Values Quotes – Carol Burnett on Amusement

Welcome to Values Quotes. I’m Robert Ferguson.

Today’s quote is from Carol Burnett, the actress, singer, writer, and comedian, best known for her long-running TV series The Carol Burnett Show.

A wonderful quote from Burnett is:

“I’m really not that funny in real life. But I am the best audience one could find. I love to laugh.”

If you want to know how to make people laugh, you just need to study Carol Burnett. She embodies the value of amusement.

As a differentiating value, Amusement means a feeling of delight at being entertained. And I believe we all like that feeling of delight.

The Carol Burnett Show, which aired on TV from 1967 to 1978, was pure amusement.  The short skits that Carol did with Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, or Vicki Lawrence were hilarious. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon to see Harvey Korman – who always played the straight guy – trying hard not laugh himself because the skit was so funny.

For those that like to entertain and make others laugh, I think Carol’s quote is critically important to understand. You can’t really see yourself as being funny. But if you love to laugh and are willing to be the audience for others, you just might find you yourself as the source of amusement.

 

Today’s value was selected from the “Fun-Recreation” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Values.