laughter is the best medicine

January 28, 2007 8:24 PM

The Laughing Club. A practicing doctor at a Bombay hospital, Dr. Kataria, formed the first laughing club in 1994. What started off as a group of 5 people, barely able to break into a chortle, gradually spread the world over. Today, there are 5,000 laughing clubs around the world.
posted by nickyskye (13 comments total)

I just watched this video of a man laughing on stage* and I laughed and laughed. Did me good. I was thinking of making an fpp of it, but I'd rather post it here. Seems appropriate.

Laughing clubs seem an excellent idea to me. Of course, I'd rather get around for tea or coffee with some funny friends and laugh, but I understand the attraction.
posted by Kattullus at 8:34 PM on January 28, 2007 [4 favorites]

Oh, yeah, footnote. Ahem...

*The actual comedy routine that gets the guy laughing is terrible, but it's no matter, the video itself is hilarious.
posted by Kattullus at 8:36 PM on January 28, 2007

I think the comedian in the overalls was hitting the poor guy with a Laughing Club. (But then, I've considered those foam rubber bats to be a great comedy prop... and I discovered them when they were being promoted as therapy tools for 'fighting without violence'. Not the greatest idea.)
posted by wendell at 9:33 PM on January 28, 2007

Tomorrow is Laugh Like a Pirate Day.

Make sure you say Harrrrrrr....
posted by dhartung at 9:54 PM on January 28, 2007

Laughing clubs? Scary.
posted by Termite at 10:53 PM on January 28, 2007

wendall, you are funny! The laughing cudgel, nyuck nyuck. And Kattullus , that goofy laugh video also had me in stitches.
posted by nickyskye at 1:23 AM on January 29, 2007

I would never join a laughing club that would have me as a member.
posted by psmealey at 3:24 AM on January 29, 2007

I didn't know we had dibs on the "Laughter Club".

I see them, or rather, hear them when I go for my morning walks; they sound like a fun group of people.
posted by hadjiboy at 5:28 AM on January 29, 2007

Is it really a laughing club, or just a support group for really terrible comedians?
posted by psmealey at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

This woman has a zillion videos of her own laughter on her blog... teaching people how to laugh about leaves and stuff. This is her "dreary Monday" laugh. And according to her, this is how German people laugh.

Funny enough, she doesn't make me laugh at all, really... I'm scared she's going to eat me. Maybe I need a some help with that. Probably not, tho.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:53 AM on January 29, 2007

It's insane. I was in Bombay and saw people laughing on the beach, in a maelstrom of poverty, and it was just nuts.
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:40 AM on January 29, 2007

There's a laughing club/meditation group that meets near where I live once or twice a week. I've been to the group a handful of times, and would be there more if having a toddler didn't take up so much of the early evening hours ("no, seriously, it's really time to go to bed"). We do some warm-up jokes, a half-hour of laughter, and then 15-20 minutes of sitting meditation (zazen). The experience is fantastic, and far preferable to most other things I've gone out and done for entertainment (pubs, movies, whatever). If you have the chance to try one in your area, try it. Seriously.
posted by hank_14 at 10:24 AM on January 29, 2007

Reminds me of the film Villa Paranoia.
posted by eegphalanges at 11:42 PM on January 29, 2007