I belong to a very talented cast of dinner theater folks for The Dinner Detective. It's a murder mystery show that gives me the opportunity to play one of my greatest creations, my most favorite character, Det. Ricardo Cabeza. He's a blast to play and given the right audience, a complete crack up. Last nights show was like any other except for one little encounter that just about dropped me to my knee's. Most times after our show we'll get people that want to take pictures with the cast. Some people want to pick our brains about what we improvised and what was scripted. Others want to know how to a part of the cast but last night there was a new encounter for me. This little old lady came up to me last night and said "I have never in my life laughed as hard as I have tonight because of you and your crazy accent." I said thank you and then she really got me when she said "My husband passed away 5 years ago and I never thought I would laugh so much again. Thank you so much." She said this as she began to cry and then gave me a huge hug. My only thought was of how much I missed my father and it took everything in me not to break down right then and there.
The whole drive home was spent thinking of my dad and also thinking as to how exactly am I funny? What is it about me that makes people laugh? And why do I make people laugh? Is it to cheer people up like the woman I encountered last night or is it because I want to be liked by everyone? I was trying to remember how long I've been funny. Was I born this way or did I develop it because I went from being skinny to chubby from the 1st to 3rd grade? Was humor a way to mask the fact that I had gained weight? I'm pretty sure I was funny even when I was skinny though, so maybe it's because my Dad was super funny. Was it because I saw how happy people were around him and I wanted that too? I don't really know. Maybe there's a mix of reasons why but I do know that I am. I know I have a ton of friends that are really funny too and we all have friends that are not at all. That makes us different right? I never thought about it that way before. I'm this crack up dude that thinks life is a big joke maybe to all my other friends. Do they spend time wondering what dramatic event in my childhood made me this way? How do people view funny people? I can honestly say that I view unfunny people in no particular way other than to watch what I say around them because I have said something that maybe offended them because they didn't get my humor...OH NOOOO! Unfunny people probably don't like me! Wait a minute...I actually don't think I have any unfunny friends...they're more like acquaintances so that's cool.
So I don't exactly know why I'm funny and to all my friends that read this and since you're my friends, just assume that you're funny, just keep doing what you do. I don't go out of my way to help people get over their lost spouse. I don't go out of my way to get people to like me. We all have the ability to make people laugh so take a moment and cherish that fact. It's a gift that can brighten someone's day. We can help people get out of a cloud of depression for a night or we can help people forget, even if just for a few minutes, how hard life can be for everyone at times. We are a special breed of people and a treat for those around us so don't forget that!
