Sunday, March 18, 2018

Finish the Sentence Friday - Laughter

What would life be like if there weren't times of laughter? When there have been times of sorrow, worrisome occasions, and difficult spells, it has been partly laughter that has made it possible to make it through the tunnel to the other side.

I am linking this post to the Finish the Sentence Friday - Laughter blog hop hosted by Kristi Campbell at Finding Ninee and co-hosted by Kenya G. Johnson at Sporadically Yours. The challenge this time is to do a five-minute stream of consciousness post about laughter. 





As a young girl I remember listening with my paternal grandmother to Art Linkletter's radio show People Are Funny. Although I thought the show was funny, it was even funnier to share laughter with her. There were some other times when I remember having some giggling spells with her. I don't recall what was so funny, but we both ended up giggling, me at her, and her at me.

When we were rearing our children, I especially enjoyed the Family Circus comics. This little round circle of humor about family life just helped me realize some parenting struggles and situations are universal.

Now thanks to some FaceBook posts and Twitter posts we are given daily or weekly opportunities, depending on how often one visits these sites, to enjoy the humorous statements of little children, at least from the viewpoints of their parents who decided to share.

Spoonerisms have always made me laugh, and sometimes I have to think a bit before I come up with exactly how my brain decided to say what it did. Needless to say, comedians and authors who have intentionally said or wrote these odd combinations of words have been enjoyed by our family.

I've always enjoy poetry and limericks of Ogden Nash, and was glad to discover that my husband-to-be enjoyed his writings also.

Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. Laughter is synonymous with both of them. Even though I have watched many of their shows repeatedly, I never tire of them, and they always make me laugh. Each of these links shows several clips of each of these comedians performing.

Lastly, there is memory that comes to mind of a time when I was about 11 years old and was supposed to sing with I believe three other girls at a talent show. I was very shy and scared to get on stage and sing, but nevertheless, on stage I went. When we were supposed to begin singing, a couple of us began giggling and couldn't stop completely. I don't remember if I ever was able to sing with the rest. Has anyone else experienced nervous laughter?





6 comments:

  1. I just love how contagious laughter is.

    :-)

    Best kind of contagious there is.

    :-)

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    1. Isn't that the truth. A gut wrenching laugh every once in a while is fun and energizing and downright contagious.

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  2. I'm sure I've experienced nervous laughter. I can't think of an instance. I used to LOVE the Carol Burnett show, not so much for the skits but to watch for them trying not to laugh - especially those two guys. They were the worst and trying to hold it in. That's what made me laugh in the show more than anything. I also enjoyed comics - Family Circus, then For Better or For Worse then there was a black family comic called Jump Start. Those were the highlights of getting the Sunday paper.

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    1. Oh, I know. Seeing the two guys try to contain their laughter and being straight faced while saying their lines was so funny.
      I remember when there used to be two sections of comic inserts in the Sunday papers when I was a kid. That in itself could keep a child busily amused for quite a while.

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  3. I'd forgotten about Family Circus. I used to look for it every Sunday but didn't remember that until reading this. Nervous laughter is maybe some of the best laughter. I remember when my friend Carol and I tried out for basketball, freshman year of high school. We were so bad, and we joked about faking broken arms and then couldn't stop laughing. It seems so dumb and silly now but wow, the feeling of that laughter was the best. Sorry I'm late in getting here! Also I Love Lucy! Love.

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    1. I'm sure that you were not any worse than I was at playing basketball. At least you tried out. I wasn't aggressive enough, nor talented enough to play on a basketball team. Back in my day, girls only had intramural teams. Only the boys had teams that competed with other schools. I played girls' intramural bowling. I was only mediocre at it, but enjoyed it. I'm glad you and your friend were able to share some memorable moments of laughter.

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