Some of Ady's notions on comedy

So I don't necessarily have a solid argument here, but I'm fascinated by the nature of comedy and its function in the world. I'm often pondering the right way to word my thoughts on it, but comedy seems to defy being categorized by definition.

I wrote my college honors thesis on parody as a reading and its necessity in a healthy society. The moment we can laugh at our tragedies and mistakes is the moment we can move past them and heal. When we can successfully make fun out of what irks and troubles us, or when we can happily be the subject of parody and even more than that, be grateful for the reminder that we are fallible beings and therefore obligated to laugh at ourselves every now and then, we can lead healthy well-rounded lives without being limited by fear of looking foolish.

In a conversation I had recently with the lovely Urn, it came up that in oppressed societies where art that questions the status quo is often punishable by imprisonment or death, incredible works that live far beyond their authors are conceived. Heavy-handed Russia, for example, gave us Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and the tortured Chekhov, who found such a fine dry humor in his own misery as well as that of others, that he could be an example for any of us.

On the other hand, in a culture like we have here in America, where freedom of speech and thought are a given, very strange choices are made when it comes to what 'art' we celebrate. It seems as though without government imposed boundaries, we don't know what to say or to whom we should listen. In a culture where we can say whatever we want, people just tend to shout to be heard and cater to the basest of human instinct in an effort to be noticed.

Do we require a tyrannical presence to say something valid? Wouldn't it be awful if we did? Does art require a revolutionary voice to be meaningful? If so, how does comedy factor in?

I've said before that I think the seed of revolution is the belief that the world can feel better than it does. In a case like turn-of-the-century Russia, it meant overthrowing the government, which was only the beginning of their journey toward a society of self-expressed individuals. In the case of the United States, where it could certainly feel better than it does, the revolution must be an internal and personal one. It means seeing where you persist in oppressing yourself and overthrowing your oppressor. It means freeing yourself from the shackles of needing to look like you're always in control and embracing the idea that you will look stupid sometimes and loving the idea of laughing at yourself for all that it will teach you.

Comedy challenges us by showing us where and when we're stupid, but it does so without judging us. Better than that, it teaches us through laughter, so it never feels like a lesson.

I'm grateful for the laugh and how free it makes me every time I turn to it.