Laughing at things that you don't like about yourself -- before anyone else does -- gives you the upper hand. By laughing at what annoys you, those things cease to have power over you, and others laugh with you instead of at you.
Comedians often do this. They not only make big money poking fun at themselves but they get big laughs at the same time.
Woody Allen, for example, jokes about being a loser. He says, "Even in kindergarten, I flunked milk."
Phyllis Diller pokes fun at her looks. She says a Peeping Tom once asked her to pull her window shade down.
Rodney Dangerfield wisecracks about his low self-esteem each time he utters his trademark, "I don't get no respect."
Finally, actress Shirley MacLaine used this laugh-at-yourself kind of humor in order to quell those who criticized her beliefs in the supernatural. At a dinner party, she came dressed as a spaceship. After the affair, she was asked how she liked the meal. She jokingly said that it was the best meal she had had in 3000 years.
You might want to consider using some laugh-at-yourself humor to get the upper hand on some of the qualities you may not particularly like about yourself.
I, for example, make fun of my hairless head. I tell people I'm a former expert on how to cure baldness.
Copyright 1997 Allen Klein
