What's So Funny?

Ok, so if laughter is the best medicine, let’s take a look at this miracle cure. I googled “types of humour” and got this long list of words or expressions we use for laughter (remember Eskimos have 20 words for snow, in other words, we really love our laughter)

Laugh
Belly laugh
Guffaw
Chuckle
Chortle
Cackle
Giggle
Snigger
Titter
Smile
Smirk
Grin
To kill oneself laughing
A roar of laughter
Shrieks of laughter
A fit of the giggles
To crease up
To be convulsed
To be rolling in the aisles
To be in stitches
To bust a gut

Laughing out loud. Or to ourselves. It is healing, no? We might all have different senses of humour, different things that crack us up (lord knows, some things people think are hilarious, just make me go huh? And I am sure others feel the same about me and mine, hard to imagine, I know), but finding the thing that makes us laugh ‘til we cry, and the people that share that way of seeing the world, boy it makes all the difference.

Now I am not the kind of gal who looks for research and studies (although after writing this post, I came across this related post, check it out) to prove the things that just feel right for me intuitively (to many people’s criticism, I might add, but I laugh in their face, mouhhahaha), so I can’t prove to you that comedy cures cancer, or that humour heals hearts. But I know it’s true. On the days when I get that funny email, or have a chat with the friend who has me gasping for air between gales of laughter, or I watch the movie that hits my funny bone the right way, I just plain feel better. My muscles and organs have gotten a workout. Smiles come quicker in all situations. I am more tolerant when I am driving or dealing with difficult people (funny I put those together, clearly I think they are one in the same, and refuse to see that the driving thing might be about me and not them!). I am more willing to see my own part. The world is a better place. Hmm, and I am a better person.

And here is an interesting idea to ponder. We won’t be able to laugh when we don’t have bodies (or cry, or dance or have sex for that matter). I am even going to venture to say that laughter is a privilege that comes of being in a human body (am I missing out on other things that laugh, for instance, do laughing hyenas really laugh or is this just a manner of speaking based on what seems to us like laughter, or do chimpanzees laugh, or other members of the family tree). Maggie doesn’t get to laugh. She does this little thing that I could swear is smiling, but never, ever has she laughed (perhaps she has just not had the occasion to laugh as we don’t share the same sense of humour?!?).

So how can I make sure I get my laugh a day to keep the bogie man away? I mean it is not like an (organic) apple that I can just pick up and eat. Obviously I need to know what makes me laugh. Is it visual gags? Or witty comments? Or pathos? Or satire? Do I like irony, or farce, or sarcasm? Is it slapstick and buffoonery or parody or mimicry or absurdity that do it for me? And once I know what I like, what are the quickest routes to get it? What are the primary sources of that style of humour? And what is an almost guaranteed laugh? And what makes the difference between a chuckle and a thigh slapping, gut splitting, fighting for air, at its mercy roar of laughter? Frankly I don’t know, since I have never taken the time to break it down, analyze it or explore my preferences. Well, I think it is high time!

To get us started, here is Wikipedia’s definition of humour:
Humour (humor in American English) is a form of entertainment and a form of human communication, intended to make people laugh and feel happy. The origins of the word "humour" lie in the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which stated that a mix of fluids, or humours, controlled human health and emotion.

Along with a site that starts us on the road of exploration.

And over the next wee while, interspersed with rants and whatever else is current and important, I will bring you what I learn about different types of humour.