“THE BEST MEDICINE”

by Scott William Petersen

 

A Presentation to The Chicago Literary Club

March 14, 2005

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©  2004 by Scott W. Petersen   All rights reserved

 

 

 


SUMMARY

 

          Everyone loves to smile and everyone loves to laugh.  This paper presents an analysis and history of humor and it's embodiment – comedy.  It also examines why laughter is often "the best medicine" for the human condition.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


“THE BEST MEDICINE”

by Scott William Petersen

The Chicago Literary Club

March 14, 2005

         

          Two small mice were walking in an alley.  Suddenly, a huge cat sprang and landed right in front of them.  “Meow . . . meowwwww.”  The cat opened his mouth and began moving toward the mice.  The mice trembled with fear.  The cat moved closer.

          When all seemed lost, one mouse stepped forward, looked up at the cat and barked “bow wow . . . bow wow wow wow . . . Grrrr. Ow wow . . . ”  The cat, eyes big as saucers, stared at the tiny mouse.  Suddenly, the cat just spun on his paws and ran off.

          The two mice stood there.  The second mouse said “Whoa that was close!  Where did you come up with that?”

          The second mouse responded “That is just one of the benefits of knowing a second language.”

          I hope you laughed at the joke because I was speaking a language that all people are meant to enjoy.  The language of humor.  Joseph Addison, the 17th century English writer, once said “Man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter.”  We know that the urge to laugh begins very early.  Witness a baby who within months can smile, coo and even chuckle at little tickles or just a happy face.  In adults, a smile often begets a chuckle which will frequently grow into a laugh which can soon become a guffaw -- with eyes closed and crinkled -- which can evolve into a gut-shaking, eye watering, on the verge of bodily rupture, hysteria.  All it takes is something funny to get things going. 

          So why do we laugh?  Well according to Sigmund Freud in his book The Joke and its Relation to the Unconscious, jokes like dreams satisfy our unconscious desires.  Jokes have the practical effect from releasing us from traditional inhibitions which allow us to explore sexual, cynical, playful or aggressive tendencies that otherwise remain beneath the veneer of our personalities.  In his book, Doctor Freud also compiled a pot pourri of droll one-liners, puns and jokes from early twentieth century Vienna.  Example -- "the man was not a great light but he was a great candlestick.  He was a professor of philosophy."  I am sure that Sigmund doubled over with laughter at that one.  Then again, maybe not.      

          Humans experience a natural evolution in their appreciation of humor.  The joke that struck you as hysterical in fourth grade would today garner little more than a melancholy smile.  The moronic pranks you pulled in college would probably embarrass you today.  Even so, we still laugh -- generally -- at much the same things our forebears did two hundred generations past.

          Ponder this -- my joke about the two little mice was not chosen randomly.  This joke was a combination of an unlikely anthropomorphic situation (giving human characteristics to animals), a sight gag (my visual waddling about), onomatopoeia (the dog and cat noises) and irony.  Different stimuli prompt laughter. 

          It is generally believed that there are two broad categories of humor to which we react:

1.     The first is “situational” humor – where an unspoken “situation” prompts laughter.  Words are unnecessary for situational humor to occur.  Examples can involve unexpected happenings or incongruous situations such as if a squirrel scampers onto the gridiron during a Chicago Bears – Green Bay Packers game.  Think of the unspooling of sight gags on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” where the goofiness and alleged spontaneity are all silent.  Consider a “Road Runner” cartoon where each predictable downfall of Wile E. Coyote is situational.  Revel in the sheer eloquence of Buster Keaton in his silent offerings on the silver screen.  Recall the brilliant pantomime of Marcel Marceau trying to escape from the invisible glass box.

2.     The second kind of humor is the humor which involves words.  By far the greatest corpus of humor involves the written or spoken word.  Think of Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Robin Williams or Ellen DeGeneres doing a monologue of stand-up comedy.  Sit down and watch “The Pink Panther” or "Planes, Trains and Automobiles."  They combine auditory humor with the usual parade of sight gags and slapstick hilarity.  Or smile at the written words of Aristophanes, Mark Twain, Dave Barry, Art Buchwald or Mike Royko.  Such humor is usually planned and carefully crafted (such as the weaving of humorous plots or the telling of a story or joke). 

