What Makes You Laugh?

We asked funny people to tell us what they think is funny.

STORY BY DAVID WARNER

Two years ago we changed the theme of our annual healthy-living issue from Health & Wellness to Health & Happiness, and in keeping with the theme we asked a variety of folks “What makes you happy?” Last year’s H&H issue focused on the health care heroes getting us through the pandemic, but in this year’s edition we’re back to asking a question: “What makes you laugh?” Because how could we have gotten through the last year without the occasional relief of a good hearty chortle? I’m a sucker for New Yorker cartoons, old SNL skits, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! on NPR, YouTube pet videos — and just about all the people on these pages. Whether they’re professional laugh-getters, brilliant social jokesters or, simply, shiny happy people, they’ve made us laugh many a time — and I hope they do the same for you.

Jim Sorensen, actor

Dave Barry got me going early on. And “Calvin & Hobbes.” And “The Far Side.” (“Beware of Doug” makes me giggle to this day.) And Emo Phillips: “You know what I hate? Indian givers. No, I take that back.” Our dog, Chloe the Rescue Lab. This pup likes to play a game we call “footie,” where she tugs on a toy, and I try to hold onto it while trying to touch her feet. She jumps back, lands on her face with the toy still firmly entrenched between her teeth. I laugh… every time. My wife, Natalie Symons. I don’t know if she always knows why she’s funny, but she just is. And her laughter is BIG and LOUD and INFECTIOUS. And poop. (I’ll admit it, I’m a child.)

Natalie Symons, playwright and novelist

Schitt’s Creek brought me wondrous laughter and joy in the early days of the pandemic. So much so that my friend Teri sent me a life-size cardboard cutout of Dan Levy to keep my spirits up. Matthew McGee eating the pizza in the mukbang video during the drive-in The Scott and Patti Show at freeFall. Matthew is a comic genius.

Matthew McGee, actor and drag artist

I get much of my comedy fix on social media. Not Facebook! Facebook just isn’t funny. Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) live tweeting some of my favorite television shows and films makes me howl. I’ve also watched Julian Burzynski (@juliancookies) become a star on Instagram and Tik Tok during this pandemic. His reenactments of famous scenes from films, TV shows and reality television are priceless and so expertly performed.

Hal Freedman, Realtor, arts supporter, meme connoisseur

I guess what I look for is a surprise, a story or joke that ends in a way I didn’t expect. For example: Two golfers are out on the links. As a funeral procession drives by on a nearby road, one of them takes off his hat, lowers his head, and is silent. His golfing partner says he never knew his friend was so sentimental about funerals. The first golfer says, “Well, we were married for 30 years.”

Chelsea McMillan, founder, Sunshine State Goods & Apparel

Dogs! No matter what is going on in the world or my life — watching a dog be their authentic self, live in the moment and find joy in a little thing like a ball. Lately I’ve been laughing at myself a lot. These past few years have been challenging for so many and it has given me a new perspective on the little things I used to get upset about. As Jimmy Buffett says, “If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”

Karla Hartley, Producing Artistic Director, Stageworks

Things that make me laugh: • Being silly with my wife • Life In Pieces

• Dry wit • Heather Krueger • A well-crafted play • Kari Goetz

• Zombies

Margaret Murray, Curator of Public Programs, Museum of Fine Arts St. Pete

Right now, daily life is so new and exciting that I find myself laughing at every experience we’ve been denied for over a year now… In this age of Pfizer and Moderna, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that laughter is the best medicine, but like the scallions growing on my windowsill, it’s something I’m going to keep tending to. I refuse to let laughter go the way of my sourdough starter. Laughter will thrive. We’ll all thrive.

Stephanie Hayes, nationally syndicated Tampa Bay Times columnist

• My 5-pound rescue Pomeranian, Rocket Raccoon. • Scream Queens. I remain outraged that it was canceled after two seasons. • Every time The Property Brothers say they’ll be done renovating a whole house in just seven weeks. • Comedy about mundane, everyday life stuff. The last laugh-cry I had was from Nate Bargatze on the drama around the wafflemaker at a continental breakfast. • TikTok videos people curate on Instagram, because I’m too old to be on TikTok. I couldn’t do it without you.

