Not sharing the same sense of humor is as irreconcilable as not believing in the same gods. Just as fundamentalists accuse each other of not believing in the right god, people with different senses of humor can even end up accusing each other of having no taste or no sense of humor at all. Humor and religions are like farts: it’s the other person’s fart that stinks.

There are people who have wit, humor and irony and then there are those who prefer jokes with guaranteed self-satisfaction. They long for the comedian who ridicules their enemies of choice. They don’t want to laugh with others. Instead, they want to laugh at the chosen target, a preferred enemy.

We all have opinions, which is in itself nothing special, but not everyone has a fine sense of humor or a keen sense of harmony. We all have our convictions, but not everyone is a writer or a humorist. If I have to choose between ideology and humor, I prefer the wit, because a sense of humor is not so commonplace. This is true for those who create art. Do what makes you special. An opinion doesn’t make you special. Your art does!

There are comedians who point a finger at others and there are comedians who point a finger at themselves.

There are plenty of reasons to laugh, because ideologies, religions and beliefs are often hilarious. It’s absolutely justifiable to joke about those topics! If people feel offended because I laugh at the Koran, the Gospel, a manifesto, Marx, Mohammed or Jesus, then they are free to feel offended. Anyone who feels offended by my jokes is confusing people with ideas. A living being is more than just a collection of ideas and belief systems!

Laughter is involuntary.

We don’t listen to a joke, examine it and then decide whether to laugh or not. If a joke is good, we simply must laugh. Laughing is a spontaneous act. So the question, „Is it okay to laugh about it?“ is absurd. We laugh because we have to laugh! We may be ashamed afterwards to have laughed, like having had an erection in public, but red-faced embarrassment won’t mean much. Laughing can’t be suppressed. At best we can lie afterwards and say that the joke really wasn’t that funny, just as some people deny their sexuality.

Like lust, laughter is uncoupled from our will.

If someone makes a joke that you can’t laugh at, then you should listen again. If others are laughing, then it’s obvious that their erogenous laughing muscles were stimulated. What right do we have to forbid these people from laughing? Humor is not a pathological perversion. Still, you don’t have to share everyone’s humor. For every kind of humor there’s an audience.

Laughter is a break from suffering. Laughter helps us cope and not despair.

A comedian is not looking for a universal truth, but for a unique and creative kind of humor. The search is like tightrope walking. Comedians can offer a good laugh or fail embarrassingly. Humor thrives on risk, from crossing lines and nonconformity. Comedy is a high-performance sport. The stage is always in a critical state of emergency.

Spontaneous reactions to humor offer others a deep look into the individual soul, especially into the unknown parts. I have often betrayed myself through my laughter.

Joking is traitorous!

That’s why dictatorships forbid joking.

Laughter can be dangerous!

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(Translation: William Wires)