One of the gifts my family of origin bestowed on me was how to see the humor in serious situations. Most of them are gone now, but their lasting gift has stayed with me and I’ve inadvertently passed it along to my children.
So, when we scattered my stepdad’s ashes on a windy day
and they blew into a family member’s face, my daughter quipped, “Now you get to
wear Richard!” He wasn’t particularly well-liked by that person, so the revulsion
on the ash-wearer’s face was real. The serious folks were horrified, but we
comic-minded folk couldn’t stop quipping the one-liners. Especially my mom, Richard’s
widow. Not from a lack of respect on her part—but as a means of emotional
survival.
Laughter is truly the best medicine. Each time the Reader’s
Digest showed up at our house as a kid, I’d turn to that page to read the
funny stories and witty one-liners. Toss in pop culture like the Carol
Burnett Show, Sonny & Cher, Edith Ann on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,
and I was a goner. Naturally I evolved into the class clown in school.
My daughter asked me one day, what were the most sins I
confessed as a kid, back in Catholic school? That one was easy. Lies. Ever
since I can remember I told stories of things that happened and embellished
them to sound more dramatic. I wanted that eye-popping, jaw-dropping effect as
I told the story.
But yeah, confession. I had to come clean every Saturday. My
older sisters told me picking my nose was a mortal sin. I figured I was headed
to that thunder-down-under place, with the caves and the ragged clothing and all
that heat.
I told the priest every Saturday how many times I picked
my nose and how sorry I was. Couldn’t figure out what those weird noises were
on the other side of the shady window. Laughter, I figured out later.
Flash forward to adulthood. My husband and I (we’re both Gemini
so there’s four of us in our marriage) always competed with each other in
social situations for who could deliver the wittiest one-liners. We still do it
out of habit and still make each other laugh.
My love of humor and comedy led me into acting on stage and in film. I gravitated toward Neil Simon, Nora Ephron, and other funny writers. I had the good fortune to perform in Wendy Wasserman’s Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, The Female Version of the Odd Couple, and my favorite role of all: Playing Clairee in our community theatre production of Steel Magnolias: “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.”
Again, pop culture influenced me: George Lucas had Hans Solo quipping one-liners during dangerous action scenes in Star Wars. It breathed a sense of brevity, determination, and courage into those characters, and I rooted for them all the more. Then along came Mel Brooks with Young Frankenstein and William Goldman with The Princess Bride. Those are my go-to movies when I want to really laugh. Another one is Bowfinger, with Steve Martin. I’m sure you have your favorites. There are so many.
When I auditioned for a part in a film, I chose the scene in the restaurant from When Harry Met Sally, by Nora Ephron. “I’ll have what she’s having.” When I finished the scene, the casting director stood and wiped his forehead. “Excuse me while I go take a cold shower.”
I got the part.
When I write novels, I inject humor when possible. In my
upcoming release, Alaska Inferno, the hero and heroine volley one-liners
when the chips are down.
Laughter. We need it several times a day. Not only for physical
exercise, but to relieve stress and to tickle ourselves with endorphins that make
us happy.
When you can’t think of anything funny, pretend you’re Sally
and fake an orgasm out in public or with your husband at the kitchen table (preferably
without children or grandchildren present).
I guarantee you’ll feel better. Especially when you laugh
at everyone else’s reaction.
Find the funny in life’s weird, erratic moments.
Your stomach and heart will thank you for it.
7 comments:
Welcome aboard, LoLo!!! Thank you for starting my day and this month off so well. Somewhere along the line, I missed the part of your movie career until today. With your background, you've an unending stream of stories to tell.
Dear Readers!
OMG I made a mistake in the writer who wrote "Search For Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," the play written by JANE WAGNER, not Wendy Wasserman. Whoa talk about a messup! I apologize for that. Jane Wagner wrote the play and Lily Tomlin performed it as a one-woman show. When we did our local production, we performed it with 4 women. We were all working back then and the line load was too heavy for 1 woman. I apologize for my mistake.
LoLo Paige
Thanks, LoLo. I enjoyed your post, and it gave me a happy trip down memory lane. I can quote many of those shows and movies, too!
I remember as a kid creeping down to crouch at the living room door in my nighty and peak through the crack in the door to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus. I was on past our bedtime and we weren't allowed to watch it, but I was so intrigued by the guffaws of laughter from my dad that it drew me to spy on it. A lot of the content went over my head, but I did enjoy the thrill of anticipation that I might understand one of the jokes, and burst out laughing - and give myself away.
You named all of the shows of my teen life that made me laugh, and a couple more recent ones. I do enjoy laughing, but I am not capable of writing humor myself. I think it comes from a lot of suppression of those thoughts as being inappropriate or hurtful to someone. ON the rare occasion my thoughts slip out (usually as irony), my friends are surprised and comment on it.
However, I really do enjoy reading it or seeing good comedy with people who are not afraid to let it out. Now I'll have to check out your books.
Jay, I used to do the same thing with shows my parents wouldn't let me watch. I'd sit on the staircase and peek around the banister at the TV. I had the chance to see Monty Python live on stage in Anchorage, and laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Like you, when I was younger, much of the movie comedy went over my head, but as I got older I began understanding all the satire and the jokes. What a fun group of people1
Maggie, that's the fun of finding the humor. Most of the time it just happens or pops out of us. It's always fun to see other people smile :)
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