Choir Humor: Or What Kills the Mood Faster than Someone Singing Off-key

            Life is full of stories. We tend to glorify the big life changing ones, and forget the importance of the little funny ones.

            Recently I was singing with a choir. It was the end of rehearsal. The director, a thirty-some relatively fit man, was sitting on the bench at the piano, just sort of giving some closing comments. The piano bench sat in front of the piano in close quarters. Only a couple feet behind the bench were carpeted stairs leading up the room and also served as choir risers. But the practice had been a serious time, some of the choir singers had even been crying for various unknown reasons. With that in mind what happened next ruined the serious atmosphere.

            The director leaned back on the piano bench, tipping it over. He started fall. Choir members gasped. Putting his hands behind him on the stairs he caught himself. Quickly he sprung back to his feet. He bowed as if he just finished a piano concerto and just fallen over.

            The elderly members of the choir all started mumbling about him being young enough to recover like that. But he was blushing, indicating that he was embarrassed, and it ruined the serious mood faster than someone singing off-key.