“What did the waiter say when the couple … no, wait, that’s not it. Sorry. … A couple sits down at a table in a restaurant and orders the daily special. When the waiter asks … Oh, rats! Just hang on. How did that go?”
I’m a big fan of funny. Who’s not? Laughter heals, opens doors, lightens spirits, and rights perspectives. But what if laughter’s elusive?
Plenty of times, the thought of finding the humour in a situation, or – even worse – being the humour in a situation, feels impossible and unreasonable. That’s when funny practice can save the day.
My husband and I use funny practice when we get into a spot of trouble with each other and the sagging mood gets old. Then one of us will take the plunge and begin to practice being funny. The jokes are lame. The innuendos fall short of their mark. The punch lines peter out. The puns have to be explained.
But at some point – and it doesn’t take long – the mood shifts. We start laughing about the poor state of the humour. One of us will look at the other, usually with an expression of slightly pained compassion, and say, “Keep practicing.” We do. And that’s enough to make all the difference.
Funny is a muscle. Use it or lose it.
Flickr photo: kickin’ it prehistoric, by erin MC Hammer.
Related reading: Play Anyway, Hero Practice
2 Comments
Strange, this morning (April 14th) I decided to search for ‘funny practice’ in google and this was at the top of the hits. Amazing you wrote this not 24 hours before I thought it. Small world (or huge internet) anyway, thought that was cool!
Adam – that IS cool and weird. I’m glad I was there for you to find.
It’s getting to be a little alarming, in a very good, sort of plugged-in-spooky way, how often people are saying things like this about the posts and Creativity Prompts. I like it, for sure. It feels like more feedback from the great beyond that the way I risk writing (I often do it by stopping my mind first, then tuning in to what needs to be communicated at that particular time) seems to be working for more people than just me.
With appreciation that you let me know,
Grace
One Trackback/Pingback
[…] reading: Funny Practice, Pep Talk | Embrace Corny This was written by Grace Kerina. Posted on Thursday, October 1, 2009, […]