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By:
Rexhep Maloku
- April 12, 2020 12:19 am
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An Albanian was possessed by the corona virus, and he is saying: Now is the time to get infected, did you tell me something at the end?
The Albanian is returning: Let me fulfill three wishes.
This is just one of the many barsoletas that have recently impressed director Besim Ugzmajli. Ugzmajli himself is known for posts with a sharp sense of humor on social networks. "I can't tell you more about the coronavirus, because they are being distributed, even some of those I am showing them are laughing after fourteen days", he emphasizes.
In times of a global pandemic, when most people have voluntarily locked themselves at home to avoid possible exposure to the coronavirus, virtual activity on social networks has risen. Even the "Facebook" platform itself has announced a fifty percent increase in user traffic weeks ago. There, many people have called for social networks to be used to raise the mood of people at a time when caution is being called for, but without panic. But does humor help ease the emotional state in times of crisis?
"Of course it has an impact. I am lucky to have many creative friends on social networks. Such friends find space to ironize, laugh and make fun of everything, not only in Kosovo", emphasizes Ugzmajli, adding that humor in times of pandemic has its positive sides for citizens faced with the sudden change of routine. "The first, that citizens will cope with the pandemic more easily by consuming humor everywhere, and this shows that we have an intelligent citizenry, because humor, especially black humor, is the domain of intelligent and creative people," says the director to ferizajas.
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Another director, Ben Apolloni, receives hundreds and thousands of "likes" on posts that provoke laughter. He is one of the most active members of the "Smile Factory" group on "Facebook". The page opens with Apollo's quote: "Whoever doesn't like humor is a frivolous person."
"I've been very active on social networks and I've tried to post jokes, write 'funny' statuses to somehow help overcome this situation, frankly, it's not easy at all", he emphasizes. The Kačanika director says that humor is really a great help to overcome situations, such as the one caused by the coronavirus.
"Chaplin, even in times of the most terrible wars, created comic films and undoubtedly helped many people to escape from spiritual crises. I think that I should thank and applaud a number of my friends on 'Facebook' and 'Instagram' for the good energy they have given me these days, but also to others", says Apolloni in an interview developed through "Messenger" of "Facebook".
In "Smile Factory" he also posts selected barsoleta of others.
Postponing weddings for those of you who were planning to get married this year is an opportunity that God has given you to think about once more.
Woman: Honey, you used to play football before the quarantine, didn't you?
Man: Yes honey, why this question?
Woman: If Ahmet Portieri is writing to you, he is saying that he is pregnant.
Where will you go this year, for May 1st?
In psychiatry.
The two directors say that Albanians have a fine sense of humor. Apollo has noticed over the last few weeks how spiritual people are. "I also know many people who are no longer involved in the theater and film scene, but whom I would like to meet, because they are such comedians that I adore them and learn from them", says Apolloni. He even insists that he has noticed for quite some time that ordinary Albanians have a more sophisticated sense of humor than some comedy series and shows. "This makes me think that even here, as in any other field, the opportunity is not given to those who have talent, but to those who have political, family, and other connections".
The Albanian laughs even at the funeral!
Ugzmajli says that the sense of humor among Albanians has developed mainly from the great sufferings in history. "As paradoxical as this sounds, we must remember that comedy and tragedy are separated by a thin, almost invisible thread. The more tragic the subject or the more tragic the situation, the closer it comes to comedy, namely the humor of satire", he says, also describing concrete situations that manifest the individual and social traumas of Albanians.
"We all have at least one friend who can't help but laugh hysterically just when laughing just won't do, at funerals or at parties. Such people do not sympathize with someone's pain, but inexplicably they would come to tell or accept a joke that would make them laugh", says Ugzmajli. "We remember the fact that the most original barsolets of Albanians revolve around death, hunger, war. So humor is alongside events that have pain and tragedy at their epicenter."
Kastriot Rexhepi, radio moderator, says that on the humor site he manages, he often sees that there are people who misunderstand the message behind a barsolete. This compels him to "act".
