#302 Mouse-ke-tears

Occasionally I’m chastised for doing something in bad taste. I think it’s more accurate that I do things in bad timing. Usually my humor response is a little quicker than my contemporaries, probably because when something makes me uncomfortable, my natural reaction is to make a joke about it. Like life.
All comedy, by its very nature needs to be a little on the edge. Part of the laughter response is surprise. You suddenly see things in a new way, or two things that were once separate are jammed together in a new combination and for a brief moment, it shocks your system. Serious thinkers have thought about this process and have actually named it the “haha” reaction. I kid you not. There’s a whole list. A reaction of shock is the “ah!” reaction. Wonder is “ahhh..” And epiphany or the eureka moment of discovery is the “aha” reaction. Then there’s the instant upset when you’ve done something wrong or banged your knee into a piece of furniture, the “ohsh--!” reaction. Named after that noise you make when you about cut loose and then suddenly notice your prim aunt Enid talking to the parson.
The great Bill Cosby is no exception. Bill is widely considered one of the cleanest comedians on the planet. Like Red Skelton, he sees no need to use profanity and amuses with inspiring little stories about human stuff. Kind of the Pat Boone of Comedy. Few know or remember that when Bill first hit the comedy scene he was considered a little edgy. In one of his first comedy releases he went on and on with the story of a dialogue between Noah and God. The famous “What’s a Cubit?” bit. There were certain southern fundamentalist religious groups that took great umbrage with a black man making fun of one of the scared stories in the good book. Dangerous stuff indeed. The only reason they weren’t measuring out more lynch rope was they couldn’t agree on what a cubit was. Today Bill’s original Fat Albert bit may go down equally badly, as more and more Americans find themselves joining the girth of famous opera singers. I’m talking of course about the three-tenners. Even though Placido Domingo can’t be over 220. In some ways we are becoming more sensitive, in others less, such is the dynamic of comedy. Shortly after 911 no one would dare make a joke about buildings collapsing. Now the observation that they didn’t need to spend all that money precisely placing dynamite charges on the Trojan tower in Oregon, they could have been brought it down a lot cheaper with two old Boeings and a load of airplane fuel, is still a little on the edge.
But the world is finally ready for the release of the lost Disney classic featuring Mickey as a slapstick knock-off of a World War Two Italian dictator—Mouse-ellini. But casting goofy as Hitler? Got the unh unh reaction on that one.
America, ya gotta love it.