Word: laughter
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...first to know these very personal, intimate things about Dan Quayle," he said, pausing for dramatic effect. "I did in fact eat graham crackers, drink milk and take naps in kindergarten." The candidate grinned broadly as 1,300 members of the National Guard Enlisted Association exploded with laughter and applause. Quayle joked his way through other "confessions" before getting to his punch line: "Nearly 20 years ago, I had no reason to be ashamed of my service ((in the Indiana National Guard)). And you know what? I'm sure as hell not ashamed...
Even Randi was watched because of his "reputation for sleight of hand." During one crucial test, the lab suddenly rocked with laughter: Randi was enlivening things with magic tricks. "Only the constant implication that we had something to hide prevented me from stopping this masquerade," said Benveniste...
...reader giggles along with Myers-Carver, trying to imagine why anyone would want to fiddle with the stories that the Morgans tell when the Morgans themselves make such good stories. The laughter is a little mean, but it's forgiveable, because the Morgans use storytelling to elicit cheap pity and to load guilt on Myers and his wife for having been bad tenants. Myers' spite is a small comfort that he permits himself, a weapon against the know-nothings that the Morgans represent...
Olmos pauses to let the laughter die down. His jive, cajoling pep talk has begun to win the men over, but more important, he has convinced them that he really cares. The impression is no public relations put-on. Deeply committed to helping the down-and-out, Olmos for the past ten years has taken his rap to hospitals, schools, Indian reservations, detention centers, libraries and veterans hospitals across the country. "It's addictive," he explains. "A few hours of energy come back in waves for years. It's a wonderful feeling to make people forget about themselves...
...Milan Kundera's The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, he remarks at one point in the seemingly disjointed work, that it is indeed a novel, for when it is not about the work's main character, it is for her. This same sentiment seems to run through Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Humanities Robert Coles' latest published work, Harvard Diary. For when it is not about his father, one has the sense, this collection of essays...