Laughter is important. It’s therapeutic. We, as the Playing For Laughs Improv Troupe, love laughter. We love laughing, and making people laugh. I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to say that laughter fills our individual and collective souls. The PLaying For Laughs Improv Troupe is centered out of the Theater Project in Brunswick Maine. I am recording this on October 26, 2023, less than 24 hours after an unspeakable and unfathomable tragedy occurred in Lewiston, Maine, which is less than 30 minutes away from Brunswick. It’s a scary, sad, confusing, frustrating time. At this point, on this day, I know I can’t even truly comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy that happened yesterday. I’ve been finding myself lost and unfocused at times, as my brain and emotions grapple with what happened.

Laughter is important. It’s therapeutic. And it can also mask and hide feelings that make us uncomfortable. Laughter can help us put on a brave face in the wake of true horror and sadness. Laughter can even help us accept the realities we are faced with. We, as a comedy group, want to help you laugh. We want to help us laugh, too. It’s our primary goal… hell, it’s in our very name. Our podcast is all about improvisational storytelling, and making us, and hopefully you, laugh along the way. We also want to honor the space and the situation we are in. We want to make sure that we provide a space for laughter. That’s the point of this podcast. And we want to honor and acknowledge that, for some, now might not be the time for laughter, and that the timing of publishing our normally-scheduled podcast could be perceived as insensitive or uncaring or inappropriate. 

So we have decided that, for this week, our normally scheduled Playing For Laughs Podcast will be postponed until next week. If you need a laugh, please go back and listen to any of our previous episodes and come along with us and enjoy the good times we had recording them. Be kind to yourself, and check in with your friends and loved ones to support them through this time. And, also, if you’re feeling confused, frustrated, angry, scared, sad, etc., please find a friend or loved one and talk with them. If you need someone to talk to, please call the Maine Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 1-888-568-1112. They’re there to help and to give you the guidance and support that you need.

We’re here to provide you laughs. Laughter is important. It’s therapeutic. We’ll be back with a new episode for you next week, November 3, 2023, with plenty of new laughs for you and for us. Until then, take care of yourselves; take care of your community; and let your community also take care of you. You deserve it.