This Saturday prompt was originally published last year in late October. But it seems to me that we could all use a good laugh right now. These have been tough times in our body politic for everyone who cares about democracy, equality and basic human decency. Sometimes we need the genuine relief—however brief—that only hilarious people can give. Enjoy.
The other night I was with my 22-year-old daughter and we started to laugh so hard—deep from the belly laughter—and I realized I hadn’t done that in far too long. I don’t remember exactly what we laughed about, just that it was full and contagious and warming. I was particularly happy to do it with her.
These have been difficult days, what with the chaos of the Republicans, the ongoing derangements of their leading candidate, and the atrocities of Hamas in Israel and the escalating response that portends tragically bloody days to come. My mind keeps turning to the William Butler Yeats lines: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world/The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
There will be more to say about all that. But not today. My mind is focused on laughter. How about the Chris Farley sketch in which he plays motivational speaker Matt Foley, hired by a dad to scare straight his pot-smoking children? Over and over—in tones over-wrought and bombastic, his movements exaggerated and extreme as he makes his case and struggles to keeps his pants from falling down—Farley delivers the classic line: “I live in a van down by the river.” It never fails to deliver for me.
So do most Will Farrell performances with their passionate ridiculousness. There are many laugh-out-loud examples, but I confess I’m always laughing when he and John C. Reilly play forty-something men thrust together as step brothers when their parents marry. As critic Nick Schager puts it, Adam McKay’s Step Brothers“is a preeminent work of man-child absurdity, a smorgasbord of nonsense involving grown men acting like adolescents who’ve been hit on the head a dozen times too many, and parents struggling to stomach their progeny’s willful inanity.”
Pomposity getting its comeuppance, bad hair choices, bad life choices and the desperate, often humiliating attempts to fix them—all this usually makes me laugh, maybe nowhere better than in The Office. Steve Carrell (the cringe-worthy boss Michael) and Rainn Wilson (the boot-licking deputy Dwight)—responsible for the important work of selling paper for Dunder Mifflin—always prove that what could go wrong will go wrong. One example among many: “The Injury,” when Michael badly burns his foot on a Foreman grill because he likes breakfast in bed and the smell of sizzling bacon.
What about you? What makes you laugh? Perhaps you want to mention particular movies or shows. Maybe you want to share favorite actors or comedians. Or maybe you have a specific life experience or joke that always makes you laugh. I suspect we can all use a little of this necessary elixir.
As always, I look forward to reading your comments and for us all to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your responses. Trolling will not be tolerated.
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*Photo of Chris Farley as motivational speaker Matt Foley (with David Spade and Christina Applegate) in the classic Saturday Night Live sketch written by Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame.
I can always count on good laughs from John Oliver and his show, "Last Week Tonight". Along with his staff of writers, he's a genius at taking some pretty serious topics, all very well-researched, and helping you really understand it through comedy. And, like you, watching some of the classic SNL sketches never gets old.
For the record, maybe it’s me, but the sketch where Bill Hader is a traumatized Vietnam vet and is forced to tell the biography of his puppet in Seth MacFarlane’s goofy puppet class always breaks me up. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0xZ52mG1yIo
I laugh so hard every time I watch My Cousin Vinney! Several places, including court scenes, ("You mockin' me?") and the restaurant scene where he and Ms. Tormei are served grits. ("Has anybody heard of the ongoing cholesterol problem in this country?")That is a fabulous movie! Scenes in the movie Bridesmaids with Melissa McCarthy are pretty hilarious too! I love laughing and like you, I don't do it enough.
Everyone you mention are hilarious and we shouldn't forget Robin Williams either. But I would have to say my favorite comedian who would slaughter government and the MAGA idiots would be our great late George Carlin (RIP). I can only imagine what would come out of his mouth now if he were still alive especially about Trump and his fascist goons 😂
Just about any of the original and old episodes of Saturday night live....Cone Heads, Samarai Dry Cleaners, Church Lady, etc. Also the movie Animal House...irreverant to a fault.
The Matt Foley routine will go down in comic history one of the best. We lost both Chris Farley and Phil Hartman, two comic geniuses (and came close to losing Christina Applegate, a brilliant comedian and actress in her own right) in the intervening years.
One of my favorite things about this sketch is that no one but Farley knew he was going to crash the coffee table and that the utter shock everyone displayed was real. Comedy at its very best! (Watching it again now myself.)
