YOUR SAY |
CORONAVIRUS
AND COMEDY By Siân Roberts
Siân Roberts is a member of Maesyneuadd Union of Welsh Independents (UWI) church in Trefor on the Llŷn Peninsula, north Wales. She is a freelance translator.
Only when I laugh ... We all know there’s a deadly virus sweeping through our world causing endless suffering. The second wave of COVID-19 has struck with dire consequences for physical and mental health, economies, governments, and for the very fabric of society. And how might we respond? We might very well laugh! No, really. Humour may seem an unexpected response to such a critical situation but, since mid-March 2020, an endless stream of jokes, cartoons and humorous video clips associated with the pandemic has appeared, mostly on social media. Some people may feel uncomfortable laughing when so many are sick or dying or facing great hardship but it is well-known that humour can release tension in difficult times and be used as a coping mechanism. People working in dangerous and serious conditions are known for their dark humour. In his Welsh-language autobiography, Dan Loriau Maelor (Under Maelor’s Floors) former MP Tom Ellis mentions Llay Main colliery in the Wrexham area which had a particularly poor safety record. According to Tom Ellis, there was a saying in the area, which went: ‘Join the navy to see the world; join Llay Main to see the next world.’ And while laughing in such a grim situation may seem offensive, we may be surprised to learn that a documentary film entitled The Last Laugh was released in 2017 looking at humour and the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective. It is described as ‘A celebration of Jewish humour as a survival mechanism.’ Naomi Bagdonas, co-author of the book Humour, Seriously was quoted in The Guardian (‘You’ve got to laugh: why a sense of humour helps in dark times’, 11.10.20) saying, ‘Some people believe this is too serious a time to laugh … but this is when we need humour more than ever. With this global pandemic, the shift to remote working, loneliness and depression rising precipitously, many of us have never felt so disconnected. When we laugh with someone – whether through a screen or 2m apart – we get this cocktail of hormones that strengthens our emotional bonds in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. Studies show it makes us more resilient, creative and resourceful.’ Laughter is also known to boost immunity, acting as a natural painkiller and muscle-relaxant and can help prevent heart disease. It’s important that people can laugh with each other, at each other and at themselves. That’s the role of the coronavirus comedy – helping us cope in difficult times by bringing us together to laugh, giving us a sense of mutual understanding, of community, even though we are apart.
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INSiGHT | February 2021
