KELLI DUNHAM

Hey, welcome frequent laugh-ers! Or want to be frequent laugh-ers! Or people who used to be frequent laugh-ers and want to re-up their Frequent Laughter Card. Or…well you get the picture.

It’s not possible to watch stand up comedy every minute of every day (and it might be a little nauseating to try) but there are ways to increase humor in your daily life. Here’s a few simple starter steps:

-Remember, if you’re working for social justice, you’re carrying a heavy load. Give yourself permission to use laughter to lighten it.

-In my opinion, we don’t have the luxury of pessimism. Our responsibility as community activists is to choose hope and carry hope for the people in our collaborating, intersectional communities.

-Consciously lower your laughter threshold. Yes, we deal with serious stuff every day. That’s exactly why we need to laugh.

-Don’t listen to NPR, or read about the GOP’s war on women, or whatever riles you up most, before 8 am. There is plenty of time to be despondent about the state of the planet, no need to rush.

-Look for the absurd.

-Call the room. State what you see happening in the simplest terms. Sometimes that can be the most radical act in a day.

-If your family is giving you a hard time, tell them you’ve taken up comedy and then start following them around with 3 by 5 cards. When they say messed up stuff, write it down. You will be amazed at how much less messed up stuff they will say. You don’t have to actually make this into a stand up comedy act unless you really want to.

-About street harassment: you can always laugh uproariously when someone asks you to define your gender. You can then add “seriously, really,we have to choose one now?”

-Calling the room works for street harassment as well.

“Hey you’re a dyke”

“Um, is it really National Yell the Obvious Out a Car Window Day?”

-When someone says something really messed up, laugh. As Kate Clinton says “they’ll never say it with the same confidence again”

-Use humor to notice the “uh oh” before you get to “ouch”  Traumatized people often miss this the “uh oh”

-Finally, remember a bad day is a good joke. A bad year is a kick-ass one person show.

I’ll be adding more humor resources here soon, so please keep checking back!