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"Albanians are very good at humor, but they often translate humor into seriousness, as I manage a humor page myself, where there are people who don't understand humor, and I have to get kicked out of the 'fan page,'" he says. .
Rexhepi is among those who have made fun of the coronavirus, in order to make people not feel embarrassed. "Because self-isolation sometimes translates into mental stress and I wanted to improve their mood, but my recommendations have never been lacking for caution, yes, and panic, no", says Rexhepi. The former political activist of AKR, this is how he answers when he is asked to select the barsolete that has impressed him the most: "I don't follow football, so I don't have an answer".
The Assembly of Kosovo with "Stand Up" comedy
And while I was writing the article, I received an email from the photojournalist Hazir Reka. It is an improvisation written on a photo of the meeting between the former American ambassador in Tirana, Donald Lu, and the mayor of Drenas, Ramiz Lladrovci, the former ambassador of Kosovo in Albania.
Mr President, do you have anyone infected with coronavirus in Drenas? – asks Lu.
No, Mr. Ambassador, they are all with the PDK, Lladrovci replies.
Apolloni and Ugzmajli have been busy with stinging posts about politicians. "We will lose some lives and some parties from the coronavirus. Sincere condolences to the former, heartiest congratulations to the latter!" - wrote Ugzmajli on April 6.
But Apollo's mind was full that "coronavirus was not affecting politicians, because it was a virus that was only affecting people".
For Apollon, Kosovo's politicians are such funny characters that if he were to spend a lot of time in front of the screen during parliamentary sessions, he would be "caught" laughing and writing barsoletas. "They lie a lot and as fools as they are, after 1 minute they fall into the traps of their lies. Honestly they are so funny. The majority", Apolloni emphasizes. "Just take for example the session where the motion against the Government was voted, it was painful what they did that day, but their speeches were so funny, that I thought I was watching some 'Stand Up' comedy. I laughed with tears. If it wasn't the tragic side that that level makes decisions about our lives, I think we should force them to hold sessions as often as possible and laugh with them".
The "black" consequences of white humor
And when asked about the "correctness" in relation to politicians when he stings them, Apolloni insists that he is extremely correct with them: "I make fun of their stupidities, they take revenge on me in my projects that constantly hinder me. So we are fitfy-fifty".
Even Ugzmajli is aware of the "consequences" he may suffer due to his open attitudes towards politics. "One of the reasons, but not the main one, that I deal with art is the fact that I was weak in mathematics (ha-ha-ha), and this fact is also related to my reactions to politics. Those in politics are calculatives, namely very weak and ridiculous mathematicians", he says. "The poor think that this people eat grass and think with their butts."
Even now, he has called for the central authorities to be careful after the first signs that there may be misuse of the funds that will be allocated to support artists. "I don't worry about the eventual reactions of either the militants or the politicians in general. Maybe I would have cracked my head a little bit, knowing that free speech is expensive here in Kosovo, but since I am weak in mathematics, then I did not 'add the pencil' to this work at all".
"Less politics, more humor"
Apolloni, who wrote in one of his statuses that after the pandemic he will stage only "comedy, comedy, comedy" in the theater, said that he has already provided plenty of dough for comedy shows. "It's just that we don't have theaters because I have a lot of projects. I have also created comedy, quite a lot, but these days I agree 100% with Bertolt Brecht, who said that theater should have the main purpose of entertaining the public. I would gladly do this," he said. "Because I like to see people laughing, they look more beautiful to me, they look better to me. I believe that as soon as we get out of isolation, I will work on making a sitcom, a satirical comedy, which now has the title 'The President'".
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But until the circumstances are created to bring the next artistic project to life, Apolloni says that until a vaccine is found for the crown virus, humor is spiritual medicine in this extraordinary time for the whole world.
"I know that humor is necessary for us, in every situation, and I think that this isolation should make the media reflect, and instead of shows with political debates, create more comedy TV shows," he says. . "Albanians know how to create humor, you show us this on television. It is the best spiritual medicine for us that daily politics have destroyed our spiritual and physical health".
