The Right Write Rite

comedy

comedy, tragedy

Is that honest to deny?

Is it honest to deny comedy in the world?

Can you really say that it's honest to deny that there is comedy as well as tragedy in the world?

You claim that life is nothing but long endless suffering, but that's ridiculous! It's not true and everyone knows it's not true. You know it's not true. Life is a tragedy and a comedy. You can't have one without the other and it's not honest to deny either of them.

Most comedy is born from tragedy, and you can find comic moments in the most tragic of times. Some of the times when I have laughed hardest were at funerals. I have a theory that they are not altogether unpleasant occasions. There is the displeasure of seeing someone who is not longer alive. There is the displeasure of seeing tears shed. There is the displeasure of missing someone. However, there is the pleasure of friendship, the pleasure of stories, the pleasure of jokes and amusing anecdotes. A friend told me that she was awful at funerals. I asked her why.

She shared a story of her cousin's husband's funeral. He was a young man, in his 30's, taken early in his life by cancer. He left behind a young wife and young children. This is a tragedy. You can imagine the heaviness at a funeral like that. There is no humor to be found. My friend shared the details of the following exchange, "I was at the funeral, feeling very uncomfortable as I usually do at funerals. It's the body. I get consumed by a body in the room and can't seem to think coherently anymore. I say foolish things. His sister-in-law was telling a story that right before he died his daughter made him a plate of cupcakes. With breathless tones she explained how, despite his deteriorated state, he seemed to gain his appetite back and ate the entire tray of cupcakes. I don't know what happened, I just spoke without thinking and said, 'That's probably what did it." This is comedy. Comedy in the midst of amazing tragedy. So I ask you, is it really honest to say that life is truly nothing but despair? Is it truly honest to deny beauty and laughter? How can that be?