This is near and dear to my heart, and for a long time, I didn’t realize the importance of this simple maxim. I have always been pretty good at making people laugh, but, like Groucho Marx, wouldn’t want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member - making people laugh was somehow frivolous.
But Telushkin quotes a midrash from Ta’anit Elijah declares that the only two people worthy of a place in the World To Come happen to be two comedians, cheer up the depressed in a local marketplace.
I am reminded of the time nearing the end of Daredreamer. It had been a long and difficult shoot, and we were nearing the end of the shooting schedule. We had a particularly tricky day set up, and the production manager was a bit worried about a late afternoon shot in an ‘iffy’ location. But when she looked at the schedule and saw that I was going to be on set at that particular location, she told me that she was relieved, because I had the ability to keep things moving and light as a result of having a good sense of humor.
I had never really experienced this kind of endorsement before. My sense of humor could be of value? Why hadn’t that ever been pointed out (or maybe I simply hadn't heard it). Anyway - that simple comment has had a powerful impact on the past 30 years.
Telushkin reminds us that Ecclesiastes points us that there is a time to weep and a time to laugh (3:4), “and sometimes, there is a time to make others laugh.”
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