Anybody on this thread remember the late comedian Norm Crosby? His comedy routine was one malapropism after another. Kind of like trump does now. ONLY NORM did it deliberately to make us laugh.
Another favorite Norman is Norman Lear. He produced So many shows like All In The Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford and Son - All of which gave me tremendous laughs!
Opportunities come up. I met an elderly woman coming out of Safeway struggling with two bags of groceries. Excuse me Mam, I said, your shoe's untied, which made her look. Just kidding! I said. She was up for the absurdity of a friendly stranger pulling her leg out of the blue and smiled a laugh. The original intent was to help her to the car with her groceries and she let me do that, knowing I was not some goofy predator. Humor is our ancient shared comfort zone.
Without a doubt humor is badly needed these days, kindly let me share my father’s last joke to me . As a frequent summer visitor to the “Borscht Belt “(Catskill mountains) in the 1950s-60s, he befriended comedians like Alan King, Myron Cohen and many others. Here’s the joke; An elderly gentleman was visiting his daughter who lived in NYC near 42nd street in 1952. One night he decided to take a walk after dinner in the neighborhood. While on 42nd St a beautiful, skimpily dressed young lady approached him and said” good evening sir, would you like some Super Sex?” He looked at her carefully and answered “ Vel young lady, how much for da soup?”
What a wonderful topic. I received notification you had posted and stopped immediately what I was doing! I’m glad I did!
Steve Martin makes me laugh.
The movie where he is white but born to a loving black but he struggles to acquire ANY rhythm. Throughout the film he taps his foot or snaps his fingers etc… to try desperately to reveal any rhythm like the other members of his family naturally and beautifully possess. “The Jerk” Sweet movie in spite of the title!
Then there is “Quick Change”: Inept bank robbers and a sort of kind of psychic cop.
Bill Murray, Jason Robards, Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci ….. oh my gosh hilarious
Colbert, Wanda Sykes. The late George Carlin and Richard Pryor. Chris Rock. The Three Stooges. Abbot and Costello. Mel Brooks' movies and his old routines. So many, but these are the people who immediately come to mind. Yes, we do need a good laugh. I had a good laugh when the convicted felon Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts. Can hardly wait to hear the sentencing. I am with Colbert on the Advent calendar skit.
How wonderful to find this in my email box this morning. I wrote humorous little stories for NPR for fifteen years. In doing so, I took up a study of humor, loving Norman Cousin's books on the benefits of laughter. Recently, I too decided we need to make each other laugh now more than ever. Laughter is a survival mechanism. It's a reflex like a blink or cough and is essential for sanity and survival. My new book is a memoir deriving from my years as a humor storyteller on NPR is coming out next March for Mother's Day, titled ITCHING TO LOVE, The Story of a Dog. It's written to all of us with love. Stay tuned. Thanks, Shelley Fraser Mickle
Thanks, Suzanne, I love nothing more than making people laugh! Here's one a funny story that I was told when I recently gave a talk to a group. This woman came up and told me her 100 year old mother had gone to the doctor for a checkup the day before. Of course the daughter called, asking "How was your appointment with your doctor?" The mother answered, "Perfectly Horrible. HE looked terrible!"
Amy Sedaris has a hilarious Instagram account. Her brother David’s books never fail to make me laugh out loud. Letterman, Bill Murray, John Mulaney, Wanda Sykes, Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Kimmel, Colbert — give me a smart, progressive irreverent comedian!
The quick wit of Paul Lynde (espec. Hollywood Squares, cuz yes, I am old); Steve Martin in almost anything; the brilliant Harvey Corman and Tim Conway on Carol Burnett; Randy Rainbow; cheeky unfiltered small children are always a joy; goofy, loving, wonderfully exhuberant dogs.
