Buster Keaton, the funniest man to ever live.

Go ahead and laugh. Give it a try…it doesn’t take much. You might find you’re almost there already.

Life is funny. A strange and magical game of light and dark. Depending on where you’re standing… and when… any given trick is terrifying or incredible in equal measure. So laugh. May as well. You might not be able to tomorrow. Lift the head back…open your throat…and let it out. The lip curls up. The muscles tremble. From the cheeks now.

Use your eyes. Your eyes can laugh, too. They spit tears in the face of impossible ideas. They’re the mirrors of the mind and there is only one thing that every creature needs to stay sane through this crazy ride. A deep and abiding sense of humour…which you can develop watching silent comedies. Or just watch your parents cook together. I’m sure that works just as well.

All love comes with laughter don’t you know. Love your wife? I bet she’s funny. I bet she makes you laugh. Love your husband? The lovable fool. Clumsy like a penguin. Makes you smile every day. Humour is an unlimited and renewable resource that is created in the heart of every living being. When you cultivate a good laugh you have made the world worth knowing that much bigger. All progress comes from love and if it isn’t funny it’s hard to love it.

Every creature no matter how big or small is part of the show. All the world and all its creatures are in on the bit. A monkey in a tree scratches its ass…smells its finger and falls off a branch. What’s that sound? Monkeys laughing.

Is the day raining on your parade? Laugh it off. Imagine the steps that got you here. Examine the unfunniest moves you made and you’ll soon see why you stumbled. Since we’re ultimately trying to write the next line of our latest amusing anecdote follow this simple advice and even our failures become material for something hilarious. Keep it funny. Every moment is another chance to elevate toward a satisfying chuckle.

They say the blues will take years off your life…and if that’s true then it must also be true that laughing will put years on…and if that’s true then he put some years on my life and you gotta love a guy for doing that. I only wish I had made him laugh a little more… — Archie Bunker

Dark is funny. Light is funny. Insults and compliments can be funny. You’re funny. In the light of humour the most unexpected things can make us laugh. Be unique; be foolish. Take chances. If you’re trying to make people smile how far off the mark can you possible get. Being misunderstood? That’s kinda funny. The audience will help you. Did they laugh? No? Why not. Figure it out. Why weren’t you funny? Probably too serious.

For something to have value it must be appreciated. Everyone appreciates a good laugh. A funny joke is about the most valuable intangible product there is without any pretentiousness. Serving young and old alike. Man or women and everything in between. Was that a joke?

It’s impossible to know the answer with certainty to most of life’s questions but there is this one thing we all get to judge for ourselves. If it makes us laugh then it’s funny. No lies, no confusion. Other opinions don’t matter. Being fooled is a good thing with this kind of magic trick. Pull a rabbit from a hat. Understand it was hidden in plain view the whole time. We are the hat…and the rabbit.

A funny guy in a funny movie once quoted some big brain. “Without music life would be a mistake.” Comedy is a form of music with an orchestra composed of everyday people using every imaginable instrument or circumstance available. Nothing is more creative, interesting, exposing… revealing.

Truth is funny. From nothing comes something. The art of less is more. It always comes from the place least expected. That’s what it means to bring the funny.

If you really think about it…until the final curtain is drawn…we can laugh. Hiccups of joy and involuntary hope even as we watch everything we love slowly disappear. Death is the ultimate punchline. Don’t you get it? Still smiling? Start counting the laughs and I bet you soon will be.