Explaining Laughter

Explaining Laughter ©

By 

Michael Casey

I’ve just been watching GLOW on tv. a comedy about Women’s Wrestling, a great ensemble cast, 90% women I suppose. Go watch it. Now before my Tinnitus picks up or before my left shoulder tries to kill me again, real injuries not fake as in GLOW, I’m going to try and explain a few things.

Words are the beginning, without the Writer there is Nothing. But then a good actress as in GLOW will make those words GLOW, and Sparkle. And the opposite is true also, BAD ACTORS can destroy a show. BUT if the Writing is RUBBISH then nothing can put GLOW in a show, it’s dead like a Dead Donkey. So, it’s a combination, you have to mix and match, that’s where casting is so important too. Now I speak all this because, I have been writing a very long time now. And watching too many films too. You have the director who directs the actor, to encourage the actor to push it to the limit. You have the art director, who if I’m correct in explaining the title, the guy who frames the picture, how nice it looks. Then you have sound, AND WE ALL HATE MUMBLING FOR ATMOSPHERE.

We want to hear and see our actors doing their stuff. And on it goes, till you finally have a great tv show, or film. But then again it’s the Writer who matters most, or maybe I’m just boasting. I’ve written a ton of stuff, and I’ve only slowed down because of Tinnitus and Pain. Right now as I talk to you I’m hurrying before the Iron Curtain of  Pain comes down. And yes I do love my new bedroom curtains, and yes I used to go to the Theatre a lot too, many years ago, and as you know I studied Shakespeare at the Open University for a year, 30 years ago.

So that’s my background. Now am I joking or am I teasing when I say things? Like I want a speed typist, then maybe I go on to have 4 kids, Mathew Mark Luke & John.

Well, what do you think?  It’s a running Gag, but it’s almost on my Bucket List. So, there’s Pathos, who is not one of the Musketeers. And if you knew how much pain I have on a daily basis, and how much noise in my head. Then maybe you’d be more understanding. Or do you like your Comedy straight.

There are no rules to comedy. Just is it funny. I used to work in a hotel for 3 years, so I met 100s of people daily, so I had plenty of practice, maybe 100,000 interactions. Robin used to say, what did he say, what did he say, as people were laughing. It’s all just Practice. Later on I’d be cleaning toilets in bedrooms for Vicky, while she did the bedroom itself. Then I’d put my jacket and tie back on and do Front of House at the CPNEC Birmingham. It was the hardest job of my life, but the most FUN.

So, with a guest you have to read them, and speak so as to match the guest. And find a way to relax them and make them happy, and humour works, even if I had to use French or Spanish. Jokes, stories are the same, you have to match the words to a story. Different words for different occasions, some words work and others don’t.

A priest will use holy words, that can be very very boring. You can touch, influence more people with humour in my opinion. No, we don’t need Dave Allen in every pulpit, but words and message matter. I’m a Secret Sermon Reviewer also. As boring as Hell, sends people in that direction. And by the same token, a rude and crude man, who says (*&* a lot, is more pious that any hypocrite priest or congregation. Judge by what people actually do, not all the pretence.

Now what really bores me, is stand-up on tv, where they swear a lot, because they have no material. Which reminds me Singapore has suddenly become my big big reader, or maybe just Singapore IP hidden, maybe they are STEALING everything, wherever they really are. In yesterday’s film The Family, De Nero said &*^^ a lot, and each time in Luc Besson’s film it had a different meaning the same word *&^^

BUT IT WAS FUNNY.

So, context matters, so I have new curtains and I’m so happy with them today, but what if I die in the night, and sometimes the pain is so much, yes really. So, I’m dead in bed in the morning, and my kids say. Is Curtains for Dad, he is dead. It’s funny, it’s Black Humour. And ignorant woke kids, don’t misunderstand ignorantly and  deliberately what the Black is in Black Humour. Same as I live next to the Black Country, in the Midlands England, please don’t give me a lecture on Civil Rights, get a few books out and Learn some History.

But nobody bothers with anything, it’s the Twitter generation, who would rather stoke a fire based on ignorance. Empty Vessels make Most Sound. A quiet word, using influence is the best way to be. It’s a Truism, more Social Media, makes People more Anti-Social. I should carry on with this, but 900 words have just past, and my Tinnitus is whistling, so I may give you Part II another day. But it was nice for me, to write something instead of Bullet Points. Or don’t you give a (*&&, now that’s Irony explained to Americans.