My grandchildren recently discovered that I had the song, “I Love to Laugh” from the movie, “Mary Poppins”, on my playlist…LOL. If you haven’t heard it, you HAVE to listen…hahahaha. In the movie, Julie Andrews(Mary Poppins) is called to respond to a ‘family’ emergency. She arrives at her Uncle Albert’s house, where Dick Van Dyke (Bert) answers the door. She asks, “How long has he been like this?”, as Bert responds that this is the worst he’s ever been. Mary Poppins enters the house with the Banks children in tow, where they discover Uncle Albert on the ceiling, filled with laughing gas. As his laughter is infectious, everyone ends up taking tea on the ceiling. The rest is musical history….hahahahaha. All I have to do is listen to the song, and my troubles just…float away?🤣
I try not to let the dysfunction and depravity of the Republican/MAGA Party get me down. Often it's quite the opposite, as I find it all can be a rich source of humor. For example, sometimes I'll scroll through the comments on one of their social media posts just for laughs - some of them are witty and hilarious. I'm usually asleep before the late-night shows, but the next morning I'll often pull up clips of the monologues to start my day with some laughs. Satirists like Borowitz, The Onion, and Randy Rainbow have helped keep me entertained (and possibly sane) throughout the Trump madness. Occasionally I reframe my perception and view an episode of their hijinks as if it were an SNL skit. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference!
Speaking of SNL, let me add one more answer to your question above that has nothing to do with politics: "More cowbell!"
And while we're at it, let me toss in two more, both from the Marx Brothers: The ocean liner stateroom scene from Night at the Opera, and the mirror scene in Duck Soup.
I also laugh at the amazingly talented and brilliant J-L Cauvin, whose YouTube channel is filled with many hundreds of 2-3 minute impersonations of Donald Trump's latest topics of craziness over the past 6 years, not to mention spot-on impersonations of Don Jr., Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Brett Kavanaugh, Ron DeSantis, et al.
There are online podcast interviews with Cauvin keeping his Trump-schtick going for 60-90 minutes of improvisational material (like when former WH Communications Director Tony Scaramucci "interviewed" Cauvin-as-Trump)-- he totally get Trump's crazy tangents, non-sequiturs, malevolence, misogyny, idiocy and insanity.
I’m old school, and showing my age, when I say the Three Stooges, the Little Rascals, the Bowery Boys, and all the old classic cartoons like Foghorn Leghorn, Heckle and Jeckle, etc. The original SNL group, some of the funniest humans alive, also come to mind. Thanks! A good laugh is definitely needed.
Nothing helps me more than laughing. We were at dinner last night talking with friends about Mel Books movies and jokes. Just talking about them got the laughs going.
Just what I needed. Chris Farley as a motivational speaker. One of his most hilarious sketches. All of Chris Farley's sketches were hilarious. In fact, the SNL cast in that era were the funniest of my favorite SNL memories. Chris played the restaurant menu detailed reader at home to husband Adam Sandler "Give me cancer now God!". Also lives Phil Hartman as the anal retentive chef and also in anal retentive fishing. I could go on and on. I think I'll watch more 1990's SNL sketches NOW!
I could list comedians, or movie scenes, or events that make me laugh. But I choose to create my own laughter wherever I go, or if I stay put. Humor is everywhere, whether it’s sly or raucous. It’s needed now. I tap into it freely. And it’s a joy to make others laugh. A nice pay-off.
Early Jim Carrey on “In Living Color.” It was on late at night when I was young, I think. His “Fire Marshall Bill” character and his female bodybuilder made me laugh tears! He was/is so very talented, multi-faceted. Melissa McCarthy’s character in “Bridesmaids” still makes me scream with laughter… so outrageous!
Honestly, what makes me laugh these days is the Trump Cult. Don’t get me wrong…Trump is dangerous and God help us if he gets elected. But when I’m done throwing my hands in the air, I just laugh and laugh at the absurdity of the Orange Clown Show. It helps
I’m showing my age, but I think the loudest and longest I’ve ever laughed came too many years ago to count when I first saw the movie “No time for sergeants” with Andy Griffith. There’s a scene where Griffith’s character, as punishment for something or other, is told to clean the latrine (bathroom). When the sergeant comes to inspect, he is greeted by every toilet lid popping straight up ‘cause Griffith has rigged a pedal mechanism to open all at once to salute the sergeant. (It’s a lot funnier in the watching than in the telling.) I’m even chuckling now as I recount it more than 50 years since I saw it. Sad, I know. I’m sure I’ve laughed harder in that time, but that scene almost always jumps to the forefront when thinking about things like this. (Well, maybe also the first time I ever heard Abbot and Costello doing “Who’s on first!)
The funniest series that I have enjoyed several times over is Apple TV's Shrinking.
