Feel Good Friday – Stress is a Laughing Matter

 

Judy Carter, Comedian, and Author of the Comedy Bible

Stress is a Laughing Matter is a phrase used by Judy Carter, author, and comedian. This was also the title of a workshop Judy facilitated at the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop (October 2022). Judy encouraged the audience to look at our problems as punchlines. She speaks and writes about finding happiness when you’re stressed.

You may be wondering how stress can be a laughing matter. Well, it’s actually how you deal with stress that involves laughter. Whether you want to perform stand-up comedy, add humor to your writing, or just make it through a challenging time, laughter helps. Laughter as well as storytelling that can be healing.

I’m in the process of turning a problem into a punchline. Here’s my story, it’s a tale of aging.

The radio in my bathroom was blaring with the latest pop song. The volume was cranked up so I could hear it over the pulsating shower water. I hummed to the tunes as I lathered, rinsed, and began to dry off. I pulled the shower curtain open, and a cool breeze tickled my nose, which caused a gentle sneeze…that threw my back out.

I was standing there alone, just me, the radio, and my towel; standing bent over in excruciating pain each time I tried to stand upright. All I could do was tilt my head upward as I thought, what just happened? Did I sneeze and throw my back out? Am I about to die clean, but ashy?

Of course, I was being a drama queen, but I needed a distraction form the pain. The situation was in no way funny at the time. A couple of days later after an Aleve and a lidocaine patch, I took a few minutes to reflect.

I took that painful incident and added it to a comedy set that I was working on. Using the art of exaggeration, the situation was made to appear ginormous (gigantic and enormous). I’m not sure that’s a real word, but it added an element of humor.

How can you turn stress into a laughing matter? Give it a try. Think of a situation that was not funny at the time it was occurring. Share your story with a friend, but retell it using exaggeration, and acting it out. You’re on your way to using laughter to relieve a little stress.

Stress is a laughing matter, that’s my point of view…and Judy’s, and I’m sticking with it.