Comedy as Medicine
My wife is hilarious. Full stop (LOL).
I remember when we first started dating how often I would comment on her quick wit - and I still talk about it 10 years later. She can zing you as good as any Zingbot, and can wrily comment on any situation without skipping a beat.
I love her sense of humor because I'm the introverted, nerdy, sometimes-a-little-too-serious one in the marriage - and her jokes keep things light in our house.
Comedy as medicine.
I've always loved comics. Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, and Jerry Seinfeld while growing up. Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert in college and my early 20s. Trevor Noah and Jimmy Fallon for the last several years, along with Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" on Netflix. And most recently - like, in the last year - Trey Kennedy and John Crist.
About Trey Kennedy and John Crist: my wife started forwarding me Instagram videos of each of them more than a year ago (which I loved), which led to us buying tickets to see each of them on their recent respective tours. So in the span of three weeks this summer, we saw both Trey and John - and LOVED both shows. Two great date nights for us.
Comedy as medicine.
Which gets me thinking, though, about all sorts of things: worries, stressors, mental and physical illnesses, macroeconomic uncertainty, political division, religious nationalism, online hate, gun violence, climate change, war - you see how quickly my brain goes downhill LOL. 
But comedy can make us laugh amidst all that! Comedy makes fun of suburban moms who all follow the same influencers. Comedy makes fun of nerdy dads who read too much. Comedy makes fun of the economy and politics and church and you and me - all of it. And it feels GOOD to laugh about it all.
Comedy as medicine.
John Crist, in his book Delete That, says that he became "addicted to comedy" as he was building his career. His book is a great read because he writes about the ups and downs and truths and falsehoods and goods and bads of such an addiction. He writes about social media likes and external validation and performative Christianity and, ultimately, just wanting to be liked - and who can't relate to that? And then you see John live, and he goes into all of this and more with hilarity, and you laugh out loud for an hour straight. You share a fun night out with your partner. And, if you're anything like me, you realize that you don't have to take yourself quite. so. seriously. To borrow Elizabeth Gilbert's idea from her book Big Magic: it's more about being a trickster than a martyr.
Comedy as medicine.
So, to wrap it up, I'd just say: comedy is medicine.
Comedy as medicine.
Or, as Trey Kennedy says: "Do Less God Bless."
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