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Steve Wilson is, like myself, a presenter1 of humor programs. When I interviewed him, Wilson told me about an incident that happened to him related to humor and grief. “I had always gone out,” he said, “to talk to community groups about standard psychological subjects—like mar－riage, divorce, raising kids, stress, depression and things like that. One day,” Wilson continued, “I got a call from a woman at a cancer clinic who runs a group called Make Today Count. She heard that I give talks and asked that I come and ad－dress the group. I told her that I had a new talk on humor. She said, ‘That would be wonderful. I think the group would really like that.’” Wil－son was excited to do it. His mother had died of ovarian2 cancer when he was twenty years old so he thought it would be great if he could be of some help to these people.
There were about thirty-five people seated in a circle that night. To get the meeting started each person told the group their name, the kind of cancer they had and the stage of treatment they were in.
The first person said, “My name is Susan. I have a brain tumor3. They were able to do surgery, and now I’m getting radiation4.” Then Susan’s parents introduced themselves. After that, a young man, who was also there with his parents, announced that he had lymphoma5.
“I started to realize,” Wilson admits, “the gravity of the situation these people were in—and there was a room full of them.” As each person went around the room, Wilson started to feel inadequate and questioned whether it was right to discuss humor under such circum－stances. “Here were people with really catas－trophic illnesses in their lives. I worried that my program wasn’t appropriate.”Just as wil－son was feeling anixous, something unexpected took place and changed his mind.
Wilson heard a man who was introducing himself to the group said, “My name is Lester, and I’m pissed off6. I have cancer of the liver. My doctor told me I had six months to live. That was a year ago—and I gave away my winter coat.” When everyone in the group started to laugh, it was a vali－dation for Wilson that the group wanted to laugh and that a person in a serious situation could indeed poke fun at7 himself.
With the knowledge that humor was indeed appropriate, Wilson started his talk. He told jokes, played with props8 and ex－plained the value of humor. It was going well. The crowd was laughing loudly and really appreciating what Wilson was doing.
Then there was a knock on the door. A woman opened it and stuck her head in the room. She said, “Listen, I’m trying to run a support group in the room next door...” Wilson thought to himself, Okay, now I’m in trouble. But the woman continued, “and my group would like to come in and join your group.”
It wasn’t until after the program that Wilson found out that the second gathering was a support group for those who had re－cently lost a loved one.
Wilson gained a revelation from that experience. “People who came together to support each other in their grief,” says Wilson, “wanted to be where the laughter was.”
和我一样，史蒂夫·威尔逊也是一位幽默节目主持人。当我采访他的时候，威尔逊告诉我一件他亲身经历的与幽默和悲伤有关的事情。“我经常在外面，”他说，“向一些社会团体发表一些有关普通心理学方面的演讲——比如结婚、离婚、养育子女、压力、沮丧以及诸如此类的事情。有一天，”威尔逊接着说，“我接到一位女士打来的电话。她在一个癌症门诊部工作，他们组织了一个名叫‘使今天有价值’的团体。她听说我在外面发表演讲，因此，就请我去为那个团体演讲。我告诉她我准备了一个新的有关幽默方面的演讲。她说，‘太好了。我想这个团体的成员会非常喜欢它的。’”能为这个团体演讲，威尔逊感到很兴奋。因为在他20岁的时候，他的母亲死于卵巢癌，因此他觉得自己能够为这些人做事真是太好了。
那天晚上，听他演讲的大约有35个人，他们围坐成一个圆圈。在演讲开始之前，团体里的每个成员都先做一番自我介绍，介绍自己的姓名、所患癌症的种类，以及现在正处于治疗的哪个阶段等。
第一个进行自我介绍的人说：“我的名字叫苏珊。我患的是脑瘤。医生们能为我做手术，现在，我正在进行放疗。”接着，苏珊的父母也做了自我介绍。然后，一个也由父母陪同的年轻人宣布说他患的是淋巴瘤。
“这时候，我突然意识到，”威尔逊承认道，“他们所面临的问题是多么严肃，而且，这一屋子人都是这样。”当每一个人在房间里走动的时候，威尔逊开始感觉到不适宜，他自问在这样的环境下，讨论幽默这个话题是否合适。“这里坐着的都是些得了大病的人。我担心我的节目对他们不适宜。”正在威尔逊暗自担心的时候，发生了一件意想不到的事，改变了威尔逊的想法。
威尔逊听到团体里的一个名叫莱斯特的男人自我介绍道：“我的名字叫莱斯特，我快被气疯了。我得的是肝癌。医生告诉我，我只能活六个月了。那是一年以前发生的事—— 于是，我就把我的冬衣全部送人了。”当时在坐的每一个人都大笑起来，这使威尔逊认识到这个团体的成员需要笑声，同时也使他认识到一个处于严肃环境中的人甚至能够取笑自己。
当威尔逊知道在这里讲幽默的话题确实适当，他就开始发表自己的演讲。他讲笑话，表演时用一些有趣的小道具，并说明幽默的价值。一切都进行得非常顺利。人们快乐地大笑着，确实欣赏威尔逊那幽默风趣的演讲。
然后，门外传来敲门声。一位妇女打开门，把头探进房间。她说：“听着，我正在隔壁房间里组织一个支持小组……”威尔逊暗自想道，糟了，我现在遇到麻烦了。然而，那位妇女继续说，“我的小组成员想加入到你们中间。”
演讲结束后，威尔逊才知道这个支持小组是为那些失去一位亲人的人组织的。
威尔逊从那次经历中获得启示。他说：“悲恸中的人们走到一起相互支持，他们都希望能够到有笑声存在的地方去。”
丹兰 摘译自The Evening Times
There were about thirty-five people seated in a circle that night. To get the meeting started each person told the group their name, the kind of cancer they had and the stage of treatment they were in.
