It seems that every day the world gets worse.  It makes one yearn for the good old days of the Pandemic shutdown when for a short while countries weren’t invading other countries and there was a unified universal effort to invent a vaccine for Covid-19.

These days I find myself taking days off from reading the news, intentionally ignorant of elections, trials and protests.  A daily dose of negativity can easily trigger depression.

For a while now, I balance the “end of the world” headlines with more positive stories about people, about decency, about compassion.

There is another anecdote to all the daily direness:  laughter.

Last week, my wife, sister and I went to see comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Sebastian Maniscalco,

Jim Gaffigan, and Nate Bargatze at the Hollywood Bowl as part of Netflix’s Joke Fest.

Each comic did a 30-minute set.  I’m not exaggerating that I can’t recall the last time I have laughed so hard.  Yes, my jaw was sore after the two-hour concert.  The night was a master class in comedy.

I’m not sure why those four comedians in particular were performing together.  However, what made the humor so pleasing was the lack of jokes about politics and sex, two topics that make up the centerpiece of so many stand-up comics’ repertoire.  And, except for a few times, no obscenities were used—proof that one doesn’t have to be vulgar to be funny.

These four men didn’t tell jokes, per se; rather, they told stories about everyday occurrences in life that so many people have experienced.  For example, Gaffigan described how computer programs prompt us to continuously change our passwords, then ask for verification that we are not robots by asking us to pick out a stoplight from a series of photos.  He struggles with this because if there is an image of a pole that is cut off, does that count as a signal? 

Each comedian has his own way of speaking, his own facial expressions, and his own physical movements.  Sebastian described taking his young family to Universal Studios and his interactions with employees who really don’t want to be there.  “What’s the deal with the quality of the Los Angeles workforce?” But it’s his bulging eyes and outstretched arms as he bends his body that make it funny.

Adding to the enjoyment was the laughter of 18,000 fellow Angelenos from all walks of life in the audience.  Laughter unified us.

It is said that the aphorism “laughter is the best medicine” originates from the Old Testament. 

Writer Norman Cousins decades ago wrote about the healing of laughter when he was diagnosed with a disease and was given a one out of 500 chance of surviving.  He attributed his recovery in part to watching Marx Brothers movies and “Candid Camera” TV episodes.

Well, that night, I felt I was hooked up to an IV of joy for two hours.  I highly recommend it for everybody.