My Real Life

I’ve recently joined a writing group, and one of the contributors decided to share a writing prompt with us.

The prompt was simple.

“What makes you laugh?”

Sounds simple enough, but I laugh a lot during the course of a day and I realized how very lucky that makes me, because I’ve actually always found myself hard to amuse.

So, here are some things that make me laugh.

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1.  When other people are laughing really, really hard.

In particular, I have two colleagues, Matt and Tara.

When Matt and Tara start laughing, and not just tittering, but really laughing, it is hysterical.

It always makes me laugh, even if I didn’t think whatever they are laughing at was particularly funny.

Every single time.

Matt starts wheezing and sounding like a little old lady, and Tara starts crying and squeaking and it’s hysterical.

Hysterical.

My favorite skits from Saturday Night Live are the ones where the actors can’t keep their laughter in.

Like, they know how ridiculous what they are saying or doing is, and it makes them laugh, and if it cracks up the pros, I’m in for a laugh.

One of my all-time favorite SNL skits is the one with Chris Farley playing Matt Foley, the motivational speaker, and he makes David Spade and Christina Applegate (who I love and would love to see more of on tv) have to hide behind their hands because they are laughing so hard.

Laughter breeds laughter and ridiculous laughter breeds mine.

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2.  The show The New Girl.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but man, does that show make me laugh.

It’s just nonsense.

The things they have the character, Schmidt, say on that show with such vehemence are so ridiculous that it makes me laugh out loud every single time.

“You’re listening to the radio and writing with a pen? What decade are we in?” – Season 1, Episode 20

“An Indian-Jewish baby? Who wouldn’t want that? Think about the bone structure!” – Season 1, Episode 21

“Would you line up around the corner if the iPhone was called ‘the slippery germ brick’?” –Season 1, Episode 20

(Schmidt quotes found here)

On their own, not so funny.

The deadpan delivery of Schmidt makes them hysterical.

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3.  Toddlers.

Tiny is pure comedic gold and he doesn’t even mean to be.

Everything from his timing to his one-liners to his delivery.

His babysitter texts me throughout the day with little gems from Tiny that cracked her up and that make me laugh out loud, and these things would be funny even if he wasn’t my kid.

Even the way he carries himself.

Check him out, driving in a toy car with his babysitter’s daughter.

Coolest freaking cat on the block.

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4.  Monkey Girl and Baby Monkey, when they are mad at me.

I know.

That’s awful.

But my kids are SO dramatic when they are angry, (they totally get that from their father), and It. Is. Hysterical.

Monkey Girl has the pre-teen eyebrow raise and hair flip and stomping down to a science.

We are now at the “You are trying to ruin my life” stage of her anger fits (which, thank goodness, are few and far between) and the logic that she takes to get to that path just makes me laugh.

Not in her face.

After she has left the room in a huff.

Baby Monkey stomps and cries and says things like “This is why kids should be the parents!” when I don’t let him have his five thousandth grape of the afternoon or say that I’m using my iPad at the moment and he’ll have to be patient and wait his turn.

It’s not often he gets mad.

As I’ve said before, he’s pretty laid back and goes with the flow, but when he does, oh man…it’s too much.

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5.  The fact that I had originally planned to make a list of 10 things that make me laugh, but can’t even find the time to write a post about 5 things that make me laugh.

Now THAT makes me laugh.