But rhetorical humor can be sometimes accidental and arise from perfectly serious situations.  Witness newspaper headlines with unplanned double meaning:  “Complaints about NBA Referees Growing Ugly” or “Two Soviet Ships Collide – One Dies” or “Iraqi Head Seeks Arms” or my favorite classified ad from years ago “Lost:  Large Red Woman’s Purse.”  In 1982, a reporter asked New York Knicks guard Michael Richardson as to why the hapless Knicks were in last place.  “The ship is sinking,” he said.  The reporter pressed “How far can it sink?” to which Richardson responded “The sky’s the limit.” 

     Verbal humor can also stem from the accidental tongue-tied confusion of words.  A popular collector of media miscues was Kermit Schaefer who compiled them in his famous “Pardon My Blooper” series of “unintended indiscretions before microphone and camera."  The forever classic was Harry Von Zell who in 1931 offered the legendary introduction of the nation’s chief executive: “And now ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States - Hoobert Heever.”  This mix up of words is called a "spoonerism."  Ergo, we see that even the words we actually intend to say – can come out wrong -- and spark laughter. 

The humor of situations and words covers a broad spectrum of form.  It can be intentional or accidental, gentle and kindly or it can be harsh and critical.  These two broad categories of humor remain generally constant even across cultural lines and can be further divided into eight subgroups:

1.    Wit – This is the form of humor that relies on words alone such as in the deliberate telling of a joke or the writing of an article.  My opening joke is a form of wit.  A sharper form of “wit” would be the verbal or penned classics of Mark Twain, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Robin Williams, Steve Martin or that new superstar of American comedy, Sponge Bob Square Pants.  Puns are a form of wit – such as – I used to work in a blanket factory but it folded; A shotgun wedding is a case of wife or death; or A pessimist’s blood type is always b-negative;

2.      Satire – Presents the weaknesses, vices or shortcomings of humanity (often specific individuals) and pokes fun at them.  David Letterman’s “Top Ten” list is usually classic “satire.”  “And now ladies and gentlemen the ‘Top Ten Amish Pick up Lines’ -- Number ten 'Are thee at barn raisings often?' Number nine 'There are so many phonies at these quilting bees.  Let’s go somewhere quiet.'”  And so on.  And we all appreciate, if not agree with, the political satire of an Art Buchwald, the bow-tied, piano-playing Mark Russell or the political cartoons which grace our morning newspaper; 

3.    Sarcasm – Is more brutal than satire.  It takes the form of biting speech.  Henny Youngman, Don Rickles and Rodney Dangerfield made a living based on sarcastic one-liners.  

          My wife is such a bad cook, the roaches hang themselves in the kitchen.  Her cooking is so bad, the flies chipped in to fix the screen door.  You know most guys go home and get pot roast?  I go home and get roast pot.  You ever see meat loaf that glows in the dark?  In my house, I pray after dinner; 

4.      Irony – Implies an opposite of the message being communicated.  Irony may begin as a compliment or a simple statement but there is a sting or a hook concealed within.  W.C. Fields once slyly confessed “long ago, a young girl drove me to drink -- I never wrote to thank her”  As W.C. Fields lay on his deathbed, he leaned over to those gathered at his bedside and said "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."  And he died; ever the comedian with those last words being the ironic epitaph etched on his tombstone.  Johnny Carson's epitaph is reputed to be "I'll be right back";

5.      Farce, slapstick and buffoonery – This involves such pranks as throwing pies, pratfalls and pushing people into swimming pools.  “The Three Stooges” are the “great communicators” of this genre of humor;

6.      Parody and burlesque – Parody involves changing the words of a popular song or story so as to produce humorous result.  Mark Russell, the political satirist, plays the piano and makes up his own words to popular songs which are parodies on the political scene.  Burlesque was an art form from the 1840’s until the 1960’s which featured primarily comedy interspersed with other forms of “entertainment.”  The comedy always consisted of a “top banana” (the main comic) and his straight man much like Burns and Allen or the Smothers Brothers.  It was only toward the end of its "run" that burlesque concentrated more on female entertainment than on comedy;

7.      Mimicry – Is a form of satire and imitates another person’s mannerisms, habits, speech or gestures for comic result.    “Saturday Night Live” often begins with the dignified introduction “And now the President of the United States” and Darryl Hammond appears playing the part of a lascivious Bill Clinton.  Years before Rich Little would imitate the glowering eyebrow-twitching Richard Nixon. 

