Everything I Need To Know, I learned From Mad Magazine…

I frequently tell my kids that I don’t know everything, but I do know a little about a lot of things.  So many of these lessons come to me be accident.  Simply a byproduct of being entertained.  If I’ve read a book, listened to a person’s story, or seen a movie or tv show, I retain details about ideas that interest me.  I’ve learned cooking tips and gardening advice from light and fluffy novels, medical and scientific research from books about serial killers, history from banter with strangers.  All of it gets filed away for later access.

I tap into this data often.  Through it, I find that I’m able to keep up with most any conversation enough to follow along and learn more.

Recently, I was sitting with a group of people when discussion turned to Star Wars and Star Trek.    I kept up, but then I mentioned that I have never seen Star Wars, or any of the sequels or prequels.  I’ve never seen more than a couple of minutes of any episode of Star Trek.  I knew character names, personalities, and basic story lines for both.   The others in the group seemed stunned by my revelations:  I’d never seen them, but I knew a good bit about them.  I even knew enough to understand that Star Wars People and Star Trek People should not be categorized together and they don’t necessarily play well with one another.  How is that possible?

So I explained.  Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Mad Magazine.  I’m not kidding.  Parody is one of life’s greatest teachers!  I never need to watch The Godfather or Goodfellas thanks to Mad and, later, Cracked Magazines.  I don’t need to listen to entire presidential speeches because I have Saturday Night Live for that.

I know I’m not alone in this.  Just ask Comedy Central.  Over the last couple of years, polls have shown that a large portion of the population turns to Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert for news and current events rather than the actual real news programs.  I get it.  Not only do they research and know what they’re making jokes about, but they don’t take themselves seriously.  That’s really the key, I think.

I have little patience for anyone who takes themselves seriously.  Laughter is the fuel that keeps me moving through life.  Obstacles, speed bumps and forks in the road are usually pretty funny when seen in the rearview mirror.  And there is always great truth in comedy.

I’ll give you a minute to think about the fact that I just confessed to never having seen Star Wars, Star Trek, the Godfather or Goodfellas.  I’ve also never seen Titanic, but I’m pretty sure I know how it ends, and I know how to lean over a railing and pretend I’m flying, so what else do I need?

Alfred E. Newman said it best:  “What, me worry?”  How can I, when I’m too busy laughing?  Credit, of course to Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, and Lewis Black, but everything I need to know about life, I learned from Mad Magazine.