The writing is top notch. The cast is stellar. In particular Jessica Williams is a comedic genius. Harrison Ford exudes dead pan brilliance. Jason Segel (one of the creators along with Ted Lasso creator Bill Lawrence and TL star Brett Goldstein ) is perfect in his role of grieving widow desperately trying to connect with his teen aged daughter.
Despite watching it several times, I STILL find myself rewinding a scene because the delivery of the clever script (with a sprinkling of Jessica Williams brilliant ad-libbing) has me laughing loud.
Right now the best journalists in MSM are the late night comedians, From Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart & the Daily show team -they serve the news straight taking on the powerful while making us LOL
We decided that our kids could not leave home without developing a hearty & healthy sense of humor
We made them watch all the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Mel Brooks movies & more like Airplane etc
What made me laugh longest and hardest were two different things. One was the early Muppets. Some of their pieces were hysterical, particularly the wrestlers.
Also hitting my funny bone hard was Victor Borge. He was a classical pianist who had the most amazing talent in making people laugh.
My father had a contagious sense of humor, and as a child he made me laugh often. He was always playing innocent jokes on others. He used to make sour dough bread, and one morning he had it sitting on a chair in the dining room with a towel over it so it absorb sunlight and raise. I awoke late that morning and went into the dining room and sat on the chair - unknowingly deflating his bread. He then took the bread and chased me around the house and dumped it on my head. His bread was delicious and to this day, I prefer sour dough over other breads. Like the "Grumpy Old Men" movie, he had a neighbor who played the same games.
In the late 1980's I started to go to Russia, and over time as I lived there and other dictator-led countries - I lost my "sense of humor" that I inherited from my father and absorbed Russian humor. They would laugh about their leaders and about their living conditions - but it was totally different than American humor.
I finally returned to the U.S. in 2008, and have never regained that same sense of seeing the world through rosey glasses. When I wrote From Democracy to Democrazy, I filled the book with political cartoons and will do the same with my next book. It helped me smile while writing about "what could happen" to our world due to Putin's push for supremacy and Trump's ignorant, pathetic and misaligned outlook on his self-focused world.
"My Cousin Vinny"! High up on my list of favorite movies. If I'm channel-surfing, I always stop to watch a minute or two of its hysterical plotline and amazing performances, and before I know it, I've watched til the end. The incomparable Fred Gwynne, in his last performance, is masterful, as is everybody else. And I am caught up in laughter each time - even fully aware of each scene and bit of dialogue. Marissa Tomei received her well-deserved Oscar for saying, among other things "You blend." Austin Pendleton, in a totally un-politically correct performance as a stuttering lawyer. The great Joe Pesci for his seductive wordplay with Marissa Tomei over how to fix a leaky faucet. I could go on. Each moment is a gem of comedy, and gets me and my husband every time!
A man becomes a monk and joins a seminary where strict silence is observed, but every ten years the monks are allowed to speak to their leader. After ten years, the man tells his master, “The bed is hard.” Ten more years pass and the man once again sees the head monk and says, “the potatoes are lumpy”. After another ten years the monk says, “the room is drafty.” Ten more years pass and the monk tells his master, “I’m leaving.” The head monk says, “Good! You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here.”
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL has so many memorable comic bits in it—but if I had to choose one, it would be Dennis, the Constitutional Peasant. I was so taken with Dennis's response to Arthur telling the Legend of Excalibur that my former wife got me a T-shirt reading, "STRANGE WOMEN LYING IN PONDS DISTRIBUTING SWORDS IS NO BASIS FOR A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT."
Save some good ones for us for November and January. Whatever happens in the election, I’m sure we’re going to need the support of historical context and just a little hilarity.
Anything by Randy Rainbow absolutely cracks me up! Someone mentioned Steve Martin. He's a genius. I couldn't stop laughing during "All of Me".
Oh, Randy is a total GENIUS!
Kathy, that "All of Me" movie is hilarious! And the final scene is so sweet.
Yes, it is.
"Back in the bowl!"
LOL!!!
I can always count on good laughs from John Oliver and his show, "Last Week Tonight". Along with his staff of writers, he's a genius at taking some pretty serious topics, all very well-researched, and helping you really understand it through comedy. And, like you, watching some of the classic SNL sketches never gets old.
I love John Oliver. He always manages to make me laugh AND learn something new.
