Comedy

Comedy is seriously the most serious thing in the world.

Seriously.

The universe feels as though it has a moral intent.

There is the possibility of Hell and there is the possibility to Laugh at Hell.

Dante, after all, didn’t call it The Divine Tragedy. He also didn't leave the poor guy down there.

Irony: The Comedian and Poet’s Burden.

A comedian straight shot deals with irony. A poet juggles the irony of irony. Either way, how the comic and poet carry the burden determines their quality of life and the quality of their life's work.

Once you see the ironic nature of life, you don’t unsee it.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before,” the comic says.

But don’t ever say that to a comedian. She’ll tell you to shut your mouth. She’s heard them all. They’re all the same joke. It’s all the same joke. She gets it. You don’t.

Has she heard it before?

Shut your mouth. It’s the only thing she hears.

Seriously.

Irony removes duality. It’s why so many poets and comedians suffer depression, drug addiction, battle suicide.

How do you find an answer in a yes/no world when everything is maybe?

This is not to discount the medical field, depression is real, but self-talk is the ultimate symptom and cause of death (suicide). So, it is the focal point for treatment.

In a mind where there is no clear definition of better or worse, a positive inner monologue is just as good as a negative one. Optimism is a lot of work. So is pessimism. Who has the strength for either?

Perception of the totality of irony is a damned heavy burden. But it is necessary. Because someone must toe the line, to remind the world of its moral nature, the comedian and the poet don’t get to live a good life.

But we don’t get to live a bad one either.

Someone has to stand witness. Someone has to remind us that right and wrong do exist. And you can’t report on the game if you’re playing. That’s an evangelist. A propagandist. Editorial columnist.

Comedy and Poetry are spectator sports; we take notes. Evaluate. Make drafts. Speak words. Make Draft Picks. Encourage the direction of the world by what we focus on, by what we choose to shine a moral light on.

If all the poets and comics in the world went dark the world would follow.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…” It’s not funny. It’s not a win; it’s not a loss, because you know the punch line because the setup is your whole life's experience. You saw the game score flash on your Google homepage before you could finish watching the replay.

Why watch? There’s no payoff. There’s no pleasure/pain reward.

The remedy is to remember that because we see irony, there has to be morality. We don’t get to play because we understand the game so well.

A group of poets and comedians walk into a bar…

No, they don’t. They’re at Joe’s place; he’s got the biggest TV.

They order pizza, Chinese, Thai, Hoagies (because a Sub is no replacement) and they don’t explain a single thing to anybody all night long.

There’s no duller place on the globe than a room full of poets and comedians in sweatpants surrounded by every kind of takeout food in the city.

But for them it’s the only way to party.

The greatest of all ironies would be that some divine power made life ironic on purpose, which would mean it’s not ironic at all, which would make life the ultimate irony.

Which, of course, it is.

Maybe.

One day irony will be lost on me.

It will be a very good day.

No, no it won’t.

It will just be a day.

A sun-up - sun-down, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sleep day kind of day.

“Life is too important not to be taken seriously.”
- Oscar Wilde didn’t say.

Buddy Movie People laugh at jokes.

Monty Python People laugh at ‘The Joke.”

Laughless people have no time for jokes, unless it’s the serious business of financial profit from the funny business.

Consequently, the laughless are the cause and reason for the perpetuation of war, racism, gender inequality, slavery, genocide, each and every trapping of hate.

And so, the need for comedy.

Because if you can laugh you can love.

And if you can love there’s hope.

Laughter is grace.