Honoring the Humorous: How Jokesters Jump From Anonymity to Friendship in One Easy Line

This week is about paying tribute to that thing we all like to do: relax. Because, really, there are too many boring banalities in our lives already. Spreadsheets. Cleaning. Cooking (the hatred of which many of us are too ashamed to admit). Bank balances. Petrol stations. Threads coming off your clothing (which happens in a sadly large price range of clothing for our 'first-world' country). Much of life is really preposterous and painful, a thief of the nano-seconds of your time that you could be using to, say, watch Jersey Shore. Too many tetchy tidbits taking up your time really furrow that Botoxed brow.

Which is why we love those that create the more desirable of facial lines, the ones around the mouth. Not the haggardly smoker's ones, faintly reminiscent of the scrunch of a crispy wonton, but the jovial laugh lines so coveted in an accountant's office. The lovely people that create these lines are the jokesters. Pranksters. The naughty ones. The ones that think outside the box and will refer to yours without missing a beat. These are the ones that bring the joy into work lunches, the pissed into parties, the gossip into get-togethers. We all know a few, we all remember them. They make us feel a certain way.

The Unofficial Muse of the Smoker's Mouth

To be dry and insert an adage into a light piece of material, there is an Oprah-esque thought that fits in quite nicely here: 'We don't remember what somebody has said, but we always remember how they made us feel'. Whomever this anonymous asp is that slid into Oprah's good books was either talking about a good (or terribly bad) date, or a humorous human. Humour really is the feeling of relief we all need from whatever troubles we're having, place we're staying or person we're dating. Laughter is in itself memorable because it made you feel better; made your laugh a shriek in a quiet boardroom; helped erupt a not-so-subtle snort in the kitchen. A good laugh inserts activity in your own life regardless of who set it off. It leaves that little bit of gratitude for the guy who granted it, they the god of relieving the mundane.

A jolly jokester can win your heart in no time. A couple of cheap lines can make up for the lack of a couple of expensive ones in the bathroom, even for the most toxic of social groups. The guard is let down. The jest slides through without obstruction. A connection is made. And it always is astounding just how fast it is made, in comparison at least to the ant-like conversation of those without the tricks. The famous book 'How To Win Friends and Influence People' could be summarized in a few words: make people laugh. At least you'll see less frown lines because of it.