Gilda Radner😂
Roseanne Rosanna-Danna
Yes, and Emily Litella ☺️😂
Never mind 😂😂😂
The late great philosopher 🤗
Yes.
For the record, maybe it’s me, but the sketch where Bill Hader is a traumatized Vietnam vet and is forced to tell the biography of his puppet in Seth MacFarlane’s goofy puppet class always breaks me up. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0xZ52mG1yIo
That’s hilarious 😂
My favorite is the Carol Burnett skit …wearing a dress made from curtains…Gone With The Windy.
"OH, it's just somethin' I saw in the window..."
That was fabulous!
I laugh so hard every time I watch My Cousin Vinney! Several places, including court scenes, ("You mockin' me?") and the restaurant scene where he and Ms. Tormei are served grits. ("Has anybody heard of the ongoing cholesterol problem in this country?")That is a fabulous movie! Scenes in the movie Bridesmaids with Melissa McCarthy are pretty hilarious too! I love laughing and like you, I don't do it enough.
I have read that this movie (Vinny ) is shown to students in law classes for educational purposes. Great movie, I think I know every line by heart.
Everyone you mention are hilarious and we shouldn't forget Robin Williams either. But I would have to say my favorite comedian who would slaughter government and the MAGA idiots would be our great late George Carlin (RIP). I can only imagine what would come out of his mouth now if he were still alive especially about Trump and his fascist goons 😂
Just about any of the original and old episodes of Saturday night live....Cone Heads, Samarai Dry Cleaners, Church Lady, etc. Also the movie Animal House...irreverant to a fault.
Thanks for asking...
The Matt Foley routine will go down in comic history one of the best. We lost both Chris Farley and Phil Hartman, two comic geniuses (and came close to losing Christina Applegate, a brilliant comedian and actress in her own right) in the intervening years.
One of my favorite things about this sketch is that no one but Farley knew he was going to crash the coffee table and that the utter shock everyone displayed was real. Comedy at its very best! (Watching it again now myself.)
Thanks!
Phil Hartman was genius - lost way too soon!
Because he loved his wife so much and wouldn’t leave her.
Anybody on this thread remember the late comedian Norm Crosby? His comedy routine was one malapropism after another. Kind of like trump does now. ONLY NORM did it deliberately to make us laugh.
Another favorite Norman is Norman Lear. He produced So many shows like All In The Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford and Son - All of which gave me tremendous laughs!
Opportunities come up. I met an elderly woman coming out of Safeway struggling with two bags of groceries. Excuse me Mam, I said, your shoe's untied, which made her look. Just kidding! I said. She was up for the absurdity of a friendly stranger pulling her leg out of the blue and smiled a laugh. The original intent was to help her to the car with her groceries and she let me do that, knowing I was not some goofy predator. Humor is our ancient shared comfort zone.
Interesting point.
Without a doubt humor is badly needed these days, kindly let me share my father’s last joke to me . As a frequent summer visitor to the “Borscht Belt “(Catskill mountains) in the 1950s-60s, he befriended comedians like Alan King, Myron Cohen and many others. Here’s the joke; An elderly gentleman was visiting his daughter who lived in NYC near 42nd street in 1952. One night he decided to take a walk after dinner in the neighborhood. While on 42nd St a beautiful, skimpily dressed young lady approached him and said” good evening sir, would you like some Super Sex?” He looked at her carefully and answered “ Vel young lady, how much for da soup?”
😂
This came at just the right time!
What a wonderful topic. I received notification you had posted and stopped immediately what I was doing! I’m glad I did!
Steve Martin makes me laugh.
The movie where he is white but born to a loving black but he struggles to acquire ANY rhythm. Throughout the film he taps his foot or snaps his fingers etc… to try desperately to reveal any rhythm like the other members of his family naturally and beautifully possess. “The Jerk” Sweet movie in spite of the title!
Then there is “Quick Change”: Inept bank robbers and a sort of kind of psychic cop.
Bill Murray, Jason Robards, Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci ….. oh my gosh hilarious
These memories are JUST what I need right now!
Bless you Steve!
Thx. Glad it helps!
KING TUT!!!!!!!!! Steve Martin….
Now I’m going to have an ear worm all day!
Bill Murray - Yes!!!!
