Day 29: Why Did You Love This Show?
Day 29 already!!!! The last question on this meme answered next Friday! I can't believe my rant stimuli is almost over! I..... I haven't ranted all I wanted to yet.......
Anyways, the question. Why do I love this show.
Oh, strap yourselves in boys, make yourselves comfortable, maybe grab a snack. This is going to be a long one probably.
Let me tell you a love story - no, not the Ry/Col story! A different love story.
About this time last year, maybe a month or so later, my father was surfing Youtube and found himself searching up clips from a show he used to watch when I wasn't old enough to appreciate it, or even understand it. That show was called Whose Line is it Anyway. At that time, I had no idea what it was, but I heard Mom and Dad laughing at the computer and snuck into the room to join them. It was the famous Sound Effects Scene with the old women (that narrows it down) - the Tarzan Sound Effects.
Every Whoser is probably going "Ahhhh, yes."
I watched it and laughed, but my first question before I laughed was "Is this Just For Laughs?" because I seemed to remember an improv act like this with these people on Just For Laughs (of course I was probably thinking of when Colin and Brad played Sound Effects on Just For Laughs).
Dad looked at me like I was crazy and said "No, it's Whose Line is it Anyway."
Those words meant absolutely nothing to me.
SEE HOW MUCH I'VE CHANGED?!
So I went out of the room when the video was done, not sure what I had just seen or why those people (especially the bald guy) looked so goshdarn familiar, and I've decided I probably watched it when I was younger with my dad, though I can't remember it, and that I remembered Colin from Just For Laughs. Again, I heard Mom and Dad laughing at the computer. Again I entered the room, curious.
It was the same people on the same set, only this scene was the famous "THE CAT!"
So the next time I was on the computer I decided to look up the show, wondering what it was. And I laughed and I enjoyed it, and I discovered games that I loved (my favourite at that time was Irish Drinking Song - again, I've changed so much). But after a while it faded from my memory, and I didn't really think about it anymore.
Fast forward quite a few months - past Thanksgiving, past Christmas, past my birthday. All this time passed and I didn't give Whose Line a second thought. Of course, from my brief binge of it in October, I now knew what it was and all their names and a few inside jokes, a few games - I knew the basics. But I didn't love it, I didn't even really think about it at all.
Spring break comes.
The first week of spring break, I believe my grandmother was there, and I was occupied and generally not bored, though when away from school I rarely saw any of my friends. Then after the first week of spring break my grandmother leaves and I realize that I really don't have anything to do. Anna had an excuse at all times to not come over, Erin had her fifty other friends that were four years older than her, and everyone else I was too shy to call them up. Not because we weren't close friends, but because I perhaps had a bad rep with their parents (or their parents had a bad rep with me). Anyways, no matter the reason, I was extremely bored and extremely lonely. Aimless. And while I do enjoy being alone, I had thought of about all I could think about by myself. I was just so incredibly bored.
Then while surfing Youtube and realizing I had nothing in particular I had on my mind to watch, on a whim I looked up Whose Line again. It was the first time I had even thought of the thing in months, but I searched it on a whim.
And I laughed. And laughing felt really really good.
So I looked it up again the next day. And again, I laughed. And again, it felt really really good.
Before long, it had become an addiction. No, I was not in the fandom quite yet, I was not obsessed. I was addicted. There's a difference.
And, though addiction is regarded as a negative word, I don't think being addicted to laughter is the worst you can go. It was what I needed in order to survive the rest of my lonely week.
The funny thing is, I didn't even realize I was addicted. I just looked up the show and laughed. That was all it was to me. It was only until one night when I was conversing with my mom and I started telling her something that I realized I spent an abnormal amount of time watching these clips.
Me: So, today I was watching Whose Line -
Mom: *sarcastically* There's a surprise.
I shrugged it off, not ashamed, and continued to watch the thing anyway.
And when school started and the crap in our friend group began to do what we call in english class the "rising action" (which comes right before the climax) I watched it to cheer myself from a crappy six hours of my life.
THAT was when I became obsessed.
I knew everything about Whose Line - or I thought I did. I still remember surfing the Whose Line clips after a couple months of watching it, thinking I'd probably seen it all, and finding a related video on the side that said "Whose Line: Whose Line (Game)" and thinking "Whose Line GAME?!?!?! There's a GAME called Whose Line?!?!?!" Fandom was young.
And, though it's perhaps lost just a little of the first time magic that Whose Line has when you see it for the first time, when I watch it I simply can't stop smiling. In fact, after a while, my face hurts from smiling so much, but I don't regret it at all. And I laugh still. And I love it still, though I'm not nearly as insecure and lonely as I previously was.
See, when I'm lonely and bored, I get into this state of mind, where I start to blame everything on myself. I get depressed, I get snappy, I get into this place where I simply can't stand myself. I feel like I have no friends. I feel like I've failed at everything I ever tried. It's just not a good space, and it's very very hard to get me out of that. But Whose Line always has something to remind me that I can laugh. Whose Line is like a four minute therapy session. Watch a clip and you're already feeling better. And last year I was very prone to these bouts of depression - hell, this year I probably will be too, though it hasn't happened yet - and that was why I loved Whose Line. Because it actually did help me. It said "Hey, remember you can laugh? You should try that again." It just always makes me feel good.
Because, I've said this before and I'll say it again, Whose Line would simply not be the same without the friendships it has within the cast. Because not only are the scenes one of the funniest things you will ever see, but they can laugh at themselves and at each other afterward, and you can sense the friendship happening and you can sort of feel the companionship. That was what it was for me at least. When I was lonely, Whose Line gave me laughter and companionship. Because I wasn't just laughing at what they were doing - I was laughing with them. THAT'S the magic.
And maybe I'm not depressed, but it's still something I love, and I'll probably always love it, though the fandomness might fade. This isn't just a show to me. This is important to me. And I'm not the only one.
THAT'S why I love this show.
*takes deep breath* Okay, the love story's over. You may exit the theatre now, but please remember to throw your wrappers in the garbage.
Peace out, Whosebuddies,
MeganH
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