For this month's Musings, I've chosen the subject of humour (note the English spelling!). These days, I don't often see other people, let alone have a conversation with them, so I get most humour from the radio as well as jokes & cartoons sent in emails as is the occasional funny text item. You can easily understand why I'm keen to get emails, although some contain sad news. They help survival in the face of unpleasant things in life, whether in the world at large or closer to home.
Appreciated humour may be displayed by the recipient's laughter or smile; this is particularly apparent at a live performance. Of course, everyone has their own individual preferences: here are mine. My favourites include the songs of Richard Stilgoe, Jake Thackray & the Barron Knights as well as the acts of Tommy Cooper, Morecambe & Wise, the Goons & Benny Hill. It's quite clear that, like many other "oldies", there are quite a few subjects which make me miss the "good old days" - to compensate for this, I must say that, nowadays, I find the political radio reports of Paul Rowley most amusing. Some say that they find amusing things in many of the activities of successful & would-be politicians (especially durihg the period leading up to an election)!
It's quite likely that you already know of my habit of writing the occasional ode (some have even earned appreciative noises!); in a former job, I gained the title of Broadland Bard! Some of my compositions have appeared in print in magazines & a book. Some have even been read on the radio (one was a mini-pantomime!).
Keep smiling
"Cynicism is humour in ill health," - H.G.Wells
"Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives"
- George Orwell
- George Orwell
"Most schemes of political improvement are very laughable"
- Samuel Johnson
- Samuel Johnson
"Perhaps one has to be very old before one learns how to be amused rather than shocked." - Pearl Buck
"Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles."
- George Eliot
