Is it Funny?

It's OK that I have a few screws loose in my head. If one falls out, I have a spare one stored in my ankle.

For those of you that don't know, 1) I'm bipolar & 2) I have CP and had ankle fusion surgery 6.5 years ago that involved putting a screw into my ankle. I'll just leave it there for safe keeping <chuckle> .

My mom was having a really hard time several years ago, and my grandma said to her that you need to be able to do 3 things in life. (I hope I have this right) You need to be able to look yourself in the mirror, you need to be able to hold your head up in the community, and you need to be able to laugh at yourself.

I'm pretty good at laughing at myself, but it's rare that I reach that level of comic genius, or that my timing is so great. I just rediscovered that joke the other day when I was thinking about things in my head. ROFLMAO. Unfortunately, people don't always know how to respond to my unique brand of humor. Sometimes they stare at me. You can see the wheels turning in their head. Are they supposed to laugh at me or is doing so going to make them look like an asshole? Is it OK or is it offensive? I want to know what you think.

In high school I had a sweatshirt. Plain gray on the front. On the back the words 'slow moving vehicle' with an orange triangle slow moving vehicle sign above them. For a time it was my favorite thing to wear. In 9th grade I was in the library and a student in my class saw the back of my shirt and told me that I shouldn't wear it. I was being mean to myself and that's not right. I'm sorry, but it's not mean, it's funny.

I recently rediscovered this video after being sent it by my high school best friend about 6 years ago or so.

She loves penguins by the way. I need to take time out to explain that I don't limp. I WADDLE. People like to say that I limp, but I don't, and it really grates on me that people say that. People with di/triplegic CP don't limp. THEY WADDLE. *off my soapbox* She sent it to me and said that the one on the left was me and the one on the right was her. HA HA HA!!! We were really straight foward, blunt, and borderline mean to each other (or maybe it was just me?). That context makes it even funnier. Or is it not funny at all? You tell me.

I'm a big fan of both John Callahan and Josh Blue. Unfortunately I can't find my favorite Callahan cartoons to post, but if you didn't have a disability, you would probably think there was something seriously wrong with me for laughing at them. By the way, in case you're not familiar with Callahan, he's a former alcholoholic, now a quad from driving drunk. I do love his crip humor.

I was able to find my favorite Josh Blue joke after I did a little digging on you tube. My all time favorite JB joke is in the video below, 2:53-4:15. Unfortunately not captioned, so I will transcribe.

There were some great things about being over in Athens though. One of the things I'll never forget is there was a party for all of the countries involved, like uh, Ireland, Scottland, uh Maryland... <pause for laughter> Little geography humor. Uh... Anyway it was like half way through the evening at this party before I realized that more then 50% of conversations were not being understood. someone who's drunk and has cerebral palsy and speaks with a Scottish accent is really f-ing hard to understand .

I was watching this at home 2.5 years ago and laughing so hard. Mom, you have to come over here. "I just don't think that is funny. I really don't think it's funny." What's wrong with my mom? She rasied a crip, shouldn't she get some of this?

1:43-2:33

I just can't wait, you know, I told her when I first found out that she was pregnant, uh, that she should have twins, uh, that way, uh, I could have a practice baby. Alright hunny, uh, you pick the one you like, uh, I'm gonna hold the other one. Didn't anyone tell you not to shake a baby?! I'm just holding em! ... someone else sitting at the dinner table more messy then me...

Again, ROFLMAO. There are some other good one's on JB's CD... But what about when the person making the jokes DOES NOT have a disability? Is it still funny? The other day I walked into my building and the big TV was on in the lobby. It was on Chelsea Lately, a sketch comedy show on E! that I'd never heard of. They did a facts of life reunion skit.

At 2:19 Gerri Jewll walks in. The real Geri Jewell is a comic/actor w/CP. Transcript starts at 2:34 and goes to 3:27.

Gerri/Heather: Hey Natalie, You auditioning much?

Natalie: Not really.

Gerri/Heather: How bout Extreme Makeover: Home Edition cause you're as big as a house.

Natalie: You can't talk to me like that!

Gerri/Heather: Yes I can. I'm a stand up comedian with cerebral palsy. I can say whatever Iwant. What's the problem Jo? Your lesbian girlfriend not here to defend you?

Jo: Back off Gerri. Back off!

Blair/Chelsea: OK, sto-- stop the cameras! You guys this is really stupid. We're doing this whole skit because Heather can impersonate someone with cerebral palsy. We're making fun of this girl who was on the show 3 times. People don't even know who she is.

Heather: I was on Facts of Life 12 times according to wikipedia Blair.

Chelsea: Stop it Heather! Relax your neck! Stop it! Sto--

Heather: Ok Blair

Chelsea: Stop! Stop!

Heather: Alright...

Chelsea: Chelsea Lately is better then this. We are smarter then this and we--no. We should all be ashamed of ourselves. This isn't funny. Forget it. And I don't want to do this anymore, and I feel disrespectful enough.

What do you mean this isn't funny? It's hysterical. At least I think so. Do you think it's funny? Do you think it's offensive? I feel that if this show felt OK doing the skit then maybe society has started approaching an actual comfort level with crips in society. They're not making fun of Gerri. They're making fun of making fun at Gerri. They're making fun of political correctness. And I like it! I think it puts us more on an even playing field with the rest of able-bodied society. But maybe that's just me...