A Sense of Humor Makes Sense

    One of the greatest qualities a human being can possess is a sense of humor.  It is a means of opening the door and allowing others into your life.  As a disabled guy in a wheelchair, I’ve found it breaks down barriers and provides brief moments of connecting to others.  It may even lead to a date.  I know a girl likes me if she calls me.  So, when I see someone I’m attracted to I go up to them and bang my wheelchair into their shin and then run over their feet.  I roll away quickly but on the back of my chair it reads, HOW AM I DRIVING? CALL  (626) 446-77…”
   
A sense of humor is important for everyone, but is certainly an asset for an individual with a disability.  Laughter puts people at ease.  It’s a wonderful disarming mechanism for people who are uncomfortable being around a disabled person.  (And we’ve all met those types of folks!) 

When you can make fun of yourself others realize you are well-adjusted to your situation and they’re more likely to loosen up.  “I’m in a wheelchair and every time I go out with my friends they put my wheelchair in the front seat and me in the trunk.”  (I tell ya, I get no respect.)
  
I have been a professional “sit down” comedian for over twenty years and part of my routine deals with disability-related issues.  “A lot of people ask me if sex is still the same as it was before my injury.  I say ‘no’ the prices have gone way up!”  When people come up to me after a show and want to tell me a joke rather than ask what happened to me, I know they’ve look past my disability because they were focused on the humor.   
  
Humor also helps get you through the day... and days are never easy for the disabled.  Some unforeseen headache always arises, such as falling out of your wheelchair, a flat tire, punctured seat cushion . . .   Humor is also important in a relationship.  I always laugh when my date wants me to pick up the dinner check.

Sometimes I will write about topical humor.  Recently, a quadriplegic was thrown out of his wheelchair in Florida by a man of the law.  It made all the news stations and papers.  It was sad, so to take out my frustration, I blogged about it and used humor to make a point.  I believe we we’re all given a sense of humor.  Some of us use it more than others, some not at all.  (Don’t marry one of them, you’ll be sorry.)  And, don’t be afraid to use your funny bone; there is nothing more beautiful than a smile or the music of laughter.  

Jeff Charlebois is a “sit-down” comedian, blogger and quadriplegic