8.      Props – Magicians, ventriloquists and jugglers all use props for the inspiration of laughter and wonderment. 

          Most people feel that laughing – in proper context – is just fine.  Actually, if you don’t laugh with the herd, people will likely incline toward their neighbor and whisper “what’s wrong with him?”  Think about it -- all people have a “sense” of humor which can range from the dry and droll to the yuck it up at every hint of corn pone humor.  For the most part, the human response to humor is tracked along a bell curve and we respond to similar stimulus.  Our individual humor quotients are often dictated by our cultural and family roots but we all have a “funny bone.”  We all know of people with a “good” sense of humor, “no” sense of humor or a “warped” sense of humor.  Ralph Kramden in one episode of the famous “Honeymooners” television series reproached his long-suffering wife with “Alice that just goes to show - you have no sense of humor.”  Placing arms akimbo, she drolly responds “Oh yes I do.  I married you didn’t I?”

          While a smile can be brought on by joy, happiness, success or acts of kindness, laughter (which is almost always preceded by a smile) is usually prompted by some genre of humor.  It is because laughter was for the most part a desirable end that comedy as a means of entertainment and as a structured embodiment of humor got its start. 

It is a challenge to accurately trace the anthropological roots of any human emotion -- joy, sadness, love, fear . . . or that trigger mechanism for laughter – internal euphoria over a humorous event.  But we can dig back in early recorded history to when humor and its embodiment -- comedy -- made their debut. 

Where did humor come from?  The quick answer is “who knows.”  It probably began when the first caveman dropped a stone on his foot and began hopping around in front of a few other cavemen.  Maybe he slipped on a banana peel, did a pratfall and his buddy cavemen (or worse his wife) thought that was pretty funny and began some primitive grunting and pointing with corners of the mouth upturned -- a forerunner of laughing.  Humor.  

          The metes and bounds of humor were first explored by the earliest Greeks and Romans.  The grand nuances and subtleties of humor were refined in Elizabethan and Victorian times.  The printing press gave wings to humor and its dissemination around the globe.  Radio and television launched comedy into orbit. 

          The earliest recorded smile, from my reckoning was on the lips of Ebbeh, a Mesopotamian factotum in the Temple of Ishtar who lived in 2400 B.C.  He sits, grinning at the world, from his perch in the Louvre.  I suspect, however, that Ebbeh’s Cheshired countenance had more to do with carnal pleasure than comedic interlude.  Nevertheless, he is smiling and this snapshot in chiseled marble recorded it.  It is four centuries later that we enter Biblical times.

          Now to my knowledge, there were no Old Testament comedians.  Indeed, it was a pretty somber time and pretty dry bunch.  Nevertheless laughter makes its debut early in the Book of Genesis and dates to over 4,000 years ago.  When Abraham is told by God that his ninety year old wife Sarah will bear a son, his response is chronicled in Genesis 17:17:  "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed."  Sarah soon joins in the laughter at the prospects of her pregnancy.  Perhaps that is why God commanded Abraham to name his son “Isaac” which in Hebrew means “God’s laugh.”  A touch of comedic irony on the part of The Almighty?  I refuse to speculate.  But when Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she rejoiced and said “God has given me cause to laugh.  All those who hear of it will laugh with me.”  Genesis 21:6.  A completely improbable situation (a pregnant ninety year old woman) becomes a comedic situation which begets the human perception of humor which begets smiles and laughter in the Pentateuch.  And we know that God laughed.  Psalm 2:4 reports “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.” 

