Ever since I was a small child I considered myself an entertainer. I remember excusing myself from the supper table when I was about eight or nine and I made some silly departing comment that caused my family to roar with laughter. Scientists have since discovered that such activities cause the brain to release ‘feel good’ chemicals called endorphins. I learned at an early age entertaining others made me feel good.

My earliest memory of entertaining an audience occurred during my junior and senior class plays where I played a mischievous child in both comedies. When I graduated from high school I resembled an eighth grader(short, scrawny and still not able to shave) so casting me as a child was the natural move for our play directors. The laughter that my lines drew further reminded me that I felt good when laughter resulted from the things I said and did.

During the fall of my senior year in high school the student body voted for homecoming candidates. Of course it was my hope that I would become one of the elected candidates for homecoming king even though I was short, scrawny, not able to shave yet and looked like an eighth grader. The ballots were counted and to my disappointment I lost. But before I sunk into a deep depression of disappointment the varsity cheerleaders came up to me and asked if I would be the M.C. for the homecoming coronation.

Now back in 1961 the Clinton Rocket cheerleaders were without a doubt the cutest and most athletic girls in school. My descending depression came to a screeching halt! The four young ladies huddled around me pleading with me to M.C. the event. I wanted to stall a little just to enjoy their presence but after about a millisecond  I replied, “Sure, I’d love to be the M.C.”

I still remember the first joke I shared with the audience way back in 1961. Tension was mounting as I was getting ready to announce the king. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper that supposedly contained the name of the homecoming king.  The audience was holding their breath as I prepared to make the announcement. I stared at the paper for several seconds and then said, “Oh, I’m sorry this is the wrong sheet of paper. It’s my family’s grocery list. Gosh, we almost had to crown a head of lettuce had I not recognized the mistake!”

It was my first attempt at writing my own comedy. If my memory serves me the audience did not break into hysterical laughter but it was more like a subdued chuckle with a few groans mixed in.

When I became a teacher I loved to entertain students in the classroom. It made learning more fun and I believed strongly that learning should be fun. I gave humorous talks at proms, pep fests, teacher’s Christmas parties, retirement parties and always, always prepared entertainment for the teacher’s homecoming skit during homecoming week.

Thinking back to those many performances I wonder how many pounds of endorphins my tiny brain has released.  All I know is it sure felt good! 🙂

This weekend I accidently became a star and released a few more endorphins. I didn’t mean to. It just happened. Let me explain.

Drama students at Northern State University School of Fine Arts in Aberdeen, South Dakota come every summer and put on plays at Fort Sisseton. Kathie and I had attended several times in the past and we decided to go again this summer. I had no idea that I was about to become a performer in the musical we were about to attend!

I had forgotten in the past the cast of performers liked to involve the audience in the performances. I became a prime target for such shenanigans when we were seated in the front row.

The musical comedy consisted of four ladies who were attending their tenth year class reunion. They sang songs and in between the music shared how their lives were evolving. I was thoroughly enjoying the performances until one of the ladies announced that she had married Mr. Lee a teacher at the school. “In fact,” she continued, “my husband, Bill, is here this afternoon.” She then proceeded to turn and point right at me as the stage spotlight blinded me with its brightness.

As I tried to overcome the surprise and shock Missy (her stage name) began singing songs to me declaring her love for me. She was a teacher at the school too so we were sharing our teaching careers together. Right at the end of the first act Missy announced that she was expecting a little one.  Now that was a little awkward having someone announce that they are expecting our child as my wife Kathie is sitting next to me. But remember as I said earlier it was a comedy. 🙂

The second and final act began as the four women are meeting for their twenty year class reunion. Again in between songs they caught each other up on how their love lives were going. By now my wife Missy and I had two children but because we were poor school teachers we could only afford to live in an apartment next to the school.

I thought the worst was over for me and I was starting to settle back and enjoy the show when my stage wife Missy announces to her girl friends that she is worried about me. It seems I had been going out in the evenings and had been seen at many of the women’s houses around town. In fact one of her friends asked, “Is he having an affair with every women in town?”

Missy was very distraught. She revealed that one Sunday afternoon she followed Bill(me) and she saw him meeting a women at the “Dew Drop Inn Motel”. That led the four singers to assail me with several songs, pointing their accusing fingers at me as they lectured me with music.

And of course the woman I had met at the motel happened to be sitting in the front row too…..how convenient! Now after completely humiliating me with song one of Missy’s friends held up a manila envelope and announced that it  contained the women’s admission of guilt. But when she opened the envelope it did not contain a confession. Instead it contained a picture of a house. Bill had been house shopping all this time around the town and the motel rendezvous was actually with the real estate lady finalizing the deal.

Oh, the joy that filled the theater! And little did I know my stage appearance was about to begin. One of Missy’s friends came charging off the stage and began dragging me back to the stage. But remember earlier in this blog I mentioned I was an entertainer so she didn’t need to drag too hard! In fact when I climbed the stage and met my stage wife I asked her, “Do you want a hug?” Is that called being impromptu? Missy promptly replied, “Sure!”

So we hugged and then the other three girls gathered around us and showered us with flower petals as Missy whispered in my ear, “Now dance with me.” So we began a slow dance and the audience laughed because as I’ve already said this play was a comedy.

The play ended with everyone living happily ever after. I was still in shock but the endorphin release had begun so I was feeling pretty good.

The cast lined up to shake hands with the audience and so I decided the polite thing to do would be to meet my stage wife and inquire how our two children were doing. 🙂 I happened to have my business card with me so I gave it to her and told her I was available to sit in the front row anytime. So far she hasn’t contacted me.  She is probably too busy reading through all my blogs and trying to recognize the comedy in them. 🙂

Until next time.