The first person said, “My name is Susan. I have a brain tumor3. They were able to do surgery, and now I’m getting radiation4.” Then Susan’s parents introduced themselves. After that, a young man, who was also there with his parents, announced that he had lymphoma5.
“I started to realize,” Wilson admits, “the gravity of the situation these people were in—and there was a room full of them.” As each person went around the room, Wilson started to feel inadequate and questioned whether it was right to discuss humor under such circum－stances. “Here were people with really catas－trophic illnesses in their lives. I worried that my program wasn’t appropriate.”Just as wil－son was feeling anixous, something unexpected took place and changed his mind.
Wilson heard a man who was introducing himself to the group said, “My name is Lester, and I’m pissed off6. I have cancer of the liver. My doctor told me I had six months to live. That was a year ago—and I gave away my winter coat.” When everyone in the group started to laugh, it was a vali－dation for Wilson that the group wanted to laugh and that a person in a serious situation could indeed poke fun at7 himself.
With the knowledge that humor was indeed appropriate, Wilson started his talk. He told jokes, played with props8 and ex－plained the value of humor. It was going well. The crowd was laughing loudly and really appreciating what Wilson was doing.
Then there was a knock on the door. A woman opened it and stuck her head in the room. She said, “Listen, I’m trying to run a support group in the room next door...” Wilson thought to himself, Okay, now I’m in trouble. But the woman continued, “and my group would like to come in and join your group.”
It wasn’t until after the program that Wilson found out that the second gathering was a support group for those who had re－cently lost a loved one.
Wilson gained a revelation from that experience. “People who came together to support each other in their grief,” says Wilson, “wanted to be where the laughter was.”
和我一样，史蒂夫·威尔逊也是一位幽默节目主持人。当我采访他的时候，威尔逊告诉我一件他亲身经历的与幽默和悲伤有关的事情。“我经常在外面，”他说，“向一些社会团体发表一些有关普通心理学方面的演讲——比如结婚、离婚、养育子女、压力、沮丧以及诸如此类的事情。有一天，”威尔逊接着说，“我接到一位女士打来的电话。她在一个癌症门诊部工作，他们组织了一个名叫‘使今天有价值’的团体。她听说我在外面发表演讲，因此，就请我去为那个团体演讲。我告诉她我准备了一个新的有关幽默方面的演讲。她说，‘太好了。我想这个团体的成员会非常喜欢它的。’”能为这个团体演讲，威尔逊感到很兴奋。因为在他20岁的时候，他的母亲死于卵巢癌，因此他觉得自己能够为这些人做事真是太好了。
那天晚上，听他演讲的大约有35个人，他们围坐成一个圆圈。在演讲开始之前，团体里的每个成员都先做一番自我介绍，介绍自己的姓名、所患癌症的种类，以及现在正处于治疗的哪个阶段等。
第一个进行自我介绍的人说：“我的名字叫苏珊。我患的是脑瘤。医生们能为我做手术，现在，我正在进行放疗。”接着，苏珊的父母也做了自我介绍。然后，一个也由父母陪同的年轻人宣布说他患的是淋巴瘤。
“这时候，我突然意识到，”威尔逊承认道，“他们所面临的问题是多么严肃，而且，这一屋子人都是这样。”当每一个人在房间里走动的时候，威尔逊开始感觉到不适宜，他自问在这样的环境下，讨论幽默这个话题是否合适。“这里坐着的都是些得了大病的人。我担心我的节目对他们不适宜。”正在威尔逊暗自担心的时候，发生了一件意想不到的事，改变了威尔逊的想法。
威尔逊听到团体里的一个名叫莱斯特的男人自我介绍道：“我的名字叫莱斯特，我快被气疯了。我得的是肝癌。医生告诉我，我只能活六个月了。那是一年以前发生的事—— 于是，我就把我的冬衣全部送人了。”当时在坐的每一个人都大笑起来，这使威尔逊认识到这个团体的成员需要笑声，同时也使他认识到一个处于严肃环境中的人甚至能够取笑自己。
当威尔逊知道在这里讲幽默的话题确实适当，他就开始发表自己的演讲。他讲笑话，表演时用一些有趣的小道具，并说明幽默的价值。一切都进行得非常顺利。人们快乐地大笑着，确实欣赏威尔逊那幽默风趣的演讲。
然后，门外传来敲门声。一位妇女打开门，把头探进房间。她说：“听着，我正在隔壁房间里组织一个支持小组……”威尔逊暗自想道，糟了，我现在遇到麻烦了。然而，那位妇女继续说，“我的小组成员想加入到你们中间。”
演讲结束后，威尔逊才知道这个支持小组是为那些失去一位亲人的人组织的。
威尔逊从那次经历中获得启示。他说：“悲恸中的人们走到一起相互支持，他们都希望能够到有笑声存在的地方去。”
丹兰 摘译自The Evening Times