Laughter is the Best Medicine: The Importance of Live Comedy
Research from numerous educational institutions such as UCLA and the American College of Cardiology, and from healthcare associations like the American Heart Association, have showed the many benefits comedy can bring to our lives; laughter is the best medicine. Doctors and psychologists agree that our sense of humor is an incredibly powerful tool in caring for our overall wellbeing. Laughter has been proven to boost immunity, decrease pain, relax your body, and release large amount of the ultimate feel-good drug – endorphins. Moreover, laughter prevents heart disease, lowers stress and anxiety levels dramatically, and enhances our resilience to harsh situations. It has also been shown to raise heart activity to levels equal to exercise, and when sustained long enough, begins to burn calories. Socially, it strengthens our relationships and helps up form new bonds, while maintaining the ultimate power of defusing conflicts and misunderstandings. Laughter is one of the first ways we communicate with our parents as infants. The best part is that laughter is a biological reward for our brain.
We laugh when we “get” a joke, meaning we make the connection between the set-up, and the punchline. The punchline of the joke is meant to surprise us by shifting the perspective. The brain assumes an answer based on the set-up. By noticing the difference between our guess, and the humorous answer (the Ah-Ha! moment), the brain rewards the body with serotonin, and involuntary laughter. But knowing all this, how often do we really use comedy everyday? Aside from brief giggles with friends, swapping inside jokes or dialog from our favorite shows, do you laugh heartily as much as you should? I try to laugh like I did as a child every day, and it is hard, even for someone who works in the business of comedy, believe it or not!
Live comedy is a dying art. My focus in this article is mainly stand-up comedy, but live improvisation is also severely underappreciated. I believe that live comedy has the power to speak on and unveil our deeper truths. What I mean by this is by making a joke, one can reveal a different perspective to others without sounding too serious or rude, when done right. Oscar Wilde said it best, and I quote him every single day, “If you’re going to tell someone the truth, make them laugh, otherwise, they’ll kill you.” Once you’ve had a moment to enjoy the ‘Ah-Ha!’ moment from a joke scenario, you can then realize the thing that makes it funny is the sometimes scary truth behind it. Jon Stewart will serve us a prime example, “If ‘con’ is the opposite of pro, then isn’t Congress the opposite of progress?” Though it does not make explicit sense, playing with the words allows us to see the truth he wants to express – that Congress seems to only lead us backwards. The message is shared, and it based on how objectively you can look at it, you can then analyze and begin to have a discourse on the topic.