Laughter As Lubricant
“Laughter is the lubricant that makes life liveable…if you can find laughter in pain, you can kinda get through anything” (Russell Howard, Lubricant)
Purim is a lubricant for troubled times. Though some years the enforced jollity can be difficult, this year, in light of Covid and the war in Ukraine, the raucousness, silliness, and in your face parody is exactly the medicine we need.
After weeks of obsessively doom scrolling, I am now on a comedy binge; a curious mix of Encanto Purim parodies and Russell Howard, Bill Bailey and Katherine Ryan stand-up shows. They remind us that comedy is a primal urge that makes us human, whether in the shape of witty songs like ‘We Don’t Talk About Haman’, or the need to poke fun at the world around us. Have a look here to see which one is your favourite Encanto Parody.
This year we have enlisted the services of The Free Association who are currently in the middle of a run of their production ‘St Doctor’s Hospital - an improvised medical drama; inspired by all of your favourite medical dramas - from Grey's Anatomy to House to ER’.
And what they are doing for medical drama, they will do for Esther, Mordechai and evil Haman. Sprinkled with a few words from the audience, the daring cast will improvise a brand new episode of ‘Purim: The Covid Afterparty’, based on our answers to these questions: Who’s your favourite Purim character? What was the weirdest/funniest thing you did during the pandemic? What’s the bravest thing you did during the pandemic?
And, to raise our spirits even more, we are also hosting a ‘Bake for Ukraine’ cake sale to support Ukrainian refugees. So get your aprons on, and bake hamentaschen, Ukrainian delicacies or whatever got you through lockdown (not too many banana breads please), and be ready to indulge.
And for a different kind of Mishloach Manot (the Purim gift baskets that are traditionally given on this festival), we are a gathering point for Goods for Refugees, so please bring some of the items from the list here.
So bring yourself and your best mate, hamentaschen and/or cakes and humour as we turn this festival upside down.
So whether you are binge watching comedy or just need a piece of cake, come along to Purim and eat, drink and be merry.