Laughter Research

Why is it that we laugh at stuff that's not 'funny', like walking straight into a pole? What kind of person does it make us if we laugh at someone else walking into a pole, but it's not funny when we do it?  In this episode I explore how laughter is but one of a variety of tools that we use in our everyday lives to help us to cope with the unexpected - like watching our friends get chased by a grizzly bear.  This episode also deals with the definitions of 'negotiate' and discord' in terms of how we negotiate the discordant aspects of life with laughter. In the next episode I'll be exploring the development of laughter as a life skill in infancy.   

Who is the Laughter Research podcast for?  Maybe you're a performer and you want to understand more about why people laugh, or maybe you're a school teacher and you're wondering how laughter might benefit your students. You may be working in a dangerous or stressful environment and you're wondering if laughter can help you to buffer some of that stress. Perhaps, in a more general sense, you're wondering if there is any evidence to show if laughter has potential to improve your well-being.  If you want to know more about why we laugh and how laughter influences our daily lives, then visit laughterresearch.com to subscribe to the podcast. 

What is the purpose of laughter? Is it simply a physiological response to humour? If so, why do people find themselves laughing at extremely 'unfunny' moments, such as when they find themselves involved in a car crash, or when watching a distressing video?  In this episode, I introduce the idea that laughter is more than an expression of humour appreciation and it is more likely to be a means to help us negotiate our way through this unpredictable world, by helping us to deal with some of life's challenges.   

Since the last episode (It's been a while), I've done the research on the ways in which people use laughter to help them get through the trials and tribulations of life and I earned a PhD for my troubles.  I've also lived through a number of life changing challenges, including breaking my spine, and laughter has served me well.  Now it's time to put these lessons into the magical format of audio and get back on the podcasting saddle. This episode marks the relaunch of the podcast and outlines the themes of resilience and recovery that are going to guide the future episodes. 

Today's podcast - released on none other than International Podcast Day...yes, it's a thing...is a follow up interview with Evan Jordan of Oklahoma State University. If you are a new listener to the Laughter Research Podcast, you might like to check out the previous interview HERE. Evan has been the lead investigator on a study which has been examining various aspects of infant development. Needless to say, of particular interest to me is the laughter aspect of the research. Evan sought to uncover the extent of contagiousness of positive emotions in infants, with a particular focus upon laughter. You might be very surprised by the findings, but you'll have to listen in to find out more on that. We discuss the challenges and joys of working with infants in research and we discuss the future directions for research in the arena of contagious laughter. We also ponder the possibility of Evan earning an Oscar for her thank you 'Shout Out' at the end of the podcast. During the conversation I mention an excellent book by Robert Provine. Check it out on Amazon. It's well worth picking up.   We also mention the innate aspect of laughter and discuss how infants who are born deaf and blind will develop laughter around the same stage of development as typical children. A couple of interesting papers related to this topic: No. 1 relates to the acoustic profile of laughter in congenitally deaf people: In this paper the authors attribute some acoustic variation between the laughter of hearing people and deaf people as being "Due to a combination of the physiological and social factors that routinely affect profoundly deaf individuals, including low overall rates of vocal fold use and pressure from the hearing world to suppress spontaneous vocalizations." - In other words, invisible social rules influence how and when people laugh. "Deaf individuals report experiencing social pressure to suppress spontaneous vocalizations, as these can be uncomfortably loud for the hearing (Leder and Spitzer, 1993)." Makagon, M. M., Funayama, E. S., & Owren, M. J. (2008). An acoustic analysis of laughter produced by congenitally deaf and normally hearing college students. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 124(1), 472–483. http://doi.org/10.1121/1.2932088 No. 2 relates to the use of laughter as a form of punctuation in deaf people using sign language: Provine, R. R., & Emmorey, K. (2006). Laughter Among Deaf Signers. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 11(4), 403–409. http://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enl008 This paper is particularly relevant as it shows us how laughter is fluidly incorporated into more complex cognitive interactions and it indicates that the appropriate timing of 'conversational' laughter is a learned skill.

My guest in podcast episode #15 is Merv Neal. Merv has a lengthy background in business, but a life threatening challenge to his health instigated a transformation in his approach to life. His goals switched from making money to improving the health of others and himself through the use of laughter. In this episode we explore Merv’s journey from Merv the businessman to Merv the Laughing Man and we learn about Merv’s involvement in medical and psychological research which involved laughter therapy. We also talk about the attitude to laughter in the business world and how Merv overcomes the challenge of turning serious business people from positions of adamant resistance to willing participation in his laughter sessions.

