You’re having a laugh!

Laughter is good for you. It is a very powerful force that positively affects the whole body and the breath released during a hearty laugh has been clocked at speeds as fast as 170 miles per hour.

Laughter stimulates the brain, the nervous, respiratory, hormonal, and the muscular systems. Studies have shown that it lowers blood pressure, lightens depression, increases muscle flexion, can reduce allergy symptoms, strengthens the immune system, and reduces stress!
Stand-up comedians are regarded as demigods, adulated for their ability not only to be funny but also to do it in circumstances which most people consider more scary than being naked in public. Comedy improvisation is a key factor, the magical catalyst that fuels this powerful alchemy of comedy and self-development.
Improvisation simply means making stuff up as you go along; not knowing what’s going to happen next; it’s an extraordinary tool. Yet improvising is what we all do every day as we go about our lives. There isn’t a script we respond to each moment, even though we may have principles and strategies to guide our overall progress. We’re constantly dealing with the unexpected, because most of what happens around us cannot be anticipated, so we improvise quite naturally.
Furthermore we were all children once, and we knew very well how to play-act, to accept a role and dive into it wholeheartedly, believe in it totally and live it fully, then cast it aside and take up another without batting an eyelid. And that was a fantastic way of learning and evolving for us. We all still have that inner child somewhere inside us, even if we are at an age far beyond.
I was at the comedy club, Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel,  recently, and before long I was crying with laughter, my eyes were stinging because my mascara was running and my jaw hurt because I was laughing so hard! Now that’s a great comedian’s ability; to open the heart to fun and keep their audience laughing; this month we had three comedians who kept the audience in stitches from the beginning with some of the funniest comedy I have seen. It’s amazing to me that an audience of people that are so incredibly different can so intensely relate to each other under the umbrella of comedy.
I look forward to my monthly visit to the Foster’s Comedy Club and as yet have not been disappointed, after all what keeps us sane is looking at life’s situations with a sense of humour and laughter provides us with perspective to help keep things in balance when life seems unfair.

the gw agenda Jackie Kennedy