Live-- laugh!

I believe it was the late great George Carlin who observed that when a comic does well, they "kill" and when a comic does poorly, they "die." Hard to imagine, but it really does seem that comedy and laughter are really that important in human existence.

Why is comedy so important? Doesn't it seem trivial? Who's standing over a catatonic man in the street screaming, 'quick! Get Kathy Griffin over here!' Why aren't comedy clubs covered by health insurance (stick that in the Universal Healthcare public option, Obama!) Why does the class clown get in trouble, when he should be part of the Health curriculum? How many people are dying without laughter-- literally?

But it is important. Our existence is the result of emotions, if you'll follow my philosophical path. We are all defined by our experiences and our reactions to those experiences. It's not only what occurs around you, but your interaction and reaction to those occurances. So we must laugh; we must cry; we must be angry; we must be content.

In the words of a rather wise juggler I met several years ago: "We are here for a good time... not for a long time." I think of that statement often, and comedians, as a group, seem to really believe that. There's a Christian comedian who tells his audience, "Life is too short not to laugh; life is too long not to laugh." An interesting paradox, but clearly makes the point.