          While the word “humor” does not appear in the Bible (much less the word “comedy”), the word “laugh” or its derivations appear 43 times in the New Revised Standard Version though curiously only six of those references are in the New Testament.  Even the Koran chronicles sixteen uses of the word “laugh” though laughter in the Koran is pretty much confined to the faithful “laughing” at the misfortune of those who have not toed the line theologically.  The Veda, in the Hindu religion, records the word "laugh" eight times.    

In Buddhist culture, there is a "Laughing Buddha" who some might think is of recent derivation.  In actuality, the Laughing Buddha had its origins in a combination of Buddhist, Taoist and Shinto religions and can be traced to the Liang Dynasty in China in around 1000 A.D.  The Laughing Buddha is thought to be the chubby (and irrepressibly happy) wandering Zen monk named Pu-tai whose name means "cloth bag."  He is smiling because he is a man of good and benevolent character and he derived joy – and laughter – from being a patron to weak, hungry and poor children. 

          The early Greeks were the first to attempt comedy as an actual art form. Crates, who was a contemporary of Socrates (470 BC) is regarded as the founder of Greek comedy.  He abandoned the customary political jabs (which were common then and now) and developed an actual comedic repertoire involving well-crafted characters and plots.  Crates was the first to play a drunk on stage much like Phil Foster did 2,500 years later.  Who knows -- maybe they really were drunk. 

There was a comedian’s club called “The Group of Sixty” which met at the Temple of Heracles in downtown Athens.  They would literally sit around drinking wine and trading lampoons, wisecracks and jokes.  Philip of Macedon in 340 B.C. is reputed to have paid the “Group of Sixty” to write down their jokes but alas the volume -- if it ever existed -- is nowhere to be found.  We know that Aristotle wrote about the dynamics of comedy in his second book of Poetics though that work has been lost.  He also explored comedy in his work Nichomachean Ethics, where he analyzed jokes and laughter and not unexpectedly concluded that tasteful jokes were a good thing for people to enjoy.  Aristotle’s teacher, Plato, however, was severely critical of buffoonery and laughter.  In fact, laughter was forbidden at Plato’s Academy.  Plato’s own mentor and teacher, Socrates, offered formal counsel on the subject of humor when he said “One should use laughter as one uses salt -- sparingly.”   

          The earliest joke book which exists today is a Greek work called The Philogelos or “Laughter Lover” -- a collection of 264 jokes (many of which appear twice).  The Philogelos was compiled in the fourth or fifth century A.D. though many of the individual jokes are believed to derive from earlier times.  The fact that some entries appear twice leads some scholars to believe that The Philogelos was penned by two authors.  The most probable suspects are Hierocles and Philagrius.  We know very little about these two and much about the origin of the work is speculation.  But the Philogelos is still in print after nearly 2,000 years.  And some of the jokes are still pretty funny.  For example, a witty young student who ran out of money sold his schoolbooks to raise some cash.  He wrote home to his father and said “Congratulate me father for I am already making money from my studies.”  Another sees a chatty barber asking his customer “How shall I cut your hair” to which the weary patron replies “In silence.”

          The written works of the other early Greek and Roman humorists (Cratinus, Crates, Chionides, Magnes, Ecphantides and Eupolis) have disappeared.  The first humorist whose works have been preserved is Aristophanes who lived in the fifth century B.C.  Aristophanes, who was sometimes called “Old Baggy Pants” by his contemporaries, was born in Athens 448 B.C. and died at the age of 63 in 385 B.C.  He was well-educated and had three sons (Philippos, Araros and Nikostratos) who followed in their father’s literary footsteps by becoming comedic poets.  Aristophanes was first and foremost a satirist.  He wrote more than forty plays of which eleven have survived.  His first three plays were produced under pseudonyms.

          The first play penned under his own name was The Knights which was written in 424 B.C.  It is a scathing satire about the Athenian politician and military leader Cleon, the arrogant demagogue who succeeded Pericles.  Cleon is aptly depicted in the play as a bloated and intoxicated lout with his face smeared with wine.  It is said that Aristophanes sometimes played the part himself to make sure that Cleon's part was played "properly."  The spoof was wonderfully popular with everyone in Athens -- except for Cleon. 

