PUNs

Since PUN is an essential part of my title, let me admit my partiality to this particular form of humor.

I understand that puns have been accused of being the "lowest" form of humor. So? Wouldn't that make them the most common form (ala the lowest or least common denominator)?

I've rejected making this a forum for them because I believe the "best" ones are generated in response to whatever is happening at the time. "You'd have had to be there." For me a groan about the horror of a particular pun is as good as – or better than – a laugh.

This title is intended as a play on words. I want to talk about the fundamentals of life - the essentials. For me, humor - or at least my brand of it - is an essential. It keeps one from being too serious about life. As a speaker, I'm well aware that humor has pitfalls but the absence of it is deadly.