Posted today on THE WHITE PAGES at WTAD.COM
There used to be three taboo topics we were instructed to avoid at all costs:Sex, politics and religion. As everyone discusses the upcoming election, the only taboo anymore would be your grandmother’s perfume, “Tabu”. This post is not to get knee-deep in support or criticism, but may I encourage you to take a break from reality, and watch a couple of episodes of Saturday Night Live (SNL)? I don’t often watch it on the actual night, because I’m out partying like a college girl at that hour. Seriously, we get up at the crack of G-d at our house, so it’s a rare occasion if I’m still awake and alert by 10:30 p.m. Fortunately, in our YouTube world, it doesn’t matter anymore.
I’ll caution you: SNL is not for the prudish. Watch with an open mind. The humor is twofold: the debates – presidential and vice-presidential- are funny, because you get to laugh at both parties. Even at the moderator! Or is he/she the mediator? I’m intrigued by the nuances adopted by the actor, of each candidate’s expressions and body language. Regardless of content, impersonation is truly a talent and art form.
SNL too raw for you? Okay, here’s another suggestion, that I guarantee you will get a boot out of. Search YouTube for “political humor videos” and further, “politicians fail compilation 2016.” You’ll witness world leaders’ mishaps, faux pas and klutzy moves. There’s Obama, where the presidential seal falls off the front of his lectern during a speech and members of Congress, Parliament, the Politburo, and other houses of leadership, fixing their hair, biting nails, picking their ear or nose, surfing the net and even snoozing. You’ll witness dignitaries from Korea and India, whose dentures escape from their mouths at critical moments. One leader bops a man, right on the head, during his speech and then says, “He deserved that.” It could be Curly, Moe or Larry. There are trips, falls and stumbles. For some reason, I found one of funniest scenes to be a foreign dignitary, who was placing a king-sized wreath at Arlington National Cemetery. As he bowed in respect, the big honkin’ wreath, which was as tall as he was, falls right at and on his head. It’s great. Why is this material funny? With SNL skits, the humor – in my opinion- is equally distributed between all subjects. In the political bloopers, these mishaps are only supposed to happen at a local level, like at our offices, not on the world stage. Life is funnier as the bar of importance is raised.
So, do yourself a favor, seek out some humor in all of the political turmoil. It won’t solve the election dilemma, but will offer much needed respite from it. Or as Michael Prichard said, “Laughter is like a dry diaper…it won’t take care of the problem, but it will make it bearable for a while.”
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