An unlikely place to have a good laugh

An unlikely place to have a good laugh

The news has been so gloomy lately I have spent some time scouring newspapers for something remotely cheerful to write about … and failing miserably. I would even settle for silly news which is usually abundant in Thailand, but even that is in scarce supply these days.

However on Wednesday I was cheered up in the most improbable of places … the dentist's waiting room.

I had arrived early and a trifle nervous about what awaited in the dreaded dentist's chair. There wasn't much happening and four of the all-female admin staff were sitting around in the waiting room chatting. After a while they began asking me standard questions about where I was from, which football team I supported, could I eat som tam … the usual stuff.

Then one asked where I live in Bangkok. My answer surprisingly prompted a burst of spontaneous laughter. Apparently I live very close to one of the admin women, sparking lots of good-natured jokes, although a few I did not fully understand which was probably just as well. Each comment prompted even more laughter. It felt almost like a party.

I looked around and two other patients waiting to have their teeth pulled got into the spirit of things with big grins. It was definitely the first time I had ever heard laughter in a dentist's waiting room, let alone having the whole place rocking. No wonder people can find life in Thailand so confusing.

Reality quickly took hold when I was summoned to the dentist's chair and I feared Dr Somchai might not be in the same jovial mood as his staff and perhaps have the last laugh at my expense. However, I'm glad to report it was a painless experience … apart from the bill.

Canned irritation

As much as I enjoy laughter, I have never been keen on the canned variety, or "laugh track" so beloved of American sitcoms. It feels so artificial and suggests that the show is not funny enough to rely on live audiences laughing at the right time. Watching at home on TV it's as if you are being instructed when to laugh.

I would agree with Time magazine which named canned laughter as "one of the 100 worst ideas of the 20th century". British actor David Niven was also unimpressed, calling it "the single greatest affront to intelligence that I know".

Just like that!

Some people have a natural talent for making us laugh. One such person was the late British comedian Tommy Cooper much beloved by people of my wrinkly years. He became a legend in Britain with his failed magic tricks and corny one-liners.

It is hard to pinpoint why he was so funny because his jokes were old hat, but his timing and delivery was superb. Many of his disastrous conjuring tricks ended with a triumphant "just like that!" which became a popular catchphrase.

With his fez, wild eyes, out of control hair and a face of confusion he made audiences laugh even before he even said anything. The fact that Cooper had audiences in hysterics with such modest material is a tribute to his comic ability.

Jolly fuzz

It it would be remiss not to mention one extraordinary song, The Laughing Policeman. Recorded in 1921 by Charles Penrose under the name Charles Jolly, it was extremely popular on the BBC Radio's Children's Favourites in the 1950s. It is an eccentric number and includes a chorus of Penrose simply laughing his head off. The lyrics feature a "fat old policeman, a jolly red-faced man" who "laughs upon point duty, and laughs upon his beat and laughs at everyone while walking down the street".

One wonders if the Bangkok constabulary might adopt The Laughing Policeman as their official anthem. It might just cheer up the general public.

Toads crossing

My thanks to readers who after last week's tribute to hedgehogs pointed out there were many other squashable creatures that experience problems crossing the road. Topping the list of those at high-risk are frogs and toads, followed by snakes. In addition, not many would bet on the chances of a tortoise making it, while snails would be best advised to take an alternative route.

In much of Europe "Help a toad cross the road" campaigns have been going on for decades. Toad tunnels have been built under highways while toads attempting a risky crossing are put into a large bucket and escorted to the other side. Roads have even been temporarily closed to ensure happy hopping.

Keep off the grass

Even in gardens creatures are not safe and many a hedgehog has come to a sticky end at the hands of a lawn mower. In Bangkok, on many rainy nights while walking across the lawn I have experienced an unpleasant crunching sound underfoot which invariably means another snail gone. The poor things had probably spent all night crossing our lawn only to be crunched inches from safety.

The frogs and toads can hop out of the way of clumsy feet, but the snail is totally stuffed.

It's a pity these gastropods cannot briefly accelerate into a short gallop to survive such situations.

So please watch your step on these dark and stormy nights.


Contact PostScript via email at oldcrutch@hotmail.com

Roger Crutchley

Bangkok Post columnist

A long time popular Bangkok Post columnist. In 1994 he won the Ayumongkol Literary Award. For many years he was Sports Editor at the Bangkok Post.

Email : oldcrutch@gmail.com

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