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Thumb a nose at Covid-19

Dubai - We know it is serious. Humour is just our way of hanging in there and retaining our sanity.

There is this joke about a guy being placed in front of a firing squad and the sergeant offering him a cigarette as he is being blindfolded. No thanks, says the prisoner, it is not good for your health.

Dark humour in the time of crisis can be quite the comfort and make it easier to handle the pressure we are under. It kind of places things in perspective and makes you feel perhaps if we can laugh, there is hope after all. Of course, it is a bit of a risk in that there is always a party pooper who will rain on your parade and make you wince by accusing you of trivialising such a serious situation. We know it is serious. Humour is just our way of hanging in there and retaining our sanity.

I watched a video from Australia begging people, literally on hands and knees, not to make a podcast. It was hilarious and for a few moments the bleakness was forgotten. Comedy is our steam valve, even old William Shakespeare knew that. No one is making fun of the dead or the suffering, we are only trying to cope.

This is such a funny line: I got 2020 on trial for three months. Not happy, want to return it. And you thought 2019 was bad.

Handle your stress like frogs do, when something bugs you, just eat it.

This is the first time in history that we can save the human race by sitting in front of the TV and doing nothing. Don't mess it up.

And it isn't always a laugh, there is often depth and a kind of uh oh, that is a point, like every disaster movie starts with the government ignoring a scientist.

This is cute: When you work in a bank and three guys come in wearing masks, relax, they are only robbing the bank.

Two months of isolation with the family: what can go wrong? Did you see the video of the husband saying how much he loved being home and showing cue cards that said, get me out of here, I am going crazy.

Crazy? Of course, it is crazy. Our world as we knew it is on its head and there is insanity in the air. A bit of a laugh is our biggest salvation.after a vaccine.

Two major elements we have lost in the Covid-19 era is control and tactile contact. Humour in good taste, clever, subtle and pointed, is a bridge and allows us to at least have the illusion of control and contact.

So laugh a little. I think Tim Minchin, the British Australian comedian, actor, and composer has it spot on: "We laugh because things are  serious. Making jokes gives us a sense of power over the threat."