Study: laughter is common among more than 65 species of animals
While laughter may seem like a trait exclusive to human behavior, nothing could be further from the truth. That’s at least according to a recent study which has found that the phenomenon of laughter is actually quite common in the animal kingdom too. Can animals laugh? Conducted by scientists Read More...
Want a good laugh? Check out the winning comedy pet photos
Pets are wonderful—not only do they give us unconditional love, but they also have a tendency to behave in the silliest of ways. Whether it be a cat chasing a ray of light, or a dog trying to bite its own tail, pets know how to get a good laugh out of us, which is what all of us could use right Read More...
A 6-year-old is running a jokes stand to keep his neighbors laughing
In Canada, a six-year-old by the name of Callaghan McLaughlin has taken to heart the old wisdom that laughter is the best medicine. For the past week, the youngster has been running a joke stand at the end of his driveway, offering free laughs to his neighbors and passersby. Through his jokes Read More...
Science tells us laughter can help us lead a healthier life
In 1976, Norman Cousins, the revered editor of the Saturday Review, wrote a piece that signaled the arrival of laughter in the precincts of science. The piece, which was called “Anatomy of an Illness (as Perceived by the Patient)”, follows Cousins as he checks himself out of a hospital and Read More...
Medicinal mirth: The health benefits of laughter
Mary Desmond Pinkowish | August 2009 issue The teacher gathers his laughter yoga students from the corners of this tiny studio on the second floor of a downtown Manhattan building. Most of us have never met and from the looks on some faces, aren’t quite sure what to expect. "Ha-ha-ha," our Read More...
The business of making people laugh
Janet Paskin | August 2009 issue What’s a laugh worth? You can get your yuks in a comedy club for $20 or less; for a few hours of humor in a movie theater, you’ll pay about $10. A whoopee cushion or a joy buzzer is significantly cheaper; to indulge in more highbrow humor—say, a framed New Read More...
How laughter meditation can bring you peace and joy
Max Christern | August 2009 issue Laughing is a group activity. "It gives you a feeling of solidarity," Dhyan Sutorius had already explained to me on the phone. That’s why he asked if I was interested in doing a short laughing meditation with the staff during his upcoming visit to Ode’s Dutch Read More...
What makes the whoopee cushion so funny?
Marco Visscher | August 2009 issue After Trevor Cox, professor of acoustics at the University of Salford in central England, designed the world’s largest whoopee cushion (it’s six feet—two meters—in diameter), he was approached by the British charity Comic Relief to carry out a little, um, Read More...
Does God have a sense of humor?
| August 2009 issue After 10 years as a trial attorney in New York City, Susan Sparks was burned out. "I was so sapped of energy that I couldn’t do anything but quit my job and drop out of my life," recalls Sparks, 46. In 1997, she began on a two-year journey around the world to figure out her Read More...
The funny side of faith
Carmel Wrothl | August 2009 issue Mullah Nasrudin is a medieval folk hero claimed by many countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. He’s part court jester, part Socratic philosopher, and the many tales of his sayings and adventures are popular throughout the Middle East and parts of Read More...