If
you're as old as I am you may remember the song I Love to Laugh from the
original Mary Poppins movie. In that scene, Mary's Uncle Albert can't stop
laughing, causing him to float to the ceiling. Mary, Bert and the kids try to
help him but wind up laughing just as hard and join him up on the
ceiling.
Uncle Albert sings:
The more I laugh,
The more I fill
with glee,
And the more the
glee,
The more I'm a merrier me.
No
matter how many times I watch that video it always makes me laugh. I dare you
to watch it (it's on YouTube) and try to keep a straight face. Nostalgia aside,
why does a fifty-seven year old movie about other people laughing still make me
laugh? I'll tell you why: laughing is contagious, but in a good way. If you see
people laughing at a joke that you can't hear you'll smile automatically, even
if you don't realize it. Your brain responds to the sound of laughter by
preparing your face to do the same.
Laughter
makes you feel good and it's good for you. Studies show laughing decreases
pain, boosts immunity, and lowers stress hormones. Hospital patients who
utilize laughter have shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries. It's also
enjoyable to make other people laugh. Jerry Seinfeld's father was a salesman
and a funny guy. He would take young Jerry with him on sales calls and brag,
"Watch this, I'm going to crack that face."
Here's
something funny, your brain can't tell the difference between real and fake
laughter. It's true. If you force yourself to laugh, even when there's nothing
to laugh about, you still receive the health benefits of a genuine laugh. Happy
endorphins are released and stress hormones are reduced. If you need assistance
adding simulated laughter to your life, there are laugh yoga and laugh therapy
groups. I swear those are real things and I hope I never need them. But never
say never.
Way
before the pandemic, in the before time, I went to a comedy show with some
girlfriends and laughed until I cried. I remarked afterwards how I couldn't
remember the last time I'd laughed so hard. I realized then what was missing
from my life, the joy of laughter. I used to take laughing for granted, before
I started taking everything so seriously. Life is serious, no doubt about it,
but you still have permission to laugh.
So,
what's funny? People disagree. Women prefer wordplay and humorous stories while
men more often like one-liners and slapstick. Physical humor transcends
cultural differences. Back in the seventies, my husband's grandparents were the
first people to own a TV in their village in India. Every afternoon, they would
turn on the TV and open the window. You could hear people all over the
neighborhood beckoning each other, calling out Lucy! Lucy! before gathering at
the window to watch I Love Lucy and laugh uproariously. Keep in mind the show
was twenty years old and depicted a life they knew nothing about. They were
uneducated laborers who led hard lives--and spoke no English. Yet, day after
day, they rushed over to watch the show and share a laugh. Isn't that
remarkable?
Humor
writer Dave Barry says the secret to writing humor is to put the funniest part
at the end, something unexpected and ridiculous. I try to channel Dave whenever
I write humorous essays. One of my favorite reviews was from a man who wrote:
this book really cheered me up when I was down. That made my day. Here's an
excerpt from my essay book A Smidge of Crazy. I hope I can crack that
face.
***
Can
a brief encounter with a stranger change your life forever? Of course it can.
You're rolling your eyes, I can see you. Well, let me tell you about Howard
Parks…
This
isn't the tale of an unsung hero--although, for all I know, Howard Parks has
rescued people from burning buildings, performed the Heimlich maneuver on
dozens of choking victims, and saved countless texters from oncoming traffic.
Anything is possible. I'm not saying Howard Parks isn't heroic and inspiring,
he is. If he weren't, my husband and I wouldn't speak of him so reverently; we
wouldn't use his name in times of crisis; we wouldn't ask each other in hushed
voices, "What would Howard Parks do?"
Twenty-four
years ago, long before Equifax spewed your personal data into the world,
including the name of your first pet, Hammy the Hamster, and long before
Facebook gave away all of your secrets, right before they gave away all of your
friends' secrets, Howard Parks was vigilant. I imagine he slept with one eye
open as his brain conjured the many ways that things could go terribly,
terribly wrong. He was British, which gave him an air of credibility. He was
calm, which made him seem reasonable. And he was insistent, a quality many
people found annoying, but which we found endearing in the extreme. It's why we
love him.
***
Just
remember, a good time to laugh is anytime you can.
