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MASH, the movie and, later, the TV series made fun of war. The guys were constantly cutting up, playing practical jokes on each other, and laughing, mostly at themselves. Why did they do it? To lighten things up. To help them confront the horror they were faced with every day. Comedian Mark Lundholm is doing the same, to help himself and others get through the horrors of drug and alcohol addiction.

Lundholm started drinking when he was seven, and he didn’t stop. He became a full-blown alcoholic and drug addict. By age 27, he was living under a bridge. He tried to end it all, by committing suicide, but the gun in his mouth didn’t fire.

Miraculously – this doesn’t happen to too many people who live under a bridge - he got into drug rehab. Two months later, while still in rehab, he started doing standup comedy. He calls his routine dark and twisted but, for Mark, it’s a necessary part of recovery.

I’m sure many people wouldn’t find his routine all that funny. But for a recovering alcoholic or drug addict, the opportunity to laugh at themselves and their circumstances can be a life saver.

I don’t know one former addict who doesn’t have things to look back on that are uproariously funny. So, do drug and alcohol detox, and follow it up with a good rehab program, but don’t get too serious and every time you get the chance, have a good laugh.

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