17th February 2007
THE ONLY RULE ABOUT WHAT MAKES US LAUGH...
THERE ARE NO ROLES
by Janey Godley
There have been scientific
studies, university courses and even a computer programmed to work it out, yet
no-one really knows what makes us laugh. Laughter is what every
comic craves, like a drug-addled junkie chasing their next hit. As a stand-up,
I am fascinated by what makes us laugh and cry in the same moment. On stage last week, I told a story about my "My Mammy". The story started when I ran home from school after being hit by the headteacher and accused of stealing money. My mammy got so crazy at the thought of this woman punching me that, even as she walked up Shettleston Road in Glasgow, her anger was gaining momentum and she started saying, "I can't talk Margaret, a teacher hit our Janey and I am going up there to rip the hair out of her head." I was hysterical with worry that my crazy mother would be so ferocious in her attack that I would suffer the consequences and be expelled. The crowd roared with laughter as I portrayed myself as a child begging Mammy not to shout. She stamped, swore and spat such hatred with every step of her cheap plastic shoes that by the time she reached the school gates, she was like a wee Exocet missile. The audience howled as I acted out my mammy kicking in the school door, cigarette in hand, screaming, "Where is the bloody headmistress?" |
I parodied her standing
in front of the head and the audience went silent as I described the formidable
teacher's reaction to this wee woman in front of her. I told how the head sneered
at my mother as she took in her dirty grey hair, toothless mouth, filthy coat,
plastic shoes and broken handbag. The theatre was so quiet you could hear a
pin drop. I explained how, for the
first time in my life, I saw what other people saw when they looked at my beloved
mammy - a dirty old woman with a foul mouth and no opinion worth listening to.
I felt shame, horror. My mammy stood quietly;
she let her head drop, exhaled quietly and looked deflated. At that instant,
she leapt forward, lifted her balled fist and rammed it into the contemptuous
woman's face and told her succinctly: "We may be poor but we aren't thieves!" The audience screamed with laughter at this big punch-line, relieved to let go of the emotion. Audiences can be taken to the brink of grief and to the edge of laughter in one breath. There is no set rule about what makes us laugh or cry, but it can be possible to achieve both as a stand-up. Evoking emotions, whether it be laughter of recognition or deep fears of rejection, is what I love doing. There are no rules. |