Also Bridesmaids
Colbert, Wanda Sykes. The late George Carlin and Richard Pryor. Chris Rock. The Three Stooges. Abbot and Costello. Mel Brooks' movies and his old routines. So many, but these are the people who immediately come to mind. Yes, we do need a good laugh. I had a good laugh when the convicted felon Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 counts. Can hardly wait to hear the sentencing. I am with Colbert on the Advent calendar skit.
Just try to imagine what George Carlin would have to say about our current “situation”!!!
Oh lord. 😆
Wanda Sykes on the phone, digging in her purse and pockets panicking that she lost her phone 😂😂😂
…ok, we’ll call me back when you find it. 😂😹😂😹😂😹🥰🥳
One of the best. I have to admit it has happened to me.
Me too😂. I was holding my phone in my hand for it😂😂😂
“…looking for it 🥸
😂😂 yes, the advent calendar was hilarious!
How wonderful to find this in my email box this morning. I wrote humorous little stories for NPR for fifteen years. In doing so, I took up a study of humor, loving Norman Cousin's books on the benefits of laughter. Recently, I too decided we need to make each other laugh now more than ever. Laughter is a survival mechanism. It's a reflex like a blink or cough and is essential for sanity and survival. My new book is a memoir deriving from my years as a humor storyteller on NPR is coming out next March for Mother's Day, titled ITCHING TO LOVE, The Story of a Dog. It's written to all of us with love. Stay tuned. Thanks, Shelley Fraser Mickle
Shelley, what a great “job” to have! 💕
Thanks, Suzanne, I love nothing more than making people laugh! Here's one a funny story that I was told when I recently gave a talk to a group. This woman came up and told me her 100 year old mother had gone to the doctor for a checkup the day before. Of course the daughter called, asking "How was your appointment with your doctor?" The mother answered, "Perfectly Horrible. HE looked terrible!"
Substack’s own Jay Kuo’s weekly Just for Sheetz and Giggles always makes me laugh out loud. Special soft spot for Jim Gaffigan…
Amy Sedaris has a hilarious Instagram account. Her brother David’s books never fail to make me laugh out loud. Letterman, Bill Murray, John Mulaney, Wanda Sykes, Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Kimmel, Colbert — give me a smart, progressive irreverent comedian!
Amy and David Sedaris will likely make me die laughing one day 🤗
The quick wit of Paul Lynde (espec. Hollywood Squares, cuz yes, I am old); Steve Martin in almost anything; the brilliant Harvey Corman and Tim Conway on Carol Burnett; Randy Rainbow; cheeky unfiltered small children are always a joy; goofy, loving, wonderfully exhuberant dogs.
We have the same sense of humor. I would add Robin Williams and Andy Kauffman.
Absolutely!
My grandchildren recently discovered that I had the song, “I Love to Laugh” from the movie, “Mary Poppins”, on my playlist…LOL. If you haven’t heard it, you HAVE to listen…hahahaha. In the movie, Julie Andrews(Mary Poppins) is called to respond to a ‘family’ emergency. She arrives at her Uncle Albert’s house, where Dick Van Dyke (Bert) answers the door. She asks, “How long has he been like this?”, as Bert responds that this is the worst he’s ever been. Mary Poppins enters the house with the Banks children in tow, where they discover Uncle Albert on the ceiling, filled with laughing gas. As his laughter is infectious, everyone ends up taking tea on the ceiling. The rest is musical history….hahahahaha. All I have to do is listen to the song, and my troubles just…float away?🤣
I try not to let the dysfunction and depravity of the Republican/MAGA Party get me down. Often it's quite the opposite, as I find it all can be a rich source of humor. For example, sometimes I'll scroll through the comments on one of their social media posts just for laughs - some of them are witty and hilarious. I'm usually asleep before the late-night shows, but the next morning I'll often pull up clips of the monologues to start my day with some laughs. Satirists like Borowitz, The Onion, and Randy Rainbow have helped keep me entertained (and possibly sane) throughout the Trump madness. Occasionally I reframe my perception and view an episode of their hijinks as if it were an SNL skit. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference!
Speaking of SNL, let me add one more answer to your question above that has nothing to do with politics: "More cowbell!"
Another SNL classic: "Schweddy balls!"
And while we're at it, let me toss in two more, both from the Marx Brothers: The ocean liner stateroom scene from Night at the Opera, and the mirror scene in Duck Soup.
The Status Kuo’s Saturday posts Just for Xeets and Giggles. Hysterical way to take my mind off the serious situation we’re in.
