SLiM: The Perfect Audience

A few days ago, I made a stunning discovery. My dad, Rabbim and My Mother (who will henceforth be called MM) had guests, and the couple brought along their 3-month-old baby. Although she is one of the most adorable infants I have ever seen, she was not in the best of moods. So I attempted to calm her down-–with her parents’ permission, of course--by rocking her. Now, for realistic purposes, I will tell you why I wanted to hold her. I adore babies. I love their smell, their perfect faces, and the way they smile by sticking out their tongues. However, this cute little baby was not going to be sticking out her tongue in laughter anytime soon, so I gave her back to her father. It was at this time that I remembered that babies love peek-a-boo. I was nervous that she would see me and wonder is that kid crazy that he thinks I think that popping out is funny? Then I remembered that small babies love it when people hide and then pop out. But then I thought what, exactly, is the entertainment in peek-a-boo, that babies laugh at it? I decided to play peek-a-boo anyway. As it turned out, I was right that it entertains babies, to the extent that, if the baby could talk, her words might’ve sounded something like “bwa-ha-ha-hee” instead of “I’m hungry”. No, seriously, she was laughing like one would laugh if they heard the funniest joke in their life. And as I was doing it on time #87 or so, the great answer hit me.

The baby sees no entertainment in someone hiding and peeking out, making a loud sound as they come out of their hiding place. I think (I’m not sure) the entertainment the baby finds is the fact that the person who’s hiding is acting like a moron. Seriously, it does look idiotic if you see a person hiding and popping out yelling “uh!”


Even after the Biggest Question in the Universe was answered, I still have a question. How can a baby find peek-a-boo, a.k.a. “The Moronic Game,” interesting after, like, 125 times? They know the routine by then. “The stupid kid hides his head somewhere whispering ‘where did I go-oh?’, then pops out and says ‘Uh! Here I am!’”


Even stand-up comedy gets boring after a while.


Even, I would think, for babies.