GOOGLE “Laughter is good for the soul,” and you’ll find many a reference telling you laughter is, indeed, good for you. The Bible says so in Proverbs 17:21 and elsewhere. So does the Mayo Clinic. And so do a whole lot of other sources.
Laughter relieves stress, eases depression, produces happiness and just generally makes us feel better. I’m all for those positive results, especially with the really difficult, stressful stuff happening in our country and world right now. We could all use extra doses of laughter.
Thanks to Little Fish Comedy, I laughed until my belly hurt at a Saturday, June 21, Improv Comedy Show at the Paradise Center for the Arts. I’ve previously seen this team of local actors, actresses and comedians perform and knew I needed to attend this fundraising event for the Faribault arts center. The group has raised more than $1 million for local nonprofits. I left the Paradise feeling better than when I arrived thanks to this talented crew.
It takes skill, quick thinking, creativity and a love of acting to do improv. Because the show involves audience interaction via prompts shouted to the group’s artistic director, the performance is totally unpredictable with fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants acting. These performers definitely need to stay focused while coming up with scenes, dialogue and actions that prompt laughter. No daydreaming here.
Try working words like kangaroo, lion tamer, embalming, Paris, stale baguette and organ transplantation, for example, into various skits and you begin to understand the challenge. Those were among the words shouted from the Paradise audience to those on stage.
And to make this even more difficult, the director can mix things up, limit time, blow his whistle. He’s like a referee.
The goal was to make the audience laugh. And we did during the Paradise show. This is family-friendly improv performed by those who work day jobs in education, IT, insurance, manufacturing and more. I appreciate that this is good, clean comedy anyone can enjoy.
And I appreciate that I can find this entertainment right here in my community. Because this was a fundraising event for the Paradise, ticket prices were discounted with a bonus buy-one-get-one-free. Randy and I are members of the arts center, meaning our ticket prices were even lower. An evening of laughter cost us less than $15.
Upon returning home and later switching on the TV for the Saturday 10 p.m. news, I understood even more the value of laughter, of escaping reality for a short time. Laughter is good for the soul. Little Fish Comedy proved that, no googling necessary.
TELL ME: Have you seen Little Fish Improv Comedy or another improv show? I’d like to hear about your experience and what you like about improv.
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
In which I protest, grieve & reflect June 19, 2025
Tags: America, assassination, commentary, government, grief, June 14, Minnesota, mural, news, NO KINGS protest, Northfield, protest, protest signs, reflections, Rep. Melissa Hortman, Sen. John Hoffman, thoughts, United States
I LEANED MY HEAD against Randy’s shoulder, my left hand gripping the rod of a protest sign and a small American flag. I felt such profound sadness in that moment. The moment when a pastor asked for a period of silence in honor of Minnesota State Representative/House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, assassinated in their home during the early morning hours of June 14.
Flag Day. Nationwide NO KINGS protest day. A day of gathering turned tragic here in Minnesota.
I alternated between leaning into my husband and leaning my bowed head against the bottom of my NO MORE KINGS protest poster held high, the sign with the cursive words, “I value freedom,” scrawled on the back side. The wind blew, swept my hair across my face like a veil covering sadness. The heaviness felt palpable here, in Ames Park in Northfield, along the banks of the Cannon River. But so did the energy.
We were a group of hundreds—maybe even a thousand (I’m not good at estimating crowd size)—gathered to publicly express our concerns about leadership in this country, about decisions being made that negatively affect all of us, about the state of and future of our democracy… It was my first protest. Ever. I wanted, needed, to be here. To remain silent seems complicit.
I’d already arrived when a friend texted that Minnesotans had been advised by state law enforcement not to attend NO KINGS protests. That warning linked to the suspect in the shootings of the Hortmans and of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. We would later learn that NO KINGS fliers were found in the vehicle of Vance Boelter, now accused in the double murders and attempted murders.
That explained why, on the way to the riverside protest, I overheard a woman telling a couple that her police officer son had advised her not to participate in the rally. She was going home. I was not. Nor were any of the others converging on Ames Park at noon. I wasn’t scared. Vested safety people, trained in conflict resolution and de-escalation, were in place. I felt safe in the masses, which, I suppose, is an unrealistic perspective. But I refuse to be silenced by fear, by the words and actions of those who attempt to suppress voices. And intimidate.
And there were those, including the drivers of a white pickup truck and of motorcycles which repeatedly roared past the rally site, spewing their opposition in noise and in political flags bannering messages I won’t repeat. But they, too, have a right to protest. Peacefully. Just as I do. And I wrote that on the back of a second sign: FREE to PROTEST. But, mostly, passing vehicles honked in strong support.
At this rally of people opposing the current administration and its policies and actions, I felt a unity of purpose and a deep, cohesive concern for the future of our country. I felt uplifted, embraced, empowered. Speakers spoke (although I couldn’t hear most). The pastor led us in prayer. We sang—”The Star Spangled Banner” and “We shall overcome.” We cheered. We chanted. We waved our posters and flags. And a group held an over-sized American flag, which I couldn’t see from my vantage point deep in the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.
We were mostly an older group. Baby Boomers. Grandparents. Even octogenarians. Perhaps some protested during the Vietnam War. Or served this country. We’ve lived a few years, enough decades to understand that we need to rise up against authoritarianism. Enough to understand what’s at stake. But there were some young people, too, like the dad behind me with his preschool daughter playing in the grass. He clearly cares, if not for himself, but then for his child.
The morning after the NO KINGS protest, I left for Madison, Wisconsin, to spend time with my 5-month-old grandson (and his parents). As I snuggled Everett, I thought, he (and my other two grandchildren) are part of the reason I chose to protest. Their lives stretch before them. I want them to live in a country where they are free. Free. I want them to live under a government based on a three-pronged system of checks and balances, not one ruled by a king or some version of a king or dictator. I want them to live in a kind, caring and compassionate country. Not a selfish, uncaring, divisive nation filled with hatred.
I returned to Minnesota yesterday and am catching up on laundry and writing. And, along with my fellow Minnesotans, I’m collectively grieving the assassination of an elected official and her husband. And I’m thinking, this is what it’s come to in Amercia…
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling