Growing old doesn’t mean you lose your sense of humor
- col-lee-elliot-aging-graciously
- April 11, 2024
- 312
Sometimes something you were expecting to be enjoyable turns out to be amazing. Garrison Keillor was just that. If you missed his visit to the KSU Performing Arts Center, you missed the opportunity to absorb what a true professional does to make you laugh.
I had expected the audience to be relatively small and mostly older. Wrong on the first part. The house was nearly full. Right on the second. I’m sure there were some young people there, but I swear I didn’t see anyone under 50.
He came out singing, at 81 years, with a voice still strong and true. After five minutes he somehow coaxed the audience into singing along with him, and soon the room was filled with happy voices of many who had no idea that was on their agenda for the evening.
Garrison Keillor, to me, is the quintessential comedian. His humor is gentle, though pointed. He doesn’t smack you in the face with slapstick silliness but rather builds a simple story into an adventure so funny you find yourself laughing before the tale is even finished.
I was a little surprised at his venture into a couple of slightly raunchy stories, but even they were not vulgar. It was more like unsubtle bathroom humor. There were no “F” words or any blasphemes that some find hilarious, yet a room full of people were laughing loudly and happily without embarrassment.
For two hours he stood on the stage, without any props other than the stool he occasionally sat on. He had no notes and, as far as we could tell, forgot nothing. He quoted Shakespeare and some more difficult poems, talked about people so that you felt you knew them, and did it all without rambling, prat falls or shouting. In the midst of a story, you were suddenly singing an old popular song or maybe a hymn, and it was obvious everyone knew the words. He knew his audience.
The amazing part, though, had to do with the way he handled a full hour of interruption while still managing to keep the audience in its seats and attentive. For the entire second hour of the show, he competed with thunder, rain, wind and tornado sirens. Not missing a beat, he worked the intrusions into his patter as if this were normal, kept the attention of the room and calmed even those of us who are natural-born worriers.
For those who want to preserve what hearing they have left, it was a welcome change to not be assaulted by music so loud you had to take out your hearing aids, or if like me and are ultra-sensitive to sound, you have to cover your ears.
It is good to know growing old doesn’t mean you lose your sense of humor, your ability to entertain, to sing and to enjoy your work. It may take a little extra effort, but it’s worth it. And guess what? It keeps you young.