{"id":13492,"date":"2019-10-21T00:41:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-20T16:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/?p=13492"},"modified":"2025-01-14T00:14:26","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:14:26","slug":"comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of my private beliefs that doesn\u2019t translate very well is that true comedy is sacred. And not sacred as in solemn, but sacred as in profound. & even fart jokes can have a profundity to them if you get it right. But strangely few comedians seem to get it. Maybe I\u2019m delusional?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it was Alan Watts who said that laughter and anxiety are both two sides of the same coin. The very serious job of the comedian, as I see it, is to transmute anxiety into laughter. Voltaire I think had a similar perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I visited my dad in hospital after he had a heart attack (he\u2019s fine now) & he told us he couldn\u2019t sleep bc one of the other guys kept farting all night. To be close to death & then be bombarded with farts\u2026 we belly-laughed for 10m and it\u2019s probably my happiest memory of him)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think for comedy to truly serve its exalted purpose, comedians have to, however briefly, put aside their ego, their neediness, their contempt and tap into a deep love for humanity, a deep joy, a deep sense of hilarity at the absurdity of all things. Easy for me to say, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot to be angry about in the world. There\u2019s a lot of cruelty and injustice, &comedy can be a tool for addressing that. But I do privately believe that even there, there is a love in that pursuit. A desire for connection, shared understanding. Comedy is a way of grieving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You were born crying, you should die laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you meet God, laugh<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of the tedium of everyday life builds up anxiety & stress, from the burden of maintaining a costly illusion of sanity. The comedian\u2019s job is to remind us that it\u2019s all hilarious. And not in a contemptuous or cruel way – laughing at ourselves should be wholesome, nourishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So anyway, y\u2019know. I get pretty bummed out when I see comedians get all tangled up in stupid non-discussions about people being offended and whatnot. It\u2019s like finding out that they\u2019re not really comedians, only pretending to be, only playing the part of it. I was rooting for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I can\u2019t be too<\/em> mad about it because that would be me missing the plot too, you see what I mean? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a little lonely inhabiting this space because very people really get it all the way through. But the joke there<\/em> is, “That\u2019s my secret, Captain – I\u2019m always lonely.” \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t prescribe this as a method to anybody else, because it can be reductive and dismissive if it\u2019s done without love. But for me privately, \u201cwhat\u2019s the joke here\u201d gets me through almost everything. Laughter is not just medicine, it is a radical act in an anxious universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a while since I read Taleb but one of my favourite bits from him is when he mentioned fantasizing about putting a mouse(?) down the shirts of stiff corporate suit types. In a way that\u2019s a great way to describe all of this. Put the mouse of joy down your own suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just remembered that one of my favourite comics of all time<\/a> uses a rodent as a cheeky way of breaking through solemnity. There is something profound here. Lots of people imprison their rat and in so doing imprison themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of my private beliefs that doesn\u2019t translate very well is that true comedy is sacred. And not sacred as in solemn, but sacred as in profound. & even fart jokes can have a profundity to them if you get it right. But strangely few comedians seem to get it. Maybe I\u2019m delusional? I think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1371,1265],"class_list":["post-13492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unsorted","tag-copes","tag-introspect"],"yoast_head":"\n\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself - @visakanv's blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself - @visakanv's blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of my private beliefs that doesn\u2019t translate very well is that true comedy is sacred. And not sacred as in solemn, but sacred as in profound. & even fart jokes can have a profundity to them if you get it right. But strangely few comedians seem to get it. Maybe I\u2019m delusional? I think […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"@visakanv's blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-20T16:41:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-13T16:14:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Visakan Veerasamy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@visakanv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Visakan Veerasamy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Visakan Veerasamy\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b165830fd1623c501696e0c9efc0f\"},\"headline\":\"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-20T16:41:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-13T16:14:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\"},\"wordCount\":595,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"copes\",\"introspect\"],\"articleSection\":[\"unsorted\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself - @visakanv's blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-20T16:41:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-13T16:14:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b165830fd1623c501696e0c9efc0f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"@visakanv's blog\",\"description\":\"Buy my first book FRIENDLY AMBITIOUS NERD today! gum.co\/FANbook\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b165830fd1623c501696e0c9efc0f\",\"name\":\"Visakan Veerasamy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0258044c14d754c4ec19351286486b5cb4b0dbed3927a8e318a3da693d7ea3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0258044c14d754c4ec19351286486b5cb4b0dbed3927a8e318a3da693d7ea3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0258044c14d754c4ec19351286486b5cb4b0dbed3927a8e318a3da693d7ea3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Visakan Veerasamy\"},\"description\":\"@visakanv\",\"sameAs\":[\"instagram.com\/visakanv\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/visakanv\",\"youtube.com\/visakanv\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/author\/visakanv\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself - @visakanv's blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself - @visakanv's blog","og_description":"One of my private beliefs that doesn\u2019t translate very well is that true comedy is sacred. And not sacred as in solemn, but sacred as in profound. & even fart jokes can have a profundity to them if you get it right. But strangely few comedians seem to get it. Maybe I\u2019m delusional? I think […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/","og_site_name":"@visakanv's blog","article_published_time":"2019-10-20T16:41:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-13T16:14:26+00:00","author":"Visakan Veerasamy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@visakanv","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Visakan Veerasamy","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/"},"author":{"name":"Visakan Veerasamy","@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b165830fd1623c501696e0c9efc0f"},"headline":"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself","datePublished":"2019-10-20T16:41:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-13T16:14:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/"},"wordCount":595,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["copes","introspect"],"articleSection":["unsorted"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/","name":"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself - @visakanv's blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-10-20T16:41:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-13T16:14:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b165830fd1623c501696e0c9efc0f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/comedy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\ud83d\ude02 learn to laugh at yourself"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/","name":"@visakanv's blog","description":"Buy my first book FRIENDLY AMBITIOUS NERD today! gum.co\/FANbook","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3e6b165830fd1623c501696e0c9efc0f","name":"Visakan Veerasamy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0258044c14d754c4ec19351286486b5cb4b0dbed3927a8e318a3da693d7ea3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0258044c14d754c4ec19351286486b5cb4b0dbed3927a8e318a3da693d7ea3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eb0258044c14d754c4ec19351286486b5cb4b0dbed3927a8e318a3da693d7ea3?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Visakan Veerasamy"},"description":"@visakanv","sameAs":["instagram.com\/visakanv","https:\/\/x.com\/visakanv","youtube.com\/visakanv"],"url":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/author\/visakanv\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13492"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14234,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13492\/revisions\/14234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}