You shouldn't laugh at that. It's not nice.

"The only honest art form is laughter, comedy...you can't fake it. Try to fake three laughs in an hour - ha ha ha ha ha - they'll take you away, man. You can't." (Lenny Bruce)

It's been a comedy kick for me lately- lots of standup comedy, documentaries about comedy (by the way, The Last Laugh is on Prime and it's awesome), and feeling ready to kill everyone after a few minutes of my kid watching those dumbass Vine videos.

I was raised on comedy, more so than horror. My parents did their partying in the early 70's, gravitating to old school SNL and Cheech & Chong albums. I was listening to Steve Martin's "Let's Get Small" and watching Robin Williams perform "Live at the Met" before I had even successfully navigated much of elementary school. Even when I didn't understand the specifics of the joke at that age I understood the intent. The absurdity came through loud and clear. The core of the humor spoke to a deeper place. 

I think that's what Lenny Bruce was trying to say. There isn't a way to bullshit your way through comedy. If you're funny then you're funny. If you're not then it doesn't matter how many times you fall on your face...you'll just be a fucking buffoon. Jesters have their place, but true comedy is a higher plane. Comedy can take the utterly tragic and make it uncomfortably funny. Ask Mel Brooks. He made Hitler do dance numbers.

Here's the thing about great comedy (i.e. Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Robin Williams, Bill Cosby, Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, etc, etc, etc). You ready? Good. Here goes: you're not responsible for what you laugh at. The great comics knew that. That's why the revolutionaries of the biz tackled the subjects that made Standards & Practices say "What the fuck are you doing?"

It's the main reason that I don't believe in the phrase "too soon" or "too far" or "poor taste". When that laugh comes there's not a damn thing that you can do to stop it. Don't believe me? Go to www.reddit.com and search for "offensive jokes". You'll thank me. If you don't then I suggest that you loosen the fuck up. There IS a line, yes......but how in the bleeding Jesus are you going to know where it is if you don't cross the damn thing?! For Christ's sake, live a little. If you find yourself laughing then you've learned something new about yourself. If you find yourself highly offended then (here's the moral balm) you can pat yourself on the back for not being as much of a sicko as I am. 

Congratulations. Here's a cookie.

If you're not laughing a little then I feel kind of sorry for you. The great comedians knew one thing above all else. They knew that if you don't laugh at the dark side then you will absolutely lose your fucking mind. It's true. The healthiest people that I know are also the ones with the most degenerate sense of humor. It's not that the tragedy is funny; it's that the tragedy must be laughed at in order to handle the scope of the horror. To treat something like a taboo is to give it power. 

I could go off on about 12 different rants from this jumping off point, and I promise that I'll try not to. Still, there's a universal truth at play here. I'll throw another quote at you: "The 'what should be' never did exist, but people keep trying to live up to it. There is no 'what should be,' there is only what is." (Lenny Bruce)

Do you get it? Do you really? Sometimes you just have to call 'em like you see 'em and not how you want to see them....or how your Mom told you to see them....or how your pastor told you to see them. You might be surprised how many folks feel the same way that you do, even when you're telling yourself that you're going to Hell for that thought. We're not so different after all. 

Last quote, I promise: “Happiness comes in small doses folks. It's a cigarette butt, or a chocolate chip cookie or a five second orgasm. You come, you smoke the butt you eat the cookie you go to sleep wake up and go back to fucking work the next morning, THAT'S IT! End of fucking list! ”

While that is undoubtedly a pessimistic quote from a man at a certain time in his life, the message, the intent behind it, remains the same: enjoy the pleasures while you can. If that pleasure happens to be laughing at shit that you shouldn't laugh at, well....don't beat yourself up over it. 

It feels good to laugh. Haven't we always heard that it's the best medicine?