Early on in our relationship – I say four months, she says two – I asked my girlfriend who the funniest person she knows is. I am woman enough to admit that I was sort of expecting her to say that the answer was me, her new professional comedy writer girlfriend. That did not happen, and instead she thought for approximately two seconds and said “Hmm … probably Isabelle”. Isabelle is her dear friend, and a very smart and funny woman. It was a great choice, and I completely agreed happily and was not a baby about it in the slightest. I’m certainly not bringing it up again years later in a global publication!
Anyway, not to sound like Carrie Bradshaw in And Just Like That … (yes I’m a 40-year-old white woman), but it got me wondering about different kinds of funny. I’ve worked in various forms of comedy and writing for a while now, and have a lot of friends who are in the arts. My life is filled with comedians and comedy writers and funny actors and even … improv performers (I believe in diversity). They are at my work, they are in my life, they are on stage, they are on my TV. I love and adore them, and they have brought colour and joy to my life, as I am bringing joy and colour into your life right now.
However, I don’t know if you know professionally funny people like this, and I say this with all the love in my heart – we and they can be … a lot.
Some of this is not our fault. Yes, partially it’s our unique and annoying personalities. But also, pretty much everyone is constantly struggling to “make it”, whatever that means. Paying rent is the first goal. We are in a small country with limited opportunities, hard to infiltrate if you don’t have connections. When you do get opportunities, they are usually limited, short term, or not that lucrative.
It means when we hang out, we inevitably talk about grants, projects, what’s next, who is doing what. It also means, along with the unfortunate instinct of comedy people to always be “on”, generating ideas, doing bits, wondering if the bit could be something, bantering, could that idea be an article, should we apply for funding to do a web series etc. I know some of you would rather have rats chew on your face than have to listen to five minutes of that, and fair enough – but to me it’s heaven (rats chewing my face but I like it). However, as mentioned earlier, it’s a lot, and it can be a bit exhausting.
That’s why it is vital to have another type of funny person in your life. The casually hilarious, the good vibe bringers. The funniest person in the office, or, as the case may be, the laboratory. The Isabelle.
We all have our own. Yours may not be called Isabelle. You know the people I mean. The one in the workplace you can rely on for the jokes, or for an ongoing bit to keep the troops entertained. Everyone in their life knows them as the “funny one”, the one who cracks everyone up, the one Susan from accounts (not sure about office roles) is constantly saying should “try stand up”. They are the people who take on the unofficial role of CJO (chief joke officer), a vital part of any workplace organism. A person to lighten the mood, to give you a little boost on your break, to remind you that humour still exists and it’s worth living to see the end of the business day. Importantly, this is not to be confused with the obnoxious loud man in the workplace who thinks he is funny: he should never ever be encouraged to attempt stand up comedy, or be fed after midnight.
People who are naturally funny but have no interest in using it professionally are relaxing to be around. Not only are they as funny as the professional comedians I know, they don’t really care about being funny. Their self worth does not rely on it, like some people I could mention (myself). They don’t need to try, they are never sweaty-handed and looking around for approval, trying to out-joke everyone. They aren’t dissecting comedy forms, or writing down a bit that just happened to use for content later.
Because of my career, my brain has been trained to analyse jokes, or see a news story and think about how it could work in a segment on a TV show. FPITO (funniest people in the office) are not concerned with making being funny their life. They are scientists (like Isabelle), or working for the ombudsman, or they may have some high-powered nebulous job you are never really able to grasp. Lots of them could have probably followed their talent professionally if they wanted, but instead they have chosen to be adults with real jobs, improving (not improv-ing) the world in some way.
The Funniest People in the Office are our unsung heroes. We need to appreciate them more for all their hard work out there on the grind, bettering all of our days, never asking for reward or applause for it. I wish I could take a leaf out of their books, but unfortunately I am busy trying to beat Isabelle and become the funniest person my girlfriend knows.
• Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney
