You Can’t Argue and Laugh at the Same Time

When I moved to Newberg, Oregon, in 2021, the community was deeply divided.

There were a lot of reasons for that division, many of them political. And as the new Executive Director of the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce, I started getting calls from people asking me, essentially, “What are you going to do about it?”

My answer was pretty simple. I was new to the community and didn't have all the answers, and I certainly wasn't going to pretend that I did. But I could control how I showed up.

So, I decided to lead by example and be welcoming to everyone. I would listen, look for common ground and try to create opportunities for people to connect, regardless of their political beliefs. But I also thought there might be another way.

What if we just made people laugh? I had spent a lot of my adult life performing juggling and comedy, and over the years I had been fortunate enough to perform in nearly thousand shows with my troupe “We’re Not Clowns”. I knew firsthand what happens when an people laugh together. For a few hours, it doesn't matter who you voted for, what you think about the latest political controversy or what side of an argument you're on. You're just laughing.

And I thought Newberg could use a little more of that.

So, along with a colleague, I created Chehalem Valley Vaudeville. The idea was intentionally simple: create a completely non-political, family-friendly variety show where people from throughout the community could come together, have a good time, and laugh.

Our first show was held in a tiny black-box theater with just 50 seats and we sold it out!

That little show turned into something much bigger than we expected. We eventually received a grant that allowed us to produce more shows, and since June of 2022, we've put on more than 30 performances...all sell outs!

We've expanded the troupe and taken the show on the road to places like Lincoln City and Astoria. And one of my favorite parts has been watching my youngest daughter become part of the show and perform alongside me. What started as a crazy idea in a divided community became a way to create connection.

And I think there's a lesson in that…not just for entertainment, but for leadership and for communities. We sometimes think that solving division requires changing people's minds.

Often it doesn't. Sometimes we don't need to convince someone to agree with us. We just need to give them a reason to sit beside us…and talk…and share an experience…and reason to laugh. Laughter is powerful because it is one of the few things we can genuinely share without having to agree on anything else.

Think about the last time you laughed really hard with a group of people. For that moment, you weren't thinking about your differences. You were simply experiencing something together. That's community...and that's something I've learned over the years,  community doesn't  happen because we solve our differences. Sometimes it happens because we create something that makes those differences less important for a while.

Chehalem Valley Vaudeville didn't fix every division in Newberg, because that was never the goal. But maybe, for a couple of hours, we gave people a place where they could put those divisions aside.

Leadership isn't always about having the perfect answer to a difficult problem. Sometimes it's about recognizing what you can do and then having the courage to try something a little different. In this case, we tried juggling, comedy, music, and a little bit of good old-fashioned vaudeville. (And it turns out, it worked!!)

So the next time you find yourself in a room…or a community where everyone seems to be arguing about everything, maybe don't start another argument. Try making them laugh.

Because you can't argue and laugh at the same time!!