Tracie Mayo, mortgage broker, Savvy Mortgage Lending

I love when people can make fun of the things that would normally shock someone else. I think there is a reason some people find dark subjects funny. It gives us control over things that we fear, perhaps… like death. One of my favorite jokes: What has four legs and one arm? A happy pit bull.

Terence M. Igo, Chief Executive Officer, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company

My daughter Rose. Her humor at 9 years old is so clever, and so innocent. You can’t help but laugh along with those dimples.

I like to keep a laugh file — we call it Happy Kindling (because you can light a spark when things are dark with Happy Kindling). Here are a few examples: 1. See a show: Sarah Millican is a brilliant British comedian who makes me laugh every time — find her at sarahmillican.co.uk 2. It’s all pun and games: Finding ways to make everyday conversation a bit spicier with a few wellplaced puns — Tami: What time is it, love? Becket: 2:30. Tami: Tooth Hurty?!? We better get to the dentist! Becket: [Level unblinking glare]

Tami Evans, Employee Engagement and Levity Leadership Expert

Nadine Smith, Executive Director, Equality Florida

I like jokes that take me by surprise. A twist that takes an extra beat to arrive. I like laughter to catch me off guard.

Andrew Harlan, bookseller/marketing coordinator, Tombolo Books

We like to have fun at Tombolo Books. Sometimes it’s something as simple as a pun on a card that leaves us in stitches — like one from Mattea Studio that reads “Nothing Beets Us,” with a depiction of beets. Yes, we’re suckers for puns. Bookseller Serena has two top tier recommendations: Jenny Lawson’s Broken and Kevin Wilson’s fiction masterpiece Nothing to See Here. Without spoiling too much, I’ll just say this book has two children who spontaneously combust when agitated. What more do you need? For me it’s all about Samantha Irby. In Wow, No Thank You she applies the full-nelson of cringe comedy and does not let go. But the crown jewel of comedy is Pugtato. It’s a pun-filled picture book that is as much a feast for adults as it is for kids.

• Cats with scotch tape on their paws • My husband dancing • Robin Williams • Walmart shoppers • Mardi Gras • Teaching improv • Medical marijuana • Gas

Paul Wilborn, Executive Director, Palladium at SPC

In the 1980s I loved a Tampa sketch comedy/improv group called School of Night. The funniest character was John Huls —lanky, wildly gay, willing to say or do just about anything he thought was funny. Picture a raunchy, cross-dressing Lucille Ball in her Vitameatavegamine phase – that’s John. He went on to be a much-loved acting teacher at a private school and he kind of kept his funny in check. But since leaving the school and moving to St. Pete with his husband, Jay Hoff, John has rediscovered his comic persona. His Tik Tok videos, his “Peanut” ads for the downtown gift shop ZaZoo’d, his Instagram feed, his “Dirty John” shows at the Studio at 620, his Wigstock parties, are all edgy and hilarious.

John Huls, actor/improv teacher/hostess with the mostest at Zazoo’d

Bonnie Agan, actor, voiceover artist, artistic coordinator, Radio Theatre Project

It occured to me to make up something rather highbrow, but I shamelessly confess that fart sounds unfailingly make me laugh. I could watch the dinner scenes from Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor 1,000 times and still cry laughing, I was once in a show and had to follow a guy crawling across the stage as his character farted all along the way. I could barely make it onto the stage, and then tried to hide my convulsive laughter as I had to traverse the stage every single night. I once assumed I’d grow out of this, but at this point in my life, that clearly isn’t going to happen. Did you hear Rudy Giuliani fart in that Congressional hearing? Yeah, I watched it 50 times!

OPEN AIR, UP FOR any ing.