Today I wrote a scene for my third novel (Long Shadows) set at a funeral. It's still a funny scene (well I think it is. Everyone else can judge about 12 months from now) and it started me wondering if there was any situation where humour couldn't be used.

I think as long as the humour is 'laugh with' rather than 'laugh at' then most situations can be joked about.

At a real life funeral there is often a lot of laughter as well as tears. There's sadness at the passing but happiness in the celebration of that life and past memories.

People tend to make jokes when they're in a scary situation as well. It somehow makes the situation seem a little more normal. "No, it's fine that my leg is trapped under the steering column and the car is on its roof. Did you hear the one about the nun in the bath?"

Illness is another potentially scary situation but again, humour can help relieve worry and tension. My recent bout of Bell's Palsy was a little scary but reading about the possible side effects of taking steroids had me laughing (albeit only on one side of my face at the time). Effects could include weight gain, a big round face and irrational mood swings. I thought My God; I've been on these for forty years!
My father's recent radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer is by no means humorous but the way the group of people in the room began freely discussing their problems with removing gas from their bowels before treatment started and how cranberry juice helped relieve the pain of sore willies might just possibly make it into a scene in a later story.

Anyway, back to my funeral scene. Do I throw someone else into the hole or not? Hmmm...