Laughing presents

THE ART OF HUMOR

This book has God, Day 4, written all over it!

SOPH LAUGH

The Art of Humor

2013 Soph Laugh

If I have unknowingly violated any copyright rules, chalk it up to the fact that I wrote this book on my days off. Mondays are my day off... nuff said! i

Dedication

First, I would like to thank Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (1380 - 1459), the Italian scholar, Papal secretary, and Renaissance humanist credited with recovering, copying, and disseminating a great number of classical texts that he discovered in German and French monastic libraries. Though he is not here to appreciate my gratitude on account of his being dead and all, I do share his premise that humor can be savored without corrupting ones soul. As a member of the International Society for Humor Studies (ISHS), the scholarly and professional organization dedicated to the advancement of humor research, I would like to personally thank the many scholars from around the world, past and present, who have taken it upon themselves to share their insightful contributions in the eld of aesthetics. From them, I continue to learn and contemplate concepts that might not otherwise cross my mind or come up during my own exploration of humor. I would also like to thank the San Francisco Public Library for preserving Nat Schmulowitzs (1889 - 1966) Collection of Wit & Humor, some 20,000 volumes and 160 periodical titles, in more than 35 languages and dialects. This collection, which spans more than four centuries worth of humorous and sometimes scandalous stories and tales, is an undeniable testament of the universal importance humanity places on enjoyment.
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A special shout-out goes out to my many friends and followers on Blogger, Facebook, and Twitter, people whose opinions, thoughts, insights, and interests have notably shaped my understanding of what other people consider funny. An extra special, heartfelt thank you is reserved for my family and loved ones, who have long since encouraged me to publish what I write instead of hiding my stories, poems, jokes, and ruminations away in that big, plastic storage bin. All I have to say is you better be prepared to buy ALL the copies that dont sell! Finally, Id like to thank the universe for giving me a second chance at life in my present biological mechanism. For anyone who has survived a major accident or illness - or in my case, both - humor is indeed good medicine. Not only is it therapeutic to laugh, but a humorous perspective on life really does bring us closer, lighten our burdens, inspire hope, increase our insight, and keep us grounded, focused, alert, and happy. Laughter is a universal language that stimulates both sides of the brain. It allows us to get messages quicker and remember them longer. We all learn more when were having fun. ~Soph Laugh. Without further ado, this is what I learned while I was having a little bit of well-deserved FUN of my own...

PREFACE

If I did not laugh I should die. ~Abraham Lincoln

Historically, jokes have been related to human frailties and their close relationship to our subjective lives. Shifting abruptly from realism to metaphysical truth, humor allows us to overcome the feelings of helplessness in the presence of death, reducing everything to the absurdity felt in selfawareness, which allows us to laugh and may indeed be the only antidote for living. My exploration into humor came after making a heartfelt promise to laugh despite the tragedy that had befallen me. Little did I know when I published my first blog post on the subject of humor, how profoundly mood could affect the conscious state... Sunday, April 17, 2011: (Part IV: To Soar): Once I descend from my high wire act, I find myself comforted by my

ability to soar. Pledging to remain present in my elevated mode, a miscellany of thoughts begin to swirl: sophisticated, authoritative, philosophical, theological, scientific confrontations for the mind for which there is no appropriate language. These thoughts culminate into a superbly disordered jumble of bewilderment. Powerful commentators return. Internal critics render interpretations based on biased perspectives. My mind harangues itself and the complex ambivalence returns. This is the critic who extinguishes nonsense, is unsympathetic in the extreme, and has no faults for no risks are undertaken. Its motivation is the most faithful, not in the pious sense, but rather out of desire for purity. No pretenses can be made. The practice of inventing imaginary situations or posturing is pure deception and will not be tolerated. There is absolutely no faade here. It is also a quiet place. Mute from pain. Hushed and inaudible. Suppressed, noiseless, soundless, discreet, confidential. Saturday, December 15, 2012: (The Island of Humor): A humorous attitude unleashes the independence of our mental kingdom, the world of dreams and imagination, composing an imaginary life where we are free to become ourselves. Humor
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incentives our spirit to express the smile in our soul and heart. It isnt an ideal world, but it sure is a funny one! H ow, you might ask, does one go from the pain experienced in tragedy to taking a Leviathan-like quantum leap of faith, landing on an enchanted island where gaiety hovers above the seriousness of life? Sigmund Freud in his Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious stated that the pleasure in humor arises from an economy in expenditure upon feeling. Essentially, pleasure arises out of leisure, out of the ceaseless dialogue we have with ourselves - and others about life, the universe, and everything. The euphoria we experience, something we were once accustomed to in childhood due to the newness of the world and the newness of our evolving sense of self, returns and we laugh and giggle like children, delighting in the experience of being happy. Children do not need humor to feel happy in life. They do not need

hear a joke to laugh or be delighted. They simply need free time to be. Perhaps it is that sense of immediacy, that sense of spontaneous laughter that we find in humor that reminds us of what it feels like to simply exist. Speaking as a philosopher who once took the concept of consciousness and being very seriously, I never was so delighted in my adult life as I was when the notion of humor invaded my conscious thoughts. Now, I can laugh any time I choose - I can even laugh at myself. Like all experiences related to empowerment, my search for self through the scintillating labyrinth of humor unleashed my own inhibitions, as well as the symptoms and anxiety that came from having nursed them into existence. Sometimes I like to think of humor as my very own Get Out Of Jail Card Free, with jail being my previously held serious perspectives on life. While its true, life can sometimes take

a serious turn for the worse, the ability to laugh and consider the lighter side of any tragedy can get us through difficult times and help us rebound from pain much faster. And the nice thing about humor is that its absolutely FREE! But not only that, folks, laugh now and youll form wrinkles in all the right places! (wink, wink) ;-) BTW, have you ever paused a scary movie just to remind yourself that its only a movie? Consciously seeking out humor in life is like having a remote control that allows you to pause the serious stuff and switch channels to something less dramatic. Unless youre a Drama Queen or King, most people prefer to avoid the feelings associated with discontent. And one of the best ways to do that is through laughter! Consciously choosing laughter reminds me that we do have a choice in how we allow ourselves to feel and react to the world around us. While theoretically this is not new information, the ability to exercise this freedom
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really does bring with it an increased sense of control over our lives and the things that happen to us. If you dont believe me, go ahead and try it. Read a few jokes, share a few comics with your friends and family, and let your hair down... or in the case of those who dont have hair, let your computers firewall down. Do whatever it takes to let yourself laugh. I promise, you wont be sorry. You might find yourself acting a bit silly, but never sorry. Well, enough of that! Its time to share some jokes, some stories, and a few perspectives I brought back with me from the enchanted island of humor.

the person writing this book believes that saying "hi" with a big smile can brighten anyones day ... even those who give you the middle nger for cutting them off in trafc!