Lĭve Comedy versus Līve Comedy

It was a rainy Thursday night as I walked to the parking lot. As I was about to cross Broadway at west 49^th street, I looked to the right and saw a man wearing a sign, LIVE COMEDY.

That was when the movie began in my head. Of course I knew he was promoting the live comedy shows at Caroline’s. But since there was generally an animated film going on in my head, (Sorry private shows only. There is no guest list tonight.) what I heard was lĭve comedy as in we live a comedy out in our everyday lives. I pondered that thought. I would like to lĭve comedy. Perhaps I already do. I often feel as though I have the leading role in my life, but it's a situation comedy.

Anyhow, as I walked the 3 blocks to the parking lot, Dionne and I were having a conversation (in my head of course, this is NYC) about lĭve versus līve. I remembered comedian George Carlin and his many comedy routines on words, may he RIP. I saw one skit in particular, clearly in my head. I think it might be the original "Why Johnny Can’t Read" joke.

He had a flip chart created and went through a series of words by changing one letter in the word and talking about the pronunciation of the word. Come, home, dumb, comb, tomb, love, dove, move etc. It made total sense. How could the literacy rate in our country be acceptable when the language makes no sense? For example, COME (cŭm) and HOME (hōm), one would think that based on the spelling of these words, they would sound alike. Similarly, so would LOVE (lŭv) and MOVE (moov). But they do not. And why do COME (cŭm) and DUMB (dŭm) sound alike when they are spelled so differently? It is no wonder that English is nearly impossible for anyone to learn as a first or second language. There is no logic to it. Learning English is more mastery of memorization than logic and learning. Phonics. Ugh.

No, I cannot find this particular clip on you tube, if you find it PLEASE send it to me! Yes, this is really what went on in my head from seeing the man wearing the LIVE COMEDY sign. In my defense, it was after 9 pm and my first meeting of the day had been at 7:30 am. Not to mention that I had not had as much sleep as my body requested. I was also laden with 3 bags and an umbrella. What a sight. By the time we (me, myself and I) arrived at the parking lot, we were tired, hungry and trying desperately not to laugh out loud at the skit that was on repeat in my head.

“All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other.” –August Wilson

Laughter is good medicine. It adds years to your life and enhances your joy. Click here for a good laugh.

INjoy,

dionne