Coronavirus and Comedy

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.

There are common genres in the mainstream coronavirus humour, satire being the most obvious, aimed primarily at politicians and the establishment, portraying them as reckless, clueless or selfish. In the US and the UK, Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings have been obvious targets. Otherwise, the humour is generally related to the changes in our lifestyle with themes such as:

• Bulk-buying: I wonder whether some of you are feeling a bit silly by now as you open the spare room door to face mountains of pasta and toilet paper?

• Hand washing / wearing masks: even the statue of former Prime Minister David Lloyd George on Castle Square in Caernarfon has been wearing a mask!

• The opportunity / compulsion to spend time with family during lockdown.

• Home-working and home-schooling / the pressure to do ‘interesting things’ with the children: I hear the book 101 ideas for creative play with mud is flying off the shelves!

• Cooking / eating.

• Novel hair styles/colours due to salon closures:

Husband: They’ve just announced a second lockdown. Wife: I’ll just go and pack my suitcase. Husband: Where are you going? Wife: I’m moving in with Linda, the hairdresser. I’m not risking another lockdown hair disaster!

• Social distancing

• Zoom meetings: ‘You’re on mute!’

• Song parodies.

• Imagining what life will be like when this is all over.

Church and chapel websites have joined in the fun too:

Mother during lockdown: We had the baby baptised last week. Friend: How did you do that? Mother: The minister came up to the garden wall and we gave him a hose-pipe.

and

Husband: Was it nice to go back to chapel this morning, dear? Wife: Well, it was good to see everyone but I missed being able to put the minister on Pause or Fast Forward.

If you’re like me, your emotions are extremely close to the surface these days – laughing almost too easily because the situation is so bizarre but being moved to tears by poetry, music or just by a kind word. The good news is that all these reactions are completely normal and valid. Keep smiling!