The comedy show aiming to prove that laughter really is medicine

Cast your mind back to the last time you laughed. Whether it was a slight chortle or a mighty guffaw, chances are it felt pretty good.

Yes, “laughter is the best medicine” is a cliché. But its health benefits are also backed by science.

The Laughter Lab, a one-off show at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, was created to prove just that.

“The show is a chance for us to not only enjoy laughter, but to understand how it works and why we find certain things funny,” says host Geoff Paine, best known for his time as Dr Clive on Neighbours.

“Right now, the world needs all the laughter it can get.”

The Laughter Lab has been created by Monash University’s research enterprise BehaviourWorks Australia and will combine stand-up with live experiments conducted by behavioural scientists.

This includes a laughter generation experiment, where fake laughter is transformed into genuine chuckles; a blind date scenario to explore the association between humour and attractiveness; and a real-life re-enactment of a funeral to see how music and comedy operate in tandem.

“We will also do an experiment with ice water and dad jokes – that’s all you need to know … All the experiments will be under perfectly clinical conditions, although we haven’t technically got any ethics approval for any of them,” jokes Paine, a senior content curator at BehaviourWorks.

But what are the health benefits of laughter? Dr Meg Shaw, one of the BehaviourWorks scientists involved in The Laughter Lab, says it is vital for both our mental health and our physical wellbeing.

“It’s basically a natural stress reliever,” Shaw says. “When you laugh, your body lowers levels of a stress hormone called cortisol and releases a flood of feel-good chemicals like dopamine and endorphins. It’s similar to what happens when you exercise. So, that can help with mood, but also your physical health because it boosts things like oxygen-intake in the lungs, and relaxes your muscles.”

“In fact, even your immune system can boost from laughter, which is one of the reasons why we say laughter is the best medicine.”

Sadly, though, it is not enough to give you a six-pack.

“Laughing relaxes your muscles for up to 45 minutes after you stop, so I don’t know whether that will give you a six-pack or actually do the opposite,” Shaw says.

The benefits of laughter go far beyond the individual, too. It has been vital for social connection since humans evolved into social creatures, Shaw says. In fact, most of our laughter is determined by those around us.

“Our brains needed to evolve to help us connect with others,” she says. “Part of this involved the development of mirror neurons.”

It’s because of these neurons that laughter, like yawning, can feel contagious. They’re unintentional pathways that cause us to mimic and understand the emotions and actions of others. “If we see someone laughing, parts of their brain light up in our brain as well, which then sort of nudges us to join in with that laughter.”

So, in a way, laughter literally connects our brains. It doesn’t even have to be a proper full-belly laugh. Shaw says our mirror neurons can’t tell the difference between a real and a forced laugh, so fake laughter will often result in genuine giggles. This is why forcing yourself to laugh in the mirror can actually lift your mood, as strange as it may initially feel. It’s also why therapeutic practices such as laughter yoga exist.

“Fake it until you make it,” Shaw says, noting the worst that could happen from “too much” laughter is a pulled muscle or hiccups (which are essentially irritation of the diaphragm from swallowing too much air).

It’s no wonder, then, that comedy can make slightly taboo topics easier to broach, as laughter physically relaxes the body and helps us connect emotionally. Even uncomfortable or bittersweet chuckles can be self-calming mechanisms – ways to exorcise negative feelings; consider the effect of a joke at a funeral, for example.

“Laughter puts things into perspective,” Paine says. “It’s also often a marker of resilience. It gives you the ability to recast the things that happen to us in a way that is no longer damaging.”

What makes us laugh may have evolved over the decades – Paine notes we have thankfully farewelled mother-in-law jokes – but we continue to laugh at what resonates with us.

“Laughter is a bonding activity,” he says. “As long as we’re able to laugh, everyone will feel a bit better.”

The Laughter Lab will take place on April 7 at The Victoria Hotel.

The Age is a festival media partner.

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