“Wagner’s music isn’t as bad as it sounds.”

Tell me what you laugh at and I’ll tell you who you are.

If you think that sticking a green bean up your nose is hilarious, you are and eight-year old boy.

If you say, “The first time I sang in a church choir; two-hundred people changed their religion,”… you are Fred Allen.

So, what’s funny? Some people like jokes. My personal preference is wit. For instance one day, I told my son, Josh that I had gone to the theatre and people were required to wear masks and show evidence of vaccination. I said, “I think that theatre-goers are smart and probably want the best for those around them.” Whereupon he replied, “Mom, remember John Wilkes Booth.”

Steven Wright, one of my favorite humorists, makes incongruity an art when he says, “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you,” and I have to remember his advice that; “Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.” I also have to to be careful with my sense of humor—not that I would intentionally offend— but sometimes I can startle someone who doesn’t see the world in the upside manner that I do. For instance, I recently had dinner with a woman new to my senior residence. Our conversation involved food, and I happened to say, “I am allergic to strawberries.” She replied, “ What happens if you eat one?” I replied, “My teeth itch.” Shocked, she said, “Really?” Whoosh! there it went —never to be heard again.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I dream of a better tomorrow where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.”

It is well researched that laughter helps people cope with stressful situations. For instance,
“When you go to court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty.” (Norm Crosby) I have never liked using laughter to hurt people, and anyway, it often backfires. There was a comedian in Atlanta who was invited to entertain a group of women at a charity fund raiser. He began his spiel with mother-in-law jokes. He bombed so badly they could have dropped him over Hiroshima.

Sarcasm can be funny but one really needs a delicate touch to generate laughter while tweaking the subject— not using a sledge hammer. Winston Churchill was a master of the art when he said, “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter,”and the back handed compliment,  “We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”

Small children and adults with arrested development enjoy toilet humor. I prefer word play that challenges the gray matter in the brain. For me, that makes life fun (even when it’s not) Someone once asked Steven Wright “If you were stranded on a desert island what book would you bring? He said, “How To Build A Boat.”

Esther Blumenfeld (“If you tell a joke in the forest, but nobody laughs, was it a joke?”)