Vanessa Beyer

One and two and breathe

Vanessa Beyer lists things that make her laugh for nearly three minutes when she pauses to catch her breath, laugh again and continue.

“What else makes me laugh?” she says. “I think everything makes me laugh. I’m a pretty positive person.”

To this point, the 29-year-old sales representative, University of Iowa assistant cheerleading coach and aerobics instructor, has rattled off nearly a dozen sources of amusement, compiling a list that includes her sister, a close friend, her cheerleading squad and Herky.

Of course, she’s laughed at least a half-dozen times in there, too, and a couple times at herself.

“I fell off the stage teaching aerobics not too long ago,” she said. “My class seemed to find that funny. And it was funny. Embarrassing things happen to me all the time. There are too many to even (remember). I lose track of them. I just have bad, bad luck.

“My car makes me laugh. I have the world’s most terrible car. I nicknamed it two-face because on one side of the car there are hub caps and on the other side of the car there are no hub caps and the bumper is broken on that side and it looks like it has stitches on it because it’s held up by zip ties.”

— Andy Hamilton

Iowa City Press-Citizen -- March 12, 2009