          It is interesting that many of Aristophanes’ comedic writings were prompted by tragedy of the Peloponnesian wars between Athens and Sparta.  His writings satirized war while mourning the loss of young men on both sides. 

          In one of his best and most prominent plays on this theme, Lysistrata (411 B.C.), the women of Athens conspire to withhold sexual favors from their men to force them to make peace with Sparta.  Again, because of pain of the Peloponnesian Wars, these comedies morph into biting satirical jabs; the proverbial two-edged sword.  In his play The Wasps (422 B.C.), Aristophanes satirized the courts of justice of the day and the social deterioration of Athens.  The Birds (414 B.C.) is a fantasy wherein an Athenian persuades the birds to build a city in the clouds and then imposes his own “terms” in the city. 

          The works of Aristophanes have been considered pivotal to English satire which developed some 2,000 years later.  Both Ben Jonson (the 17th Century playwright) and Henry Fielding (the 18th century novelist) were particularly influenced by Aristophanes and his works.  Examine the comedies of Shakespeare and you recognize some of the tongue-in-cheek humor of Aristophanes swimming beneath the surface. 

           Across the Adriatic Sea, in Rome, Plautus refers to “books of jests” in two of his plays.  But these books have been lost.  Suetonius in about 90 A.D. reported that Melissus, a favorite professor of the Emperor Augustus, compiled more than one hundred fifty anthologies of jokes into a single joke book.  The anthologies and the book remain so far undiscovered.   

The great Roman orator Cicero (106-43 B.C.), who counseled young students on the art of speechmaking, recommended that physical deformities were always a great source of comedic material.  The Roman penchant for this morbid humor probably derives from the Greeks who would make fun of their leader Pericles who was said to have a head shaped like an onion.  Perhaps that is why in every single contemporary Greek sculpture of Pericles, the man is seen -- wearing a large helmet.

          Two millennium later, we see Henny Youngman, Rodney Dangerfield, Chris Rock, Chevy Chase and others picking on physical characteristics for sarcastic comedy.  The Friar’s Club roasts were often attended by Don Rickles who made a living poking fun at ethnic heritage, religion, color, gender, height, weight, disabilities, sexual orientation and attire.  He would sometimes interrupt his routine and point to some poor soul in the audience.  "Madam, didn't you heckle me about ten years ago?  I never forget a dress."  “I mean who picks your clothes, Stevie Wonder?”      

          In the 1940 W.C. Field’s comedy “The Bank Dick,” a little boy points at Field’s prominent proboscis and shouts “Mommy, that man has a big nose!”  To which his mother calmly responds “Yes - and wouldn’t you like to have a nose like that full of nickels?”  Today, such humor would be considered "cruel" – and politically incorrect despite the fact that outrageous vulgarity is perfectly okay. 

          Laughter and its inspiration -- humor -- were in the hearts and minds of our earliest forbears just as it is today.  For more than a thousand years, most civilizations incorporated humor as a cultural constant within society.  Humor took varied forms but the bottom line -- people liked to laugh. 

But during the Dark Ages, humor, comedy and pretty much everything else came to a screeching halt.  The “Dark Ages” is the term that refers to an era that began in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire in 410 A.D. 

        Invocation of the term “Dark Ages” was intended to have a negative connotation.  It was a time of stagnation, war, pestilence and cultural depravity.  Music, literature and the arts virtually disappeared and ceased to be recorded.  The only enduring institution that maintained some light in the darkness was the Church along with a few monasteries and palace schools.  It was in these often remote and isolated places that remnants of Greek and Roman libraries – and culture – were sequestered.  Humor, however, like all other cultural disciplines, remained virtually unchronicled for nine centuries. 

          It is important and interesting to note that very little in the way of traditional or classical culture survives from the Dark Ages except in the Byzantine Empire to the East and the Arabian Empire which spread civilization from Spain to the border of China.  During the Dark Ages, the Philogelos and other Greek and Roman classics were misplaced.  Humor was brought down to an individual rather than societal level.   

