Funny… ha, ha

As a child I always wondered about the nature of clowns. Those antics and that technicolour make-up never managed to convince me that humour was anything more than a public contract between clown and audience to partake in saccharine humour, a sort of articifical version of the real thing.

But then I grew up to discern a rainbow of humour — from that dire “here-it-comes-audience-get-ready-to-laugh” slap stick sitcome stuff which is frankly, airtime unworthy; to the droll and dry witty style that the Brits so effectively seem to have infected us ex-colonies with (that would be those of us in the Commonwealth); and the snark, sarcastic, sadistic?, self-effacing humour that is at its best poking fun at those “thou-shalt-not” conversation topics: politics, sex and religion.

So it’s a good thing that I often get to be around funny people of the latter persuasion. New York may well be a place filled with wannabe waitstaff/actors, but it seems moreso a home to comedians who regularly take to the stage in a range of venues.

Of course, I don’t get to see these wits in action on stage, but during office hours, at dinner and at games evenings. If one can assume that they are much funnier when they’re actually putting their concerted efforts into it, then I can only recommend that should you see Kyria Abrahams, Charles Star or Digs on a coming attractions bill, you make a point of seeing their acts.

Abrahams fans can have their funny bones tickled virtually by visiting her website http://kyriaabrahams.blogspot.com/ and also find out where and when to catch her in person (like this evening.) Similarly check out this site http://www.rickblaine.com/index/gigs/calendar/ to keep track of Star’s star appearances. As for Digs… it’s more of a serendipitous happening, unless he’s stunning dinner guests with just how deep their taboos run.

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