Personal Comedy

There is an old saying that laughter is the best medicine. Could anything be more true? When I laugh my entire body feels lit with purpose. My cells vibrate with the euphoria of an elated spirit. Satire, sarcasm, and irony are my best friends.

Alanis Morissette muddled the definition of irony with her song “Ironic”. She confused the word with coincidence or unfortunate events. The song title might be justified from an artistic standpoint since Morissette may have been playing a wonderfully perverse joke on all of us. This idea gives me great pleasure.

Society offers a plethora of opportunities for sarcasm. While some people may sneer at the word, I feel that satire – if it’s done right – can be one of the most clever forms of art. I realize that sarcasm can be used with malicious intent, and that is something I would never advocate. Sarcasm reaches a level of genius when even the intended target must laugh.

I first fell in love with satire as a student of theater. We were studying Shakespeare and I was astounded at the juxtaposition of the austere and the preposterous.  As I delved deeper into the study of satire, I couldn’t get enough.

Today, I enjoy a wide range of humor: from pitch-black satire to the frivolity of slapstick.  There is as much amusement to be found listening to a comedian, reading a book, watching a movie, or going to a play.  Friends and family are often a source of lightheartedness, but every person has the potential to touch me with laughter and inspiration. My hope is that I can touch your life and make you smile.

 

x,

Rebecca

Comments

Personal Comedy — 85 Comments

  3. I grew up reading Cracked and Mad magazine, who base their humor on satire & punchlines of popular culture. These days it’s almost too easy to point it out – even if they’re not taking themselves seriously.

    At least I hope not.

    Wait, they ARE?!

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  5. Rebecca: Thank you for visiting mylifeasasquirrel. Now, I know about your blog,
    which is a lot of fun. So far, I read Bingo, WTF #4 and Personal Comedy. They all made me laugh… thank you again.

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  6. The word ‘sarcasm’ comes from a Greek word ‘sarkazein’ meaning ‘to tear flesh like dogs’
    As I’m a vegetarian my comments are more akin to ‘munching carrots like rabbits’
    As Bugs Bunny famously said, “What’s up Doc?”

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  11. I noticed that you try hard not to be mean. Perhaps the following will be helpful.
    Satire is making fun of the peccadillos of a society or culture rather than an individual. See J. Swift’s Modest Proposal for a particularly hilarious example. Sarcasm, on the other lip, is aimed at the faults of an individual rather than society as a whole. By its nature it tends toward the mean but may manage to stay just this side of the sly by those skilled in its use, such as yourself. If you really want to get nasty tho, and some occasions do seem to require just such measures, try invective. Personal AND mean.
    Thus concludes your Language Arts lesson for the day. Please pay the butler on the way out. Oh, and thanks for the like!

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    • Thanks Cheri. :) I try to not be mean but there are times where one or both are appropriate. In general I aim to be kind to my fellow person, but there are times where life and humor need me not to be. My natural inclination is to be funny and kind. I can find the humor in all three but I choose the path that shows love most.

      I just woke up from a late evening nap so I hope i am not sounding as discombobulated as my head feels.

      x
      Becca

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  14. LMAO! I love it. Thanks for stopping by my art blog. I often think I’d love to create a pseudonym. Call me a chicken shit for wanting to be “nice”. OHhhh there is so much fodder for sarcasm out there, especially since I’m a 60 year old artist who volunteers for art organizations and helps a myriad of thankless people, hoping that some day it will pay off…. WHO THE HELL am I KIDDING?! Maybe I will do it…

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  20. Rebecca, thanks for liking my recent post on starlightaffinity.com. Keep up your unique sense of humor- it’s easy to take life too seriously sometimes!

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  21. I can very, very well imagine you a student of theatre.

    I was on stage in ‘A Comedy of Errors’ once, but that’s as far as THAT theme went!

    Do you still do theatre, I wonder? You’ve got a great personna, & your writing is interesting. For one, I haven’t heard Alanis’ song, but I would have taken irony to be a coincidence/unfortunate events. I’m not very good at interpreting poetry anyhow – too literal.

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    • Aww thanks for your kind words. I don’t currently do theater but I do off and on. Over the years I have done a theater project here and there. Directing, acting, and writing. It is such a part of my writing process.

      ((Hugs))

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  27. Becca…thanks so much for ‘liking’ my posts. I’ll never be too old to need the encouragement. Lo….many years ago, I too studied theatre. Tech and acting were my passion. A lifetime has passed. Thanks again!

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  28. Aw shucks…you can touch my life in any way that you want as sweet as this was!!! but your words say it best…then again what do I know? You could be a world class mime. Better send me a youtube clip to confirm…remember to serve up some eggs with that ham as well!!! Cheers

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  31. Inimitable British sarcasm (Skyfall). James Bond (Daniel Craig) and M (Judi Dench) are escaping from a mad killer in M’s official vehicle that, obviously, everyone in the UK knows. They screech into a storage area…
    (not exactly verbatim, but close enough for guvmint work)
    M: What are we doing here?
    007: Changing cars. Everybody knows that one. (Rolls up the storage unit door, revealing —– the original 007 Aston Martin DB5!)
    M. Oh well, we’ll be REALLY inconspicuous in THAT.

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  33. Lol, I thank you so much for making me laugh!! Your Blog is filled with some much laughter it’s amazing!! You are truly Talented!! Thank you also for Liking my Poem, Searching For A Halo!! God Bless You!!

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  34. You always make me smile Becca
    and how wonderful are you, lovely,
    sweet, beautiful, kind, saucy and :)

    Okay put the cheque in the usual
    place and shhhhhhhhh I won’t tell
    anyone :) So, did I do alright? :)

    You know I am kidding my great friend
    and you truly are a laugh and a giggle ;)

    xxxxx

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  39. I would say that Alanis Morissette is definitely adept enough with language to know when she’s using the word ironic in place of coincidence. The song would never had made it through the rigors of production had it been a mistake. I’m going to go with amazing song, perverse joke. Let’s take great pleasure together!

    Anyways, I love you blog! You’re deliciously sassy! Thanks so much for the like on my blog.

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  40. Rebecca, I have been scouring the WordPress landscape for fellow sarcasm appreciators, and this is refreshing. I’ve just begun my journey into the whorish art form of self-promotion, so check out a couple of my stories if you’d like, and I’ll let the writing speak for itself.

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    • No worries. I like to support fellow bloggers. I followed you. I saw your twitter abut fifty shades of grey. You should check on my post. It is linked on the left column.

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      • That was the first one that got my attention, since I spend all my waking moments trashing that book. I guess maybe I’m jealous of a book that can so vividly express violent orgasms (violent? Like there’s orgasms inside her beating each other with fists and baseball bats?) and sultry hot S&M virgin lusts. But yeah, your post was excellent.

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