By Georgie Bright Kunkel

For some reason I have always found humor everywhere. Luckily my late husband had a great sense of humor and it was humor that interested me in my new fellow. Early on he brought me a whole box of jokes he had collected and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I never borrow jokes but always draw from my own experience when going on the comedy stage. I must say, however, that all those jokes did stimulate my own sense of humor. Everywhere that we go my fellow has a new joke up his sleeve and he can tell one with gusto. The last time I went up on the comedy stage I invited my fellow to join me and we made quite a pair cheering up the audience. There is nothing like laughing at oneself onstage and we have age integrated the comedy stage bigtime.

Every time I go onstage I carry my special little handcrafted book called My Sex Secrets by Grandma. Since I have a terrible rote memory I can hide my notes in it and the audience gets quite a laugh when I show this book which I call my serious book about senior sex. I wrote this book after my late husband got the bad news that he would soon face radiation treatments which would interfere with his love life. The next day I sat down and created this book of little comic essays illustrated with line drawings which were meant to celebrate our sex life as long as it might last.

Imagine in my mid seventies creating such a book. People weren’t used to older people talking about sex. Children didn’t want to know that their parents engaged in this activity. But how did they imagine they came into the world? Guess they thought they were delivered by fairies. No matter, the secret is finally out—that older people are sexually active. Yes, it has now been documented that older people remain sexually active long after their children leave home and have children of their own. A woman in her eighties was asked when old people lose interest in sex and she replied, “You will have to ask someone older than I am.”
The program Little House on the Prairie is an example of family life in an earlier time when all members of the family were involved in the work needed to sustain the family. Some young girls were teaching school after they finished high school. Young boys were assisting their fathers in doing the heavier work around the farm. Dating was carried on with a partner from a family that their parents knew well. And humor was the leveling influence in a life challenging to all.

Everyone loves to mingle with people who are warm hearted and who have a great sense of humor. Remember Norman Cousins who found that comedy relieved his tension and aided his recovery from an illness? Comedy clubs are springing up everywhere. The latest venue is the Comedy Womb. You guessed it. It gives support to female comics but men are welcomed as well. Finally it is more acceptable for women to go on the comedy stage. A young friend of mine who followed my lead and switched from improv comedy to standup is now studying comedy in Chicago. I am so glad that I could fulfill my role as mentor and that a young comic is following in my footsteps. Today more young comics are coming on stage than ever before and I plan to join them for a long time to come. But I still have to write more material as I don’t use the F word. So there.

Georgie Bright Kunkel is a freelance writer who can be reached at gnkunkel@comcast.net or 206-935-8663. Thanks for all your positive feedback.