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Some Fun with 'The Great Wits'
A presentation by Gary Hartzell on ZOOM
Tuesday, August 11, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

For more information please call (310) 802-5010.

What really is “wit”? Is wit just a snappy, clever, or even devastating come-back, or is it really more than that Spoiler alert: It’s more than that. Come spend an hour or so exploring some of the different forms of wit and the ways they enrich our language, our sense of humor, and our understanding. “Wit,” someone once said, “is wisdom at play.”

Of course, the best known and often most popular show of wit is found in the quick rejoinder. How much fun are those people who think of the right thing to say at just the right moment and send the zinger back across the conversation? Perhaps as Aristotle thought, “Wit is educated insolence.” A member of Parliament asked Winston Churchill, “Must you fall asleep every time I speak?” Churchill replied, “No. It’s completely voluntary.”

Another delightful form is the observation on life. Wit is often found in binding together remote and separate notions, finding similarity in dissimilarity, and vice-versa; drawing the mind not just from one word to another but from one idea to another in a way that is simultaneously startling and understandable. Steven Wright: “I’m addicted to placebos.” Stanislaw Lec: “Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?” A dying Oscar Wilde on his room furnishings: “Either that wallpaper goes … or I do.” Share an hour with Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Groucho Marx, Winston Churchill, Dorothy Parker, Mae West and others. Better company is hard to find.

More Information
For more information about this activity, please call the Older Adults Hotline at (310) 802-5010. For more fun at home, please visit the Healthy at Home website and click through the various tabs.

If you need assistance with errands, grocery shopping, transportation, etc. please call the Older Adults Hotline at (310) 802-5010, Monday through Friday from 6:30 AM to 5:30 PM and Saturday/Sunday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. You may also call the Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) Assistance, Information and Referral line at (310) 374-3426, ext. 256, seven days a week, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.