Why Laughter Is The Best Medicine ??

My conscious love affair with comedy began the day I accidentally swiped a standup comedy show off of my friend’s USB drive.

It was an innocent enough mistake. While copying movies off the drive, I followed the usual formula of opening a file, fast-forwarding a few times to determine the expected level of enjoyment and then, like a Roman emperor, deciding the fate of the file with the flick of my wrist.

After the first three selections, I stumbled across a name and format I’d never seen until that point. It was titled “The Daywalker” and was from a young South African comic. I clicked it open, watched the first few seconds, and was hooked. It was a beautiful formulaic expression of art.

Silence. ?Words. Pregnant pause. Facial expression. Loud, raucous laughter. 

Rinse and repeat for 50 more minutes.

It was like watching a magician at work. The skillful way he weaved in his story, the pregnant pause as he dangled the punchline, the facial expression he first primed it with, and the dramatic way he delivered the final flourish. Again and again, this seemingly simple formula would elicit laughs from the crowd on tape, from those of us at my campus lab, and from households all around the world.

Most people could barely string together a decent enough joke to save their lives, yet here was a guy who managed to keep an entire crowd enthralled, waiting with bated breath on his next word, his next outrageous story, his next punchline. Six years later, that man would become the host of one of the most widely watched late-night shows in America, bringing his signature streak of humour to current affairs and the daily news. His name, of course, is Trevor Noah.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that the laughter was so addictive. Laughter’s ability to brighten one’s mood is purely chemical. The physical act of laughing releases hormones called ‘endorphins’ in the brain, causing a feeling of happiness that leaves you wanting more. Endorphins muffle your perception of pain and boost feelings of pleasure, creating a temporary but powerful sense of well-being. This, by the way, is exactly how heroin works. And exercise. And orgasms.

Now, while shooting up opioids is not an advisable route to bodily nirvana (because hospitals, unfortunately, aren’t all that funny), humor is the next best thing. Whether it’s a funny colleague at work, a comedic film on Netflix or simply sharing random memes on the internet, laughter is a great way to release stress, beat back depression and relax. 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but a sitcom beats any fruit. Laughing increases your body’s production of disease-fighting antibodies and boosts your immune system while decreasing blood pressure. Your pain threshold increases, your fight-or-flight takes flight, and it’s a great way to keep everyone distracted as you reach for the last slice of pizza at the office party. Besides, laughter is cheaper than heroin, sex, or a gym subscription. It burns calories too, so theoretically you should be able to go from sitcom to six-pack in 6 weeks.

"Theoretically".

And if all that wasn’t enough, the effects of laughter are multiplied when you’re in a group. The sound of laughter actually triggers your facial muscles to prepare to join in. It’s the reason ‘dad jokes’ land so much better at your company’s annual retreat than when you’re pitching a punchline to your girlfriend’s disapproving head-shake - the sheer sound of laughter around you makes it easier to crack a smile too.

And because laughter is contagious, it multiplies the crowd effect of greater safety and togetherness. In short, this means you should crack more jokes (and laugh more often) when you’re at workshops, conferences and team-building retreats. Not only are you assured of more pizza, you might just land a few new sales, high-profile contacts and profitable gigs because of it.

Lastly, laughter just makes you a much nicer person to be around. You become much less prone to embarrassment and are able to laugh off tense or awkward situations. Besides, people actually prefer to hang out more with the office clown than with the palace prude.

Laughter is good for your body, your mind and your social circle, and it's a shame that what came so naturally to us as children easily gets repressed and forgotten as we grow older. So go ahead and queue up those standup specials on Netflix while you practise your best puns, punchlines and knock-knock jokes. You’ll be much better off for it. ??

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Dr. Mohammed Shehu is a social media specialist, keynote speaker and copywriter currently living in Windhoek, Namibia. He loves standup comedy and dreams of one day delivering a set while receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace.