Nobody knows for sure how or when the tradition of April Fool’s Day began – but most everybody enjoys the flashes of humorous, good-natured pranks and mischief that accompany it.

If you don’t, you might be wound too tight and take yourself too seriously.

It was back in 1957 when the BBC reported an unusually mild winter in southern Switzerland had resulted in a bumper spaghetti crop. A literal pasta harvest bonanza! They even had film to prove it. Workers were seen removing long strands of thin noodles from trees. Hundreds of viewers in Britain called the network to find out where they could find these spaghetti-producing shrubs.

Sidd Finch was the Tibetan pitching sensation created by George Plimpton and featured in the April 1, 1985 edition of Sports Illustrated. The 6-foot-four-inch hurler was said to throw the ball 168 miles per hour. It was all a hoax, but Plimpton’s reputation for seriousness, coupled with SI’s sober style of reporting, made the tall tale appear somewhat plausible.

Then there was the Taco Bell announcement in 1996 that the company had bought the Liberty Bell, Burger King’s “Left-Handed Whopper” in 1998, and recent local news that a McDonald’s was opening on top of Pikes Peak, along with the installation of an escalator on the Incline.

You can tell a whole lot about a person and even a nation by what they find funny, clever, and entertaining. A hundred years ago, humor teased but now it too often taunts. Bob Hope was known for his rapid-fire succession of witty one-liners. He could be irreverent but wasn’t offensive. Ditto for George Burns, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Milton Berle and Jackie Gleason, to name just a few from that golden era.

That type of gentle humor gave way to the edgier and more cynical. From Lenny Bruce to George Carlin to a string of foul-mouthed stand-up comedians, the envelope got pushed. Then there were those somewhere in between. We remember Johnny Carson as being clean, and he mostly was, but he could also be somewhat suggestive.

Growing up, I was a big fan of the late Mark Russell, the bowtie-wearing, piano-playing political satirist whose television specials were on PBS. His bits were often sung to familiar show tunes. His jokes were written with a wink rather than in anger.

April Fool’s Day is a reminder we need more cultural winks – affectionate ribbing and playful pranks. In times of stress, humor and laughter bring relief. When the writer of Proverbs suggested that laughter was “good medicine” , he wasn’t joking. Modern science confirms that a good laugh improves oxygen intake, relieves pain, improves the immune system, reduces depression and naturally elevates our mood, to name just a few of its many physiological benefits.

Yet, at times, America seems to be suffering from a serious deficit of good humor and laughter. By “good humor” I’m talking about the kind that lifts up and doesn’t tear down – the clean, the wholesome and the clever. The best humor comes when we laugh with others – and not at someone else’s expense. Healthy people know how to laugh. They don’t take easy offense. They may take issues seriously, but not themselves.

The comedian Nate Bargatze is coming back to Colorado Springs later this month. Nate says he never says anything in his act “that would embarrass or upset my parents.” He then added, “Being nice to others was a household principle. Insulting someone for a laugh was frowned upon.”

Those are helpful and wise family rules. We need more people like Nate Bargatze. Brian Regan, John Crist, and Jeff Allen are three more individuals who will make you laugh without making you blush or cringe.

Years ago, my friend Marlen Wells was trying to sell an old backyard swimming pool. He advertised it on Craigslist for $500. A mutual friend of ours, David Bervig, decided to have some fun with him. He created a fake email address and proceeded to tell Marlen he’d be happy to remove the pool if he would give him $300. Marlen was incensed and insulted. “You’re not going to believe this joker,” he told us during a run together later that afternoon. “He had the gall to ask ME to pay HIM!” We still laugh about it.

“Humor is the all-consoling and the all-excusing grace of life,” wrote C.S. Lewis. Find more humor and you’ll find more happiness. Only a fool would ignore, distort, or dismiss such a gift.

Paul J. Batura is a local writer and founder of the 4:8 Media Network. He can be reached via email Paul@PaulBatura.com or on X @PaulBatura.