Mask!….Where’s his mask?!!!
(CNN) – Six-year-old Callaghan McLaughlin has a new routine. Every day, he wakes up early, eats breakfast, gets his schoolwork done — and then sets up his joke stand outside.
His goal: To spread joy and laughter to his neighbors, without violating any social distancing rules.
“I know about 13 or 14 jokes.”
Callaghan McLaughlin, Jokester
Saanich, British Columbia
Usually, Callaghan operates a lemonade stand around this time of year — but because of the pandemic, his mom chose a safer alternative.
“I had to think of something that was going to be contactless and cashless, but also had the same sort of community spirit and social aspect that a lemonade stand has.”
Kelsea McLaughlin
Callaghan’s Mom
The young comedian is at his joke stand by 9:30 a.m. each morning, and stays put for about 45 minutes.
“He goes back to do a matinee show in the afternoon,” Kelsea McLaughlin said with a laugh.
The young McLaughlin gets most of his witticisms from a kid’s joke book, called “Laugh Out Loud Jokes For Kids” by Rob Elliott.
“What do you call a bear without any teeth?” Callaghan quipped. “A gummy bear!”
But, he’s picked up even more jokes from the people who stop by.
“He usually has a pretty high success rate of a joke returned,” Kelsea McLaughlin said. “He has learned a whole new repertoire.”
The family’s home on Vancouver Island is close to Canada’s Pacific shore, so there are plenty of beachgoers walking around — while practicing social distancing — to stop and hear a joke.
“People can usually see him before they get to the driveway,” Kelsea McLaughlin explained.
Most of the people in Mclaughlin’s neighborhood are elderly.
“I think it helps them to feel a little more connected, because they’re one of our more isolated community groups,” Kelsea McLaughlin added.
hThis six-year-old boy set up a joke stand to give neighbors a laugh during quarantine
Calamity Jane