Greetings and salutations Hivers. Today I thought we'd do another You Should Laugh More post.

So I was chatting with another foreigner and what should come up, but the SNL Cowbell skit. He was a Brit, and I didn't think SNL got much show over there, but yet he knew of and loved the Cowbell skit.

If you haven't seen it before, I'll link to it below this intro paragraph. It is one of those overly silly skits that instantly becomes a classic and just continues to endure. To this day, not only is it considered one of the top SNL skits, but it has crossed over into the culture and shows up in places you'd least suspect. For example, there is a hiking trail in Utah called "More Cowbell" referring to the skit.

With that skit in my head, I thought this would be a great time to sit down and watch some videos together to make us laugh. But before I begin, let's jump into my regular You Should Laugh Today intro text:

Research has shown that laughter is good for us. It has all kinds of health benefits. Despite most of us knowing this, none of us laugh enough. Yeah, I know, being an adult is tough, and furthermore there is a lot of grim stuff happening in the world. These things may be true, but that just is all the more reason for trying to get a little laughter into our lives.

So here it is, the More Cowbell skit. Enjoy!

Pretty crazy, huh? The thing is, it's one of those skits that the more you see it, the funnier it gets. I remember watching it live way back when and thinking it was only so-so, but in the years since I have recognized how great it really is.

Speaking of crazy, do you remember when Homer called Japan?

That was a fun episode. Here's the Mr Sparkle commercial he's referring to:

Here is a scene that never fails to make me laugh:

That entire movie is really good. I'd almost put it as Mel Brook's best. Gene Wilder was really the perfect straight man in the film.

You know what we need more of? The Muppets! I grew up on that show. I was too young to see it when the original Muppet Show ran, but they played it on reruns plenty when I was a kid, so I watched a lot of it. Who was your favorite? I always liked the Swedish chef. They still sometimes randomly make shorts for YouTube, and occasionally these feature him. Like this one:

how about another!

Oh I could keep going on that. I love the Swedish Chef.

Anyway, these video posts take a surprisingly long time to create, so let's finish. But one more.

Actually I was going to pick something crazy from Monty Python. You guys who follow along know I'm a big Python fan. But this popped up on my YouTube feed. It's a short from Dick Van Dyke. I'm kind of amazed that Dick Van Dyke is still going. I mean he's what, something like 98 or 99 now. Yet he's still here making stuff.

Anyway, so I clicked on it and it was pretty funny. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but amusing. See what you think:

So what do you think? Did any of those make you laugh or were they just stupid? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon.

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