The Benny Hill Incident

"Do unto others, then run."
- Benny Hill

The late mister Hill was responsible for one of the worst beatings in my life, though not directly so. As a young lad of about ten, I would stay up late on Saturday nights and watch "The Benny Hill Show", much to my parents dismay. At that age I thought Benny stood at the apex of comedy in the western hemisphere, perhaps the world. A young boy could only handle so much sexual innuendo and attractive women, especially on TV!

One particular Saturday, Benny ran a sketch that involved a priest on a talk show with the fly to his pants undone and his underwear exposed for the audience to see. Of course, any questions that were asked to him would be indirectly related to his open fly. "The Catholic church should let it all hang out...", and so on. So impressed by this piece of comedy gold (which still holds some magic to it 30 years later), I decided to share this sketch with my younger sister.

In the car. On a Sunday. On the way home from Catholic mass.

I'm sure you've heard the expression, "stop on a dime", but I never knew what that actually meant until then. My mother, who was behind the wheel, shot one eyeball into the rear view mirror upon hearing my sister giggling uncontrollably. There I was, in mid-sketch with my fly undone and my Underoos exposed. Failing to see the humor of me imitating a Catholic priest with an open fly only moments after receiving the Body of Christ, she took a multi ton vehicle from 35mph to a dead stop in the blink of an eye.

Before I could even zip up, she catapulted over the front seat like an Olympic high jumper to get at me. I don't remember much after that, except for my sister crying and my mother chanting, "I'll let it all hang out!" over and over as she hit me. Needless to say, I wouldn't be watching Benny again for quite some time. However, there is one thing that I would never stop doing.

I would never stop laughing.

A sense of humor is one of the most important weapons in your arsenal as you move down the path. The world's a pretty funny place, and I learned early on how valuable the healing power of laughter can be. Despite my mother's objection to the Sunday morning Benny show, she actually had a keen sense of humor, and that's one of the more positive traits my sister and I inherited from her as we grew up.

I've learned to see the humor in all things. Having traversed some dark paths in my life, I can say with certainty that laughter has been a shining light in the blackness. It generates a significant amount of positive energy, which helps to maintain the balance of the soul. It has kept me youthful, energetic, and Zen.

When was the last time you laughed really hard? I mean, really hard, like can't breathe, tears streaming down the face, hard? If you can't recall, then it's been too long, and you need to laugh. Right now. There's plenty of funny material to be found out there, from the intelligent musings of the Monty Python troupe, all the way down to the vulgar diatribes of Katt Williams. There's something funny for everyone. Regardless of how difficult you believe your life is, a good laugh will make it a bit less difficult.

Even hearing someone else's laughter can be healing. I recently heard my copilot's true laughter, the 'from the gut' laughter, that filled the room as we watched a stand up comedian on TV. It was the first time I had heard this from her soul, and I can still hear it in my head even now, several months later. You know what that does?

It puts a smile on my face. Makes my world a little brighter.

Listen to the laughter from others, especially children. Find the laughter within yourself, and let it out. Let your soul be nourished by the humor of the 'Verse.

Perhaps you could even watch some Benny Hill. Just make sure mom is not around.