I am not a person who yells at all, but I realized that I have always felt so good after doing the Tarzan yell, after doing Charo, or screaming as Eunice.
Interpretation
Expressing one's feelings through exaggerated actions can be liberating and joyful.
In this quote, Carol Burnett reflects on her experience of expressing herself through loud, exaggerated forms of communication, like the Tarzan yell. She contrasts her usual calm demeanor with the joy and release she feels when she breaks out of her shell, suggesting that such playful self-expression can provide a sense of freedom and happiness.
In practice
Using this quote in a comedy class to discuss the importance of humor in self-expression.
My grandmother and I followed my mother here, to a house a block north of Hollywood Boulevard but a million miles away from Hollywood, if you know what I mean. We would hang out behind the ropes and look at the movie stars arriving at the premieres.
You have to have faith that there is a reason you go through certain things. I can't say I'm glad to go through pain, but in a way one must, in order to gain courage and really feel joy.
It's also selfish because it makes you feel good when you help others. I've been helped by acts of kindness from strangers. That's why we're here, after all, to help others.
I've always been optimistic. And I have a feeling that it happened because of going to all those movies with my grandmother in the '40s because there was no cynicism.
Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh? I miss that.
My favourite comedian, of course, is Tim Conway. He has a way about him - being that belly-laugh kind of funny, and he has the improvisational skills, too. I've never seen anybody better.
If you can't laugh at yourself, then how can you laugh at anybody else? I think people see the human side of you when you do that.
Some debts are fun while you are acquiring them, But none are fun when you set about retiring them.
Wit and playfulness represent a desperately serious transcendence of evil. Humor is both a form of wisdom and a means of survival.
I always tell the truth. Even when I lie.
You have to able to make fun of yourself. Don't take things too seriously and when people make fun of you, laugh at it.
It will be written on my tombstone in very large letters, 'Here lies Hikaru Sulu,' and in very tiny letters, 'aka George Takei.' I don't protest the inevitable.
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