By: Ty Wilson, Staff Writer
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to make people laugh. Not for the sake of attention, but because of how much joy it would bring the people laughing. Whether they were laughing at me or laughing with me was beside the point. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that laughter is the best medicine, and a smile can cure any ailment.
What I find fascinating about humor is that everyone is unique in what they find funny. Some people will roll on the floor laughing at one thing, while others might not even crack a smile. As someone who is always wanting to make people laugh, I see this as a challenge: to adjust my humor to whatever the situation calls for.
My most recent struggle has come from the fact that people don’t laugh anymore. It’s almost as if we are in a giggle shortage in 2021. Why is laughter such a rare commodity nowadays?
I, for one, believe it’s largely due to politics and how everyone wants to be serious about life and its many mysteries. Comedians all across the country now have to worry about being politically correct so they won’t be “canceled,” that new threat that every celebrity dreads. Step out of line or say something remotely controversial and here come the pitchforks and torches.
The world would be a much better place if people learned to laugh a little more. Open yourself up to being teased by your friends for the sake of a good laugh. After all, they are your friends right? But even if something isn’t funny to you, that doesn’t mean it’s not funny to someone else. Humor is a shared experience that finds everyone in different ways.
As a self proclaimed “funny guy,” I’ve had comedic role models that I’ve looked up to my whole life, a few being my father, Will Ferrell, and the late Chris Farley, who was most famous for his skits on “Saturday Night Live.” Farley once said “People...need a time to laugh. It’s up to us to bonk ourselves on the head and slip on a banana peel so the average guy can say, ‘I may be bad, honey, but I’m not as much of an idiot as that guy on the screen.’’’
I’ll always be happy to be that idiot, even if it means only making one person laugh.
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo, Unsplash
