How to Claim the "Catbird's Seat"
This Week

Have you heard the term "sitting in the
catbird's seat"? It refers to a position of
great prominence or advantage. But did you
know that it was coined by the late Red
Barber, a longtime radio sportscaster? I'll
tell you Red's funny story about how this
term was acquired in a minute...

You zoom through your day, alternatively
focused distractingly on your past or your
future and also productively achieving your
personal to-do list. You're good at this
routine. Yet all around you is an untapped
source of motivation so powerful, you'll
feel like you just drank a Starbuck's double-
espresso (with sugar).

This source of motivation is something I
call the laughter symphony. And it is so
beneficial to your health and success that
I've created a new Fun Commandment: Conduct
the Laughter Symphony.

What is the laughter symphony? Quite
simply, it is the sounds of joy being
abundantly produced all around you during
every moment of your day. Don't restrict
your imagination to thoughts of outright
laughter (although you can hear that in
abundance by visiting any park or
playground). Joy and laughter can be heard
in something as delicate as a cheerful
inflection in someone's voice. And it can
be seen in something as unobtrusive as a
tiny grin on a beaming face.

Laughter is everywhere!

How do you conduct the laughter symphony? By
listening and looking for it, everywhere
and at all times. You'll hear and see so
much laughter that you'll feel like the
conductor of a symphony and you'll begin to
notice that it does, quite often, sound like
a classical composition.

Before you balk at the simplicity of my
newest Fun Commandment, allow me to call
attention to something which clearly
illustrates the laughter symphony's immense
value to you. The sitcom staple, the laugh
track. Laugh tracks are usually annoying at
best, but downright insulting at worst. So
why do the studios continue to use them?

Because they work. They make us think the
shows we're watching are funny.

Laugh tracks work because they tap into a
preconditioned psychological trigger you
share with all other humans - the trigger of
taking behavior cues from the actions of
others.

You're not stupid or simple-minded, but rest
assured this trigger has a deep subconscious
effect on you just like all of us. As
humans, we are all susceptible and that's
why television executives continue to insult
our intelligence with laugh tracks.

But think about the ramifications of what
I've just shared. You have deep,
subconscious trigger of following suite with
the actions of those around you. You can
use this trigger to your advantage any time
you wish. Like a finely tuned judo master,
you will use the forces of nature in your
favor.

By the way, Red Barber says he got his
famous term from a poker game. His opponent
kept raising the bet and Red kept answering
(even though he only had a pair of eights). When
his opponent's winning hand was
revealed, and Red lost the pot, the man said
to Red, "Thanks for all those raises. From
the start I was sitting in the catbird's
seat."

Red Barber wrote, years later in The
Saturday Review, "Inasmuch as I had paid for
the expression, I began to use it."

Now you'll be in the catbird's seat as you
conduct the laughter symphony this week. Please
write me and tell my how your
symphony performed!

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Some Humor for the Week

"Fidel Castro celebrated his seventy-fifth
birthday. You can tell he's getting old
because he's thinking of retiring and moving
to Florida."
Conan O'Brien

And...a special thank you to Fun Times
subscriber Michael Beckett for setting the
record straight regarding last week's
issue! Mars will be easy to see in October,
not August. I was using old information.
Thanks, Michael!

Please - do your friends a favor! Send them
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themselves by going to "http://www.natural-
humor-medicine.com/Fun_times.html" Let's
spread the happiness virus together!