Will There Be Laughs After Katrina?

Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

Since Katrina and its aftermath ravaged the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Alabama, help has arrived in all manner of packages.
There have been gifts of food.
There have been gifts of medical assistance.
There have been many gifts of caring.
After nearly eight months of suffering, the Gulf Coast is about to experience a very special gift of laughter. On April 17, a group of 52 entertainers from all over the country led by the Flying Karamazov Brothers will gift wrap our talents, our skills and our humanity for a series of shows, New Orleans-style instant parades and relief work.
The Jambalaya Vaudeville Tour will travel from the Pacific Northwest to New Orleans and St Bernard Parish, Louisiana, as well as Bay St. Louis, Waveland, and Pass Christian, Mississippi. The tour was inspired by the Sister City Support project in Port Townsend, Washington that has been delivering food, volunteers and supplies to the region since September. New Old Time Chautauqua in Port Townsend had already contributed its bus to that effort. Now, Joanne Murayama, the organizer of the tour, will load still another bus with acts guaranteed to replace anguish with laughter – at least for an hour or two. Entertainers will gather in New Orleans on April 17 and board the Flying Karamazov Brothers' own bus for the week-long tour of an area badly in need of laughter.
In addition to Flying Karamazov Brothers, the show includes magician Joey Pipia, “Haute Trash Fashions” (showing off the latest fashions made from household trash), the Fighting Instruments of Karma Marching Chamber Band/Orchestra, Noodilini and Sons, a juggling act and a host of other comic surprises.
Among the “others” is a little-known stand-up comedian from Seattle, who will be relating the details of the tour for YES! Magazine readers on this blog on a daily basis beginning with the flight to New Orleans. You know me better as online editor of this very Web site. Be sure to tune in from April 17 to 24, for a an account of each “teehee,” or “chortle” to burst of thunderous laughter.” You might even catch your online editor in a dress made out of recycled tin can lids covered in kale.
For more information about the tour, call Joanne Murayama at (360) 385-2212 or write to New Old Time Chautauqua, PO Box 334, Port Townsend, Washington 98368.