Music, literature and the arts do not begin to stir from hibernation until around 1200 A.D.  This reawakening coincided with the Crusades which took place from 1096 to 1291 A.D.  It was during that time that the nobles, who were probably drained from centuries of gloom and war and the incessant dearth of mirth, engaged “professionals” to make them laugh.  It was in the 13th Century that court jesters make their debut.  The green tendrils of organized humor begin to poke through the thick black crust of the Dark Ages.  Comedy began to emerge from a long and deep slumber. 

          As with the early Greeks and Romans, Western European royals wanted to be entertained.  So for the purpose of livening things up, the bluebloods of Europe appointed entertainers who were not particularly bright to make them laugh.  Those with mental deficiencies or physical deformities were the first to be “picked upon” to roust a few chuckles.  As time went on, the mental acuity and physical dexterity of jesters improved and with it the quality of their jesterly offerings.  Jesters learned to do elaborate pratfalls (a la Dick Van Dyke or Chevy Chase), physical comedy (including short dances and skits) and juggling.  Court jesters, often wearing outlandish garb, helped spark renewed appreciation for humor and comedic presentation.  And with this appreciation came a renaissance of structured forms of comedy through skits, plays and other theatrical offerings

          By the time Shakespeare entered the picture (1564-1616), the universe of court jesters had become reasonably intelligent.  Shakespeare would, in fact, often depict his jesters - or “fools” - as the most astute and logical characters in his plays.  Witness what a jester can do without juggling in King Lear or Twelfth Night where the jesters appear to be fools but always know what is going on.

          It is interesting to note that the employment of jesters or court fools was not confined to Western Europe.  For at least two millennium, the Chinese had engaged “professionals” to entertain those in the seat of power.  But in China, jesters had a dual purpose.  In the Orient, jesters would not only entertain but they would also advise the King by using humor to point out flaws in political undertakings and public policy.  For example, one noted jester named Chunyu Kun of Chi on several occasions gave pointed and prudent advice to the lethargic King Wei.  By using riddles and humor, Chunyu Kun helped transform King Wei from a lazy monarch into a dutiful and responsible King.  King Wei also kicked his habit of heavy drinking because Chunyu told him a story to graphically illustrate the ill effects of excess alcohol. 

          Another jester of early China named Meng provided ongoing wise counsel to King Chuang.  In one popular story, King Chuang, much to the dismay of his cabinet decided to have his favorite horse buried with all of the ceremonial honor of a cabinet member.  To help the King understand that his decree, would be an affront to his cabinet, Meng suggested the horse be buried with all of the pomp and splendor attending the death of a King.  The King, noting that such ceremony might be a trifle excessive, called off the whole burial and disposed of the horse like other livestock. 

          With the Renaissance came a resurgence -- a literal and massive “bubbling up” -- of humor all across Western Europe.  The printing press (around 1450) spread humor like a wildfire.  Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) was one of the most colorful of Italy’s new breed of Renaissance Man.  Despite being involved in politics, religion and literature, Bracciolini is best remembered for having written a joke book -- the Liber Facetiarum (or Facetia) in 1452.  273 jokes and jests were collected in this popular work and published after his death in 1471. 

In the late 1500’s, we witness a pivotal evolution of funny stories into jokes as we know them today.  The process had begun when a collection of abbreviated stories from the Philogelos was added by Poggio to his Commentary on the Golden Words of Pythagoras.  Humorous snippets were adopted across cultural boundaries in Europe and a new art form – the joke – was born.   

          The Elizabethan Age was a time for a refinement of comedy.  Probably the best known comedy writer of the time was William Shakespeare (or Edward DaVere, Christopher Marlowe or Francis Bacon depending on your literary predilection).  Shakespeare’s comedies (All’s Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure, The Tempest, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, A Midsummer Nights Dream and others) have served as inspiration for generations of humorists, comedic writers and comedians.  The Bard's plays are full of jokes and humor -- often bawdy and off-color.  Much of the humor is double entendre.   Many of Shakespeare’s witticisms require some careful thought since they are presented with tongue firmly implanted in cheek.  For example -- "You are as a candle, the better part burnt out."  (Henry IV, Part 2, 1.2.158-9); "Were I like thee, I'd throw myself away."  (Timon of Athens, II.4.100);  "Thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides and left nothing i' the middle."  (King Lear, 1.4.183).

