Minnesota Prairie Roots

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