I love puns.  Wait–let me rephrase.  I love smart puns.  Word play is typically my go-to daily comedy routine.  My mind is programmed to listen to the world around me and make allusions in order to get a smile or a playful jab in the arm.  Bottom line, I’m a dork.  Worse…a word dork. 

I have often wondered how well I would have done as a stand-up comedian.  In interviews, professional joke-tellers tend to agree that the life is just slightly above miserable with only a brief dance with fame if a certain bit gets wheels.  I feel like it would be one of those careers that sound completely awesome but I would be frustrated and ready to quit after a few shakes of the heads from buzzed night club goers.

Then again, I do stand-up a lot in my classroom.  The jokes are usually only funny to me and the one person who is alert enough to “get it.”  Who doesn’t likea funny teacher though?  We’ve probably all had teachers who were all business and completely out of touch with the world beyond their 15×15 corner of the universe.  Here’s an example of something I told Katy I wanted to say on the first day this year.

Random stranger student:  I heard you give lots of homework.

Me:  Hey, I just met you.  And this is crazy.  But you heard ri-ight.  Now don’t be lazy!

It’s beyond cheesy/corny, but it’s what I do.  I know it’s not comedic gold.  It’s my way to communicate with people.  One of my favorite jokes is from an episode of Night Court where the guy on trial was running an upbeat funeral parlor.  He wanted to put the “fun” back in funeral.  A family member of a recently deceased was deeply troubled by a bumper sticker attached to the casket that read “I’d Rather Be Breathing.”   

I’m smiling now just re-telling that joke from over twenty years ago! 

So my preferred brand of humor may be considered a lowly form of comedy.  I like other kinds, but I think funny can happen without resorting to disturbing, explicit imagery. 

Well, that’s it for me.  I’m off to shit in my dog’s mouth.