Thanks for America America. This is a consistently thought provoking and motivating series.
I also laugh at the amazingly talented and brilliant J-L Cauvin, whose YouTube channel is filled with many hundreds of 2-3 minute impersonations of Donald Trump's latest topics of craziness over the past 6 years, not to mention spot-on impersonations of Don Jr., Mitch McConnell, Mike Pence, Brett Kavanaugh, Ron DeSantis, et al.
There are online podcast interviews with Cauvin keeping his Trump-schtick going for 60-90 minutes of improvisational material (like when former WH Communications Director Tony Scaramucci "interviewed" Cauvin-as-Trump)-- he totally get Trump's crazy tangents, non-sequiturs, malevolence, misogyny, idiocy and insanity.
Blazing Saddles and City Slickers: super funny movies!
Anything with Robin Williams even though he can be off color many times but still hilarious!
I’m old school, and showing my age, when I say the Three Stooges, the Little Rascals, the Bowery Boys, and all the old classic cartoons like Foghorn Leghorn, Heckle and Jeckle, etc. The original SNL group, some of the funniest humans alive, also come to mind. Thanks! A good laugh is definitely needed.
This has been fun. Thank you, I needed this.
The unexpected makes me laugh. The absurd pretending to be normal and the silliness of it. They make me laugh.
The Looney Tunes classic, "Rabbit Seasoning". Never fails.
https://youtu.be/6e1hZGDaqIw?feature=shared
Genius.
Nothing helps me more than laughing. We were at dinner last night talking with friends about Mel Books movies and jokes. Just talking about them got the laughs going.
Just what I needed. Chris Farley as a motivational speaker. One of his most hilarious sketches. All of Chris Farley's sketches were hilarious. In fact, the SNL cast in that era were the funniest of my favorite SNL memories. Chris played the restaurant menu detailed reader at home to husband Adam Sandler "Give me cancer now God!". Also lives Phil Hartman as the anal retentive chef and also in anal retentive fishing. I could go on and on. I think I'll watch more 1990's SNL sketches NOW!
I could list comedians, or movie scenes, or events that make me laugh. But I choose to create my own laughter wherever I go, or if I stay put. Humor is everywhere, whether it’s sly or raucous. It’s needed now. I tap into it freely. And it’s a joy to make others laugh. A nice pay-off.
The Dentist sketch on Carol Burnett. Tim Conway and Harvey Korman were comic gold!
Tim Conway frequently had me doubled over with laughter - especially when he managed to get Harvey Korman to break character and laugh 😆
Yes! I saw this again just a few days ago. Perfection! (And poor Harvey. Tim always knew how to get to him!)
Yes, that skit was gold.
Early Jim Carrey on “In Living Color.” It was on late at night when I was young, I think. His “Fire Marshall Bill” character and his female bodybuilder made me laugh tears! He was/is so very talented, multi-faceted. Melissa McCarthy’s character in “Bridesmaids” still makes me scream with laughter… so outrageous!
My cousin Vinny and Monty Python are two of my favs.
Monty Python is hysterical!
Honestly, what makes me laugh these days is the Trump Cult. Don’t get me wrong…Trump is dangerous and God help us if he gets elected. But when I’m done throwing my hands in the air, I just laugh and laugh at the absurdity of the Orange Clown Show. It helps
Jeff Tiedrich's analyses can make me laugh during the worst of these Trump times.
I agree, Connie. Jeff is a hoot who tells the truth in trucker language
Bridesmaids and Anything with Gilda Radner
I’m showing my age, but I think the loudest and longest I’ve ever laughed came too many years ago to count when I first saw the movie “No time for sergeants” with Andy Griffith. There’s a scene where Griffith’s character, as punishment for something or other, is told to clean the latrine (bathroom). When the sergeant comes to inspect, he is greeted by every toilet lid popping straight up ‘cause Griffith has rigged a pedal mechanism to open all at once to salute the sergeant. (It’s a lot funnier in the watching than in the telling.) I’m even chuckling now as I recount it more than 50 years since I saw it. Sad, I know. I’m sure I’ve laughed harder in that time, but that scene almost always jumps to the forefront when thinking about things like this. (Well, maybe also the first time I ever heard Abbot and Costello doing “Who’s on first!)
The funniest series that I have enjoyed several times over is Apple TV's Shrinking.
