by Michelle Burkhardt

Created on: June 22, 2009   Last Updated: June 26, 2009

Everyone knows the intense pain that deep laughter can cause in the pit of your stomach. The stomach muscles contract and seem to hold a death grip on your breath. A person's eyes start to flood like a cascading water fall. The type of humor that caused this scenario to play out sounds horrible, but it is actually quite enjoyable and even sought after.

People love stand-up comedians, movies that invoke non-stop laughing , and even articles that will bring a chuckle or two. The feeling after a good laugh is better than sex . . . Ok, I was hoping for a laugh! As much as we enjoy to laugh, there is a time when humor is no longer funny.

Laughing at someone's expense is certainly a time that needs to be evaluated as to whether it went too far. However, I do not believe this is as black and white as it seems. There are certain elements that need to be considered. Does the "joke victim" have tough skin? One can make fun of me, and I will be right there laughing along with them. I developed a tough skin back in elementary school when kids made fun of me. I never thought of retaliating with a gun, so, I used my mouth to shoot "jokes" right back at them. Now, if one decides to tease my mother-in-law, her feelings would be hurt. The comedian/joke teller, needs to be aware of his/her audience.

A joke is suppose to be not true, or at least be a half truth. If the jokes are truthful and are being used to expose that truth, the person has gone too far. The goal was not to cause a laugh, but to expose a truth. For example, if you tell someone in front of everyone that their breath is so bad that a fly would drop out of the air with a Ha! Ha! I was only kidding, then, that was the most insensitive way to inform that person that a trip to the dentist for an oral hygiene lesson is needed.

As a writer my favorite genre is humor. Author/columnist, Dave Barry is someone that I aspire to be someday. My local paper use to run his column every Sunday. I loved his writing style and humor, but there were times that I found myself saying, "He is bad." His jokes were sometimes right on the fence of being offensive.

Finding that balance as a writer is difficult, especially, if you do not want to offend anyone. I believe that God is the Giver of all gifts and talents. My ability to write comes from Him, but I hold the responsibility to fine tune that gift and not to abuse it. Watching someone chuckle while reading an article of mine is the greatest joy and seeing a frown because I took the joke too far is heart -wrenching. As a writer my goal to to entertain with my words; therefore, this writer will make sure she stays on the happy side of the fence.

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