          William Caxton, England’s first printer of books, published the first modern epoch joke book in 1484 based upon Aesop’s Fables and a collection of Poggio Bracciolini’s jokes.  Caxton was responsible for type-setting generations of humorous writings.   

          Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was the foremost prose satirist for the English language and he was a practical joker.  One of his funniest stunts occurred in February 1708 when, using the name "Isaac Bickerstaff," he published an article solemnly predicting that John Partridge, a local author of astrological almanacs, would die at 11:00 p.m. on March 29, 1708.  All of London held its collective breath.  When the fateful day arrived, Swift – still writing as Isaac Bickerstaff – penned a somber obituary announcing the death of Partridge at 7:05 p.m. – four hours early.  Of course Partridge was very much alive and outraged at the prediction and reporting of his death.  Because the story of John Partridge's death was printed on April 1st, there was ignition and lift off for a new breed of April Fool's Day pranks.    

          Due in large part to the rediscovery of the Philogelos, English humor became more pointed.  The Philogelos served as a springboard for humor in the post-Renaissance era.  This reformation of humor plateaued with the publication of Joe Miller’s Jests in 1739.  The book was named after a noted London comic actor who died the year before publication.  Today we know this classic as "Joe Miller's Joke Book," a thin pamphlet of 247 numbered jokes (just as the Philogelos).  Number 234 speaks of "A famous teacher of Arithmetick [sic], who had long been married without being able to get his Wife with Child.  One said to her ‘Madam, your Husband is an excellent Arithmetician’.  ‘Yes, replies she, only he can't multiply.’"  Number 99 states "A Lady's Age happening to be questioned, she affirmed she was but Forty, and call'd upon a Gentleman that was in Company for his Opinion;  Cousin, said she, do you believe I am in the Right, when I say I am but Forty?  I ought not to dispute it, Madam, reply'd he, for I' have heard you say so these [last] ten Years." 

America’s first humorists were probably the political cartoonists who lampooned political targets beginning in the 17th Century.  Benjamin Franklin, inventor, linguist, politician, inveterate Lothario and much-influenced by Jonathan Swift, was America's first, most recognized, humorist.  Then it was Bill Nye and Mark Twain followed closely by Will Rogers.  The 19th Century introduced a new genre of humor: the musical comedy.  Why do people spend $100.00 for a seat to see The Producers?  To laugh!  To be entertained.  To feel good.  Today, we also wait for the “last comedian standing.”  I always wanted to be a stand up comic but I don’t have the legs for it. 

          With Lenny Bruce, we saw the rudiments of shock humor which have been carried to new heights by the Howard Sterns of the world.  Today, we enjoy (or endure) a broad range of humor.  It can be kind and gentle or it can be vulgar and obscene.  Much of the stand up humor we see today on television or in person relies heavily on sexual, bitterly sarcastic or scatological jolts designed to evoke peals of embarrassed laughter.  Interestingly, racial, religious, ethnic, physical affliction and gender-related humor – for millennium the time-honored staples of comedians -- have all but disappeared given the current climate of fear and potential legal sanction that comes with possibly offending anyone in this blurred and dark age of “political correctness.”  We don’t want to offend.  There is only one group on whom there is "open season" on physical characteristics.  So this blonde goes to the doctor and said “Doctor, I hurt everywhere.  When I press my head, it hurts.  When I press my neck it hurts.  When I press my leg, it hurts.”  The doctor looked at her.  “Ma’am, your finger is broken.” 

          Humor -- it is contagious.  But it’s a healthy kind of contagious.   

