Where is the humor in your life?

Time and humor seem to be related. Have you ever noticed that a good comedian has an extraordinary sense of timing? For a comedian to be funny, their timing has to be spot on. A comedian has to sense the pulse of the audience as well as gauge the temper of the day. For instance, jokes about 911 would probably not sound funny even today due to the seriousness of the tragedy. However, comedians often joke about minor disasters and other failings when the time seems right. Some comedians get away with telling racist and sexist jokes. They are able to sense the mood and nature of the audience. They also have an excellent sense of the Zeitgeist. The Zeitgeist is a German word that roughly translates to “tempo of the times or the sign of the times.” During the sixties, many of us took ourselves very seriously but today we can look back and joke about hippies, Woodstock, flower children and many of the quaint ideas we had back then. Just look at how silly the dress and clothes look from back in the sixties. We thought we were so cool then and now we laugh at how clownish we all looked.

If you watch the evening talk show hosts, they are masters at getting the timing just right with their audience. Even when they flub a joke, they are able to make an instant comeback. Not only do they have to have excellent timing for their jokes but the selection of guests is very critical as well. All of us want to see guests who are current in the public mind for one reason or another. Perhaps they have an upcoming movie, divorce or some other noteworthy event. If they are not connected to any significant happenings, we are not likely to be as interested in them. Being a celebrity has a great deal to do with timing as well as talent. Great celebrities are great marketers.

How do you deal with humor in your life? What in your life today can you laugh at that you might not have been able to years ago? What do you regard as so serious today that you do not ever thing you could laugh at? What if you are wrong? Is your life so serious that you cannot find anything humorous about it? How could you add more humor to your life? How could you find a sense of better timing in your life to deal with humor? When was the last joke you told?