Death is something we all must face one day and most people would not equate humor with this occasion - yet some apparently do. In some cultures there are tombstone epitaphs and obituaries that are unintentionally, and sometimes, intentionally amusing. It is true that humor is a foreign element in dealing with death and dying but it can help everyone who is involved in death bear the unbearable. The world’s only “jollytologist” A. Klein states: “Death-based humor can a) provide relief for our anxieties about death; b) help us to cope with the death of others and c) ease the stress that often surrounds grief.” G. Mikes points out: “Laughing at death gives us triple pleasure: 1) the pleasure of the joke itself; 2) the malicious joy of laughing …show more content…
It starts in this way: “The man. The myth. The legend. Men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him. William Freddie McCullough died on September 11, 2013. Freddie loved deep fried Southern food smothered in Cane Syrup, fishing at Santee Cooper Lake, Little Debbie Cakes, Two and a Half Men, beautiful women, Reeses Cups and Jim Beam. Not necessarily in that order. He hated vegetables and hypocrites. Not necessarily in that order.” According to the obituary, he was a lover of women “Freddie adored the ladies. And they adored him. There isn’t enough space here to list all of the women from Freddie’s past. There isn’t enough space in the Bloomingdale phone book. A few of the more colorful ones were Momma Margie, Crazy Pam, Big Tittie Wanda, Spacy Stacy and Sweet Melissa.” The obituary describes William Freddie McCullough as one of the most interesting men in the world. But what does the obituary tell the readers about the person who created it? The son of the deceased told the Savannah Morning News that he read dozens of obituaries and found them too bland and formulaic for his father. He said: “I wanted to do things differently to honor him with an obit that fit