The writing is top notch. The cast is stellar. In particular Jessica Williams is a comedic genius. Harrison Ford exudes dead pan brilliance. Jason Segel (one of the creators along with Ted Lasso creator Bill Lawrence and TL star Brett Goldstein ) is perfect in his role of grieving widow desperately trying to connect with his teen aged daughter.
Despite watching it several times, I STILL find myself rewinding a scene because the delivery of the clever script (with a sprinkling of Jessica Williams brilliant ad-libbing) has me laughing loud.
Chelsea Handler. SNL.
Jenny Slate’s “Marcel the Shell with shoes on.” Our daughter shared it with us, and she later regretted it. So many classic lines- pure joy.
Right now the best journalists in MSM are the late night comedians, From Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart & the Daily show team -they serve the news straight taking on the powerful while making us LOL
We decided that our kids could not leave home without developing a hearty & healthy sense of humor
We made them watch all the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Mel Brooks movies & more like Airplane etc
Now we do the same for our 6 "Grands"
What made me laugh longest and hardest were two different things. One was the early Muppets. Some of their pieces were hysterical, particularly the wrestlers.
Also hitting my funny bone hard was Victor Borge. He was a classical pianist who had the most amazing talent in making people laugh.
My father had a contagious sense of humor, and as a child he made me laugh often. He was always playing innocent jokes on others. He used to make sour dough bread, and one morning he had it sitting on a chair in the dining room with a towel over it so it absorb sunlight and raise. I awoke late that morning and went into the dining room and sat on the chair - unknowingly deflating his bread. He then took the bread and chased me around the house and dumped it on my head. His bread was delicious and to this day, I prefer sour dough over other breads. Like the "Grumpy Old Men" movie, he had a neighbor who played the same games.
In the late 1980's I started to go to Russia, and over time as I lived there and other dictator-led countries - I lost my "sense of humor" that I inherited from my father and absorbed Russian humor. They would laugh about their leaders and about their living conditions - but it was totally different than American humor.
I finally returned to the U.S. in 2008, and have never regained that same sense of seeing the world through rosey glasses. When I wrote From Democracy to Democrazy, I filled the book with political cartoons and will do the same with my next book. It helped me smile while writing about "what could happen" to our world due to Putin's push for supremacy and Trump's ignorant, pathetic and misaligned outlook on his self-focused world.
Elizabeth, www.democrazy2020.org
The best example of a “sad” joke is listening to the airless comments of Trump and his cultees. Keep up the courageous writing you do.
"My Cousin Vinny"! High up on my list of favorite movies. If I'm channel-surfing, I always stop to watch a minute or two of its hysterical plotline and amazing performances, and before I know it, I've watched til the end. The incomparable Fred Gwynne, in his last performance, is masterful, as is everybody else. And I am caught up in laughter each time - even fully aware of each scene and bit of dialogue. Marissa Tomei received her well-deserved Oscar for saying, among other things "You blend." Austin Pendleton, in a totally un-politically correct performance as a stuttering lawyer. The great Joe Pesci for his seductive wordplay with Marissa Tomei over how to fix a leaky faucet. I could go on. Each moment is a gem of comedy, and gets me and my husband every time!
My favorite joke:
A man becomes a monk and joins a seminary where strict silence is observed, but every ten years the monks are allowed to speak to their leader. After ten years, the man tells his master, “The bed is hard.” Ten more years pass and the man once again sees the head monk and says, “the potatoes are lumpy”. After another ten years the monk says, “the room is drafty.” Ten more years pass and the monk tells his master, “I’m leaving.” The head monk says, “Good! You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here.”
Tootsie.
Sydney Pollack exploding at DustinHoffman because he doesn't want to sit as a tomato
MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL has so many memorable comic bits in it—but if I had to choose one, it would be Dennis, the Constitutional Peasant. I was so taken with Dennis's response to Arthur telling the Legend of Excalibur that my former wife got me a T-shirt reading, "STRANGE WOMEN LYING IN PONDS DISTRIBUTING SWORDS IS NO BASIS FOR A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT."
John Cleese as Basil Fawlty and his long suffering wife played by Prunella Scales. And almost anything by Peter Sellers.
Save some good ones for us for November and January. Whatever happens in the election, I’m sure we’re going to need the support of historical context and just a little hilarity.