldest stares from any in-law anywhere.  It binds us all.  People instinctively seek it out in others, seeing it as a desirable quality that often times trumps all others.  Music does that too:  Ever wonder how Lyle Lovett was actually at one time married to Julia Roberts?  I'm convinced that Nature put two things in people and on Earth so that average to poor-looking guys still had the chance to procreate:  A sense of humor and musical ability.  As the years go by, I become more and more convinced of that theory.  Think Eddie Van Halen would have got with Valerie Bertinelli had he boxed straws for a living?  Not a chance.
     I've always had another theory and it is about squirrels.  It would seem that over time the ones that are

stupid enough to go out in traffic and get run over would be obviously removed from the gene pool, leaving only the smart surviving ones to send their genes onward.  Which would then lead - over time - to less and less dead squirrels.  And yet, you still see nut-chasing roadkill all over the nation's roads at about the same frequency. Why?  Because the humor they possess piques the interest of the female squirrels long enough for them to mate and then - and only then - do they get a little too close to the road in search of a laugh before mailing it in to the great seltzer bottle in the sky.  It makes sense if you think about it a little.
     So take heart, those of little physical gifts!  Can't lift 100 pounds?  Does your face scare old women to the other side of the street?  Have a habit of getting run over?  Have a lot of body hair?  There is hope.  Instinctively look for the funny in everything, and do it first before all else.  When you hear something, immediately think this:  What's funny about that?  If it doesn't come to you right away, don't say anything because chances are it's probably not all that funny.  But if it does seem funny, share it.  Let it out to others.  Give yourself a chance to pass on the genes of the disadvantaged, yet funny.  I don't want to be the only one left when it's all over.