No smoking. No parking. No loitering. No personal checks. No shirt, no shoes… no service! And what’s next, you wonder? No kidding. No, really—no kidding!

It has been said laughter is the best medicine. Maybe that’s why the government wants so badly to take over medicine, because no one seems to have a plan to cover laughter, anymore. Maybe there needs to be a generic formulation, and we could all head down to the Wal-Mart and pick up a 30-day supply for $4. But somehow, laughter has become passé. So now you look upon me with incredulity, saying, “You’re kidding!” I’m not, and the point is that I’m not sure I wouldn’t be reprimanded if I were!

Saturday Night Live’s political satire has been a barometer for popular sentiment as much as it has driven it since Chevy Chase portrayed Gerald Ford back in the earliest days. Even in the lean years when “Funny” apparently went on strike and picketed the show, there must have been a few scabs working on political satire and impressions of politicians. Even if your guy got dogged, it was still often funny and at the very least kept everyone grounded and humble. Forty-first President Bush even invited Dana Carvey to the White House…. And that was when Carvey’s most home-hitting impression was “Don’t wanna be a one-termer. Wouldn’t be prudent.”

Fast-Forward, SNL 2009. Obligatory Obama-impersonator, check. Obligatory references to current news and events, check. Dead-on impression of Mr. Obama… wait, why does this guy not sound much like Obama? Guess they had to compromise because of the remarkable physical resemblance… no, not so much. Funny? The President did better satire of himself at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Even he was willing to zing himself once or twice if he could get in a Fox News jab. 

But every squirrel gets a nut, and finally Fred Armisen’s Obama was FUNNY in an SNL skit describing Obama’s accomplishments. (“Nada!”) Then, the parody became the news story! It was so unheard of, and in some circles frowned upon, to parody the new president in any meaningful way that the parody became the story. CNN fact-checked it, for crying out loud. Not only something they did NOT only do for Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin, but also not even for critics of Sarah Palin who treated words from Fey’s skit as actual quotes from Sarah Palin. You’ll be pleased to know that Armisen resumed the role he is more comfortable with this week, unfunny, with the punchline merely being Obama winning Powerball.

Everytime someone laughs anymore, they seem to stop in the middle and either silently ask to themselves, or more increasingly aloud, if they should be laughing at whatever it is they’re laughing at. Is it offensive? Is it 100% airtight factually? Is it mature enough? All too often, the answer to themselves makes them stop laughing… or at the very least, they won’t ADMIT to laughing. Somebody might impugn them or take the joke out of context later, which does seem on the rise as well.

My solution? I’m laughing anyway. I know someone will take me or a joke out of context sooner or later and try to use that against me. When they do, I’m going to laugh AT THEM. Some of the jokes I laugh at might end a Senatorial run in today’s atmosphere. I DON’T CARE. The laughter will not only eventually win out, but it is also more fun in the meantime. I hope you’ll join me and add laughter to your communication and conflict arsenal! If not, well I think that’s pretty funny.

Jared A. Chambers