Laughter lightens stress of living

An evening with comedian Leland Klassen brings family joy

Patricia Paddey
Ontario Correspondent

Life had been far too crazy for far too many weeks. I’d taken on more writing assignments than I should have, my husband had been pouring too many hours into a new ministry position, and the kids’ school and extra curricular activities were all requiring, well, extra.

The whole family seemed on edge. So when a massive snowstorm hit on the very evening we were due to attend Leland Klassen’s Comedy Tournament at the World Vision auditorium in Mississauga, we only weighed for a moment whether or not we should head out into the squall.

“We’re going!” I insisted. “This family needs a good laugh together.”

And that’s exactly what we had. It was a wonderful evening. The crowd was small—due no doubt to less courageous souls not wanting to brave whiteout conditions on the highways—but Klassen was amazing. Warm, friendly, candid and funny, he had us laughing until our sides hurt.

I’d seen comedians before, but gave up on that experience years ago, because such evenings invariably left me squirming; feeling disgusted or ashamed to have listened to ‘humour’ that seemed designed more to shock or offend than entertain. Before Klassen, I didn’t know that seeing a comedian with my kids would even be possible, let alone pure joy.

It was so much fun, for my husband and I as parents, to experience something like that with our three kids, and to see each one of them laughing out loud, shoulders shaking, doubled over at times in sheer enjoyment of Klassen’s humour. I couldn’t get over it. Here was a comic who truly crossed all age boundaries; our family range in ages from 10 to 54, and we all loved it.

On the drive home we laughed some more, recalling our favourite moments of the evening. Everyone seemed reluctant to have it come to an end. So in spite of the blizzard, we drove a couple of extra blocks to hit the Tim Horton’s drive-through for cookies, figuring it was safe to keep the kids out a little later because the next day would likely be a snow day.

It was. School was cancelled. And as we sat down to share a family breakfast of bacon and eggs, I realized we weren’t on edge any more. Laughter had released us. Holding hands around the table we gave thanks for God’s good treats—and for the treat we’d shared and the memory we’d built together—laughing with Leland Klassen.