Today I speak with Evan Jordan of Oklahoma State University in the U.S. about her research in to the contagiousness of positive emotions in infants, through the use of infant laughter as a stimulus.  If you would like to hear about how psychologists get babies to laugh and why it is that they want them to laugh, then you'll find this episode to be fascinating.  Enjoy, Glen.  Don't forget to check out the Laughter Store at www.laughterresearch.com

Professor Sophie Scott is the deputy director for the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in UCL (University College London). While the main focus of her research is the neurobiology of speech perception, her work also includes the study of the neuroscience of laughter. She also dabbles in stand-up comedy. Sophie believes that laughter is one of the most complex and nuanced things that we do. She feels that we should take laughter more seriously, both in terms of science, but also in terms of our experience, because very often, our laughter is telling us a lot more about how we feel about people we are laughing with than we might typically acknowledge to ourselves.  In this episode we discuss the evolutionary basis for laughter, social differences in comedy appreciation, the neurology & physiology of laughter, how science is beginning to take laughter more seriously and a host of other topics in between.

The main focus of my conversation with Prof. Billig was the topic of his book Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society) in which he explores the important role which ridicule and laughter play in shaping social behaviours. In his book, Michael takes a critical approach to the topics of laughter and humour and he questions the common assumptions which are made, in particular by popular and academic psychology.  

Steve Cummins is an author, a broadcaster, a stand-up comedian, as well as being the resident host in the Laughter Lounge, Dublin's premier comedy venue. In this podcast episode (which was recorded in my kitchen - hence the echo) myself and Steve chat about his relationship with laughter and comedy and Steve proves that he can hold a conversation without cursing...much.

Susan Cross is a director of and a partner in a company called TellTale. TellTale is a company which helps the management and staff of cultural and heritage sites to create days out, which visitors to the sites will remember and want to return to.  Susan's consultancy, mentoring and advisory service in this area has resulted in her becoming one of the best known specialist in the field of enhanced visitor experience in the U.K. as well as in Ireland. Susan's extensive experience has resulted in her having a keen eye for the critical factors which make visits to heritage sites memorable and enjoyable experiences.  One of those factors happens to be laughter. Susan has blogged on the effective use of laughter in enhancing customer experiences and she shares her knowledge with me in today's episode. 

Albert Nerenberg, director of the documentary 'Laughology' is today's guest. Since the Laughology movie, which is the main topic of discussion in today’s episode, Albert has continued to embrace laughter and he is regular international speaker and presenter on the topic of laughter. So, enjoy the episode and please remember to comment on the shownotes page, which can be found at laughterresearch.com/laughologist

Laughter Yoga is a very interesting phenomenon from a scientific perspective, because it’s so challenging to study in a rigorous way. There are various reasons for this, which I get into in greater detail in this episode. I also delve into some of the existing research on the subject and I ask, to what extent is the laughter aspect of Laughter Yoga the primary factor in promoting changes in people's well-being, when compared to 'non-laughter' exercise programmes?

Daniel J Lewis is the host of 'The Ramen Noodle - Clean Comedy Podcast', in addition to being the host of the award winning show 'The Audacity to Podcast'. Daniel explains how he uses laughter in his life to overcome challenges and he offers advise to listeners as to how they might invite more laughter into their life, as well as the lives of their loved ones.  We discuss the challenges of competing against explicit comedy podcasts and how Daniel compares the laughter which is obtained through unoffensive means as being akin to a nice slow roast, while a quick crude laugh is more like a microwave meal. In Daniel's opinion, it's quicker and easier, but it doesn't offer as much quality. 

Today's guest is Niall Mulvey, principal of St. Brendan's National school in the beautiful seaside town of Loughshinny, Co. Dublin. Niall has been working in Loughshinny for 25 years and has always embraced laughter in the classroom. In this episode we explore how to combine laughter and learning as well as the joys of working with children.

Lynn discusses her book, Seriously Laugh: The life you save might be your own. She summarises her favourite tips on how to bring laughter into your life and she tells me about her work to bring laughter to the elderly through her 'Patch Works' foundation. I also learn about her crowd funding project, to help her complete her PhD in psychology - specialising in the study of laughter as a tool to enhance well-being. 

Paul Weeler is co-founder and co-director of an hilarious clothing apparel and merchandise company called 'Life Is Crap'. Paul tells me about how a chance incident, whilst trapped in a British Pub, due to a 2cm snowfall, led to the brainwave of creating a company to parody the popular U.S. brand 'Life Is Good'. Paul describes how the company has evolved and how he takes the company motto 'Life is crap and laughter is the cure' to heart, putting it into action in his daily life.  

In addition to being Assistant Professor in Sociology at London School of Economics, Sam Friedman is a comedy reviewer and publisher of his own arts review magazine 'Fest'. Sam describes what he has learned from his experiences, both as a reviewer and as a researcher at the internationally acclaimed Edinburgh comedy festival. Amongst other things, he tells me about comedy snobbery, why attending some comedy gigs is like sitting an exam and why some people think that laughing is not befitting of them. 

In this episode I learn about Laughter Yoga, from the man who created it - Dr. Madan Kataria. We discuss what inspired him to create it, whether it is laughter, or social and psychological factors which help in people's healing and we talk about how Laughter Yoga has changed his life and the lives of people around him.