A great comedic icon, Soupy Sales, passed away last week at the ripe old age of 83.  Whenever there is word of the passing of a celebrity from our youth, it’s hard not to think back on their contributions to our upbringing and the times in which they took place.  It’s no different with Mr. Sales.  His memorable, clean humor was symbolized by someone, often Soupy himself, getting hit in the face with a pie.

In a time where “edgy humor” consists of raunchiness and double-entendre’s, we’ve all but forgotten the days when a pie in the face could make us laugh.  Today, the ol’ pie-in-the-face trick is mostly reserved for use by those who are expressing their free speech while protesting to inhibit the speech of others.  Now THAT’s funny!

Looking at the videos of some of Soupy’s shows, it’s sad to think that we’ve “grown” beyond the simplistic humor of those days.  It often takes a lot to make us laugh, doesn’t it?  And, even then, it will take something that wouldn’t have passed the network censors because of language or other things that aren’t fit for family audiences.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t consider myself a prudish person (while some may disagree).  In fact, I have laughed at some of what I’m now complaining about and, no doubt, will catch myself laughing at them again.  But I don’t think that it takes a joke about a politician’s or clergyman’s sexual indiscretions to make someone laugh.  Nor does humor based on untruths about a person, place or thing necessary.  There’s enough truth out there to laugh about without having to be on the attack or vindictive.

I know that vaudeville died a long time ago but have you stopped long enough to watch an old Charlie Chaplin movie?    Or, fast-forward about 50 or so years.  Remember the Carol Burnett Show or the Flip Wilson Show?  Hysterical!  Sure, back in those days there was subtle “adult” humor but it was so far under the radar as to often go undetected by a majority of the listening audience.  Or, at the very least, unnoticed by kids who heard it. 

Today?  Well, I suppose that we’re more “sophisticated”.

Call me naïve or old-fashioned (depending on my mood, I might even plead, “Guilty as charged”), but I like humor that is either unifying or allows me to escape reality for a while.  Tearing to shreds either end of the political spectrum is a bit of a bore and taking shots at anyone’s religious beliefs is just plain tacky.  While I definitely have my political views and religious beliefs, I don’t think it shows very much class to paint “the other side” as stupid or lower class.

Personally, I find it very easy to get the most laughs when I make myself the butt of my own attempts at humor.  I know.  I should take on something a lot more challenging but I never professed to be an over-achiever.  In fact, I’ve grown quite accustomed to life on the short bus.  But I digress.

Seriously, we take ourselves much too seriously.  We’ve got to lighten up and learn to laugh at ourselves more than at others.  In doing so, we just may find our country a step or two closer to unity than the divisiveness that we’re witnessing today. 

As Soupy showed us countless times, pie-throwing should be for laughs, not a form of political protest. 

Here’s a link to a montage of pie throwing and other Soupy Sales moments of greatness.

Thanks for the laughs, Soupy!

A little side note for my fellow classic rock fans:  According to Wikipedia.org  Soupy’s two sons, Tony and Hunt Sales (from his first marriage) are musicians who were in David Bowie’s band, Tin Machine, and also worked on Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life” album.