What is the purpose of laughter in our lives?
Laughter serves no purpose. And that is precisely why it is essential—vital. We laugh far less than we once did, because we have become obsessed with usefulness. Laughter shows that something has been passed on, that a connection has been made.
What lies behind laughter?
A person who understands both their own greatness and their own smallness at the same time. That gap—that collision—produces laughter. But it is not so much the laughter itself that matters; it is the living. The more alive you are, the more you laugh. Laughter is an indicator of how fully we are living.
When life feels unbearably hard, how can we permit ourselves to laugh?
It comes down to perspective. I cannot look at myself differently unless I encounter someone who looks at the world differently. That other person's gaze is contagious. We change ourselves through others, through openness. This is what conversion means. When you stare at your own belly button, you cannot see the person in front of you.
Can the clown inspire us?
The clown's laughter is what happens precisely when we discover in someone a quality that is both engaging and liberating. When someone laughs at a clown—and everyone is a clown, whether they know it or not—they are saying to that person: "Yes! More! It is too beautiful watching you live!"
How can you laugh at disability?
I am about to say something provocative: you can only laugh at disability. If disability did not exist, laughter would be impossible. I am speaking, of course, of the disabilities each of us carries. Learning to laugh at our own—to permit ourselves that laughter—is the first liberating step toward being able to laugh at the disabilities of others without shame. Disabled people are spontaneous. They help us break free. Their laughter is contagious. Humor is this precise capacity: the ability to look at things differently.
Interview by S.R., from Ombres et Lumiere no. 192