Laughter

In these times of turmoil and frustration I want to ask you something. When was the last time you laughed? I thought about this question and realized I had not laughed REALLY hard (until crying and losing some bladder control) for a very long time. It’s probably been months, years even. I asked around and other people told me the same thing. How sad is that?

So in an effort to reverse the growing trend of doomsdayers, negative Nellies, and their ilk, I’ve decided to challenge everyone reading this blog (and their friends, relatives, and neighbors) to find something humorous today. Laugh, why don’t ya! Look around for funny things your kids say or do, your family members (especially aged grandparents) say or do, and share it with others. Let’s start a trend of funny, happy laughter that spreads like mold on 10-day-old bread.

I can never remember a funny joke, but I never forget a funny movie. Polling my friends on Facebook and bugging Steve gave me some great movie ideas. Here are just a few funny movies to recall and/or rent.

Funny Movies: Secondhand Lions Monty Python & the Holy Grail The Princess Bride The Three Amigos Groundhog Day Tommy Boy RV Napoleon Dynamite National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Throw Momma From the Train Uncle Buck Old School (TV version) Dumb & Dumber Shrek Elf Scrooged

Looking over this list I can just about agree with all of them being hilariously funny in some way or another. Remember the knight in "Monty Python & the Holy Grail?" We tried explaining that part of the movie to our boys last week and they didn’t get it. Steve went online and found it somewhere. The boys watched it and laughed so hard they were falling out of their chairs at our kitchen table! It was sweet to have that in common and to watch them laugh that hard at something.

How about the "dead" deer-in-the-car scene in "Tommy Boy?" Funny! Or Napoleon with his interesting life and riding around town on his 10-Speed bike? Hilarious! My favorite part of "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" is the cat biting into the Christmas tree lights and getting fried. Who thinks of things like that? Awesome! Uncle Buck’s positive, cheerful attitude, despite his lack of a job made me smile, as did the birthday breakfast of gynormous pancakes he cooked up for his surprised nephew.

The TV version of "Old School" is too good to pass up. My favorite part is when Will Ferrell gets shot with the tranquilizer dart in the neck and stumbles around. Classic Will Ferrell. Ferrell’s role as the naïve Buddy the Elf left me laughing and happy that there is another excellent Christmas movie to watch with my kids each year.

Finally, I had to add "Scrooged." Bill Murray was the perfect Scrooge. I’ll never forget watching it in a movie theater with my sister, Terresa. We are talkers during movies (sorry for you folks who end up sitting by us). We laughed and talked through the entire film. It’s still one of my all-time favorite funny movies. It can be spring, summer, winter, or fall, and I love watching that movie because it gives me hope that even a Scrooge can change.

So get out there! Laugh it up! Pop some popcorn and rent a funny movie or two. Drag your kids in to watch one of our generation’s humorous classics. Let’s leave the scary, bleak world a better place with your laughter. (By the way, if you have any other funny movies to add, please email me or leave a comment here on my blog. I would be happy to have another laugh.)