I went out the other evening with a group of colleagues; there was about a dozen or so of us at a hotel’s Italian buffet. I’m sure you are familiar with the format; plenty of food and conviviality.
Well, a couple of days later, on the way to work, this chap, let’s call him Bob, expressed the view a good evening had been enjoyed by all.
He said that his face had ached the next morning because of the laughing he had been doing. Then he admitted that he couldn’t remember what we had actually been laughing about. Neither could I. When we enquired of our fellow diners, no-one else could! It had been a great evening, with much merriment, but no clear recall of the topics which had been under discussion.
It is said that laughter is the best medicine; it certainly can lift one’s mood. From releasing endorphins and cementing social bonds to the anti-inflammatory effect on the heart and enhancing brain connectivity, the scientific or medical reasons are easily researched and noted.
These tend to focus on laughter in groups, though; social laughter, between friends and colleagues.
I’m more interested today in solitary laughter. You know the sort of thing! It’s when you spontaneously chuckle at a memory or react to something with a snort, but you are on your own.
I was watching a film the other evening. It was a light, fluffy sort of thing. Easy watching, just to relax with for an hour or so at the end of a long day.
There was a scene in it which consisted of a conversation between a lady and a man on a laptop which was interrupted by another man, her ex-husband. Inadvertently, the lady left the laptop on whilst her ex-husband attempted to win back her affections.
As part of his attempt, he stripped off and lay on the bed, naked, using the laptop as a modesty screen.
Well, you can imagine the chaos which resulted. The point is, though, there was a wonderful comedic, farce-like moment which made me laugh out loud.
I really enjoyed it and it happened again later that evening, when I was re-reading a James Thurber fable called ‘the unicorn in the garden’. Once more, I was laughing out loud at the silly antics of a woman who was fooled by her husband.
My absolute favourite, though is the re-working of songs by a genius called Tom Lehrer.
If you have never heard his irreverent rewrites of well-known tunes, with words which are just hilarious, go and listen to one now. Right now! There is one called ‘the Vatican Rag’, which is just wonderful, with its forced rhymes and perky piano playing.
Some people can clearly write in a way which simply makes you laugh out loud.
I admire hugely those playwrights, musicians and scriptwriters who can, with a stroke of a pen (nowadays, the flick of a key, of course!) create such humour, mayhem or amusement.
So, laugh out loud, preferably on your own.
It will improve your health, keep your brain active and it doesn’t matter if you can’t remember what you laughed at the next day, as you were alone!