I went to the doctor a few years ago for an annual physical.  So I’m sitting there -- wearing a blue suit, a white shirt, a red power tie and shiny black shoes.  Big meeting.  I go to the lab to have my blood drawn so I shuck my jacket and roll up my sleeve.  The nurse with the needle said “Do you want Mickey, Minnie, Donald or Goofy?”  I looked at her. The woman’s old enough to be my mother and she looked like she could punch me into the ground.  She said again quite seriously “Mickey, Minnie, Donald or Goofy?”  And then I saw the band aids.  “I’ll take Goofy.”  So here I am.  A fifty-something year old guy -- big meeting -- bunch of suits, lots of pressure -- and I’m making a presentation wearing a “Goofy” band aid on my arm.  I had to laugh at that one.  Think about it.  So would you. 

          Laughter makes us feel good.  It calms personal and interpersonal storms, it lifts our spirits, gives peace of mind and even provides an aerobic workout.  Norman Cousins, the long-time Editor of the Saturday Review, said “laughter is inner jogging.”  Laughter even has the power to heal.  Laughter has been proven to boost energy levels, lower blood pressure and even stimulate the immune system through the release of endorphins and the reduction of detrimental stress hormones.  Empirical studies have shown that the respiratory, cardio-vascular, musculoskeletal, central nervous, endocrine and immune systems all benefit from laughter. 

          In children’s wards of hospitals, where the most seriously ill of our children face illness, a parade of clowns, jugglers, magicians and Punchinellos troop in and out, raising spirits, raising smiles and raising immune systems.  Humor for children is thought to be integral to the healing process. 

The Wall Street Journal on October 12, 2004, reported that "laughter yoga" is becoming popular.  The article professes that laughter yoga provides innumerable health benefits including alleviating asthma and bronchitis, improving stamina and self-confidence, relieving depression and anxiety and toning facial muscles.  Laughter.  It is an inexpensive palliative for fighting stress, illness and old age.  Laughter is as Lord Byron observed said “a cheap medicine.”  Just think how healthy you would be if every day you combined a little laughter, some dark chocolate and a little red wine.  You can start tonight!   

          W. H. Auden once said “Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator.  But among those I love, I can.  They all make me laugh.”  When you are stressed, sick, tired, depressed or just down, with whom would you rather spend time -- someone who is a sour pickle or one who makes you smile? 

          Laughter empowers us.  When we feel low, depressed or down, laughter helps pull us out of the hole.  It provides distraction and pain relief. 

          Even in times of great trial or great sadness, laughter can raise us from the pit.  Bob Hope once observed “I have seen what a laugh can do.  It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.”     So what is the message of this paper?  There are four points:

          First, laughter has been with us for a long long time.  Humor, that catalyst for laughter, has been prompting us to laugh for thousands of years.

          Second, we genuinely like people who make us smile and people who make us laugh.  It provides an instant bond.  When choosing a mate or friend, we usually pick those who make us smile.  As Victor Borge observed “laughter is the closest distance between two people.” 

          Third, laughter is healthy and uplifting.  It heals the sick and lifts curtains of gloom from all that ails us.  It builds success.  It motivates people.  It makes us feel good.  It can be, as many have said, the best medicine. 

          Fourth, humor evolves -- as we age, within cultures and as time goes by.  Today, we are visiting old and new boundaries of humor.  "Pushing the envelope."  It is an evolution in the universe of humor.

          Let me close with "one more."  In December 2001, the British Association for the Advancement of Science conducted a survey on the “World's Funniest Joke.”  After three months of studious analysis, and a review of 10,000 jokes (I would love to have been on that committee), they concluded that one joke was the funniest.

          Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson pitch their tent while on a camping expedition.  In the middle of the night, Holmes nudges Watson awake and says:

          HOLMES:    Watson, look up at the stars and tell me what you deduce . . .

 

          WATSON:    Holmes, I see millions of stars and I wonder if some of them have planets like earth where there may also be life.

 

          HOLMES:    No, Watson you idiot!  Someone has stolen our tent!

 

          It will be interesting to see where the trail of humor takes succeeding generations.  I’d love to be there.  I’m sure it’ll be a hoot!

         

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