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by John Naish
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Kataria had rst tried using jokes, but jokes tend to have a taste
problem, and not everyone laughs at the same gag. He knew
only so many jokes, anyway, so instead the club uses simulated
laughter exercises it has the same physiological benets for
respiration and circulation. There is also a psychological side,
We encourage childlike openness it is about losing
inhibitions, and nding and creating reasons to laugh. We play
silly games and sing nursery rhymes, breaking down
inhibitions. It builds condence and helps you look people in
the eye, says Whitehead.
Already she has run sessions with groups with ME, with
diabetes groups through a local doctor, and with a southeast
London cancer group. Another laughter club is being held with
people with Alzheimers. Graham now uses it at NHS
conferences, by opening them with ten minutes of laughing. I
know I could make much more money at corporate events, but
that doesnt interest me, says Whitehead. The future is in
working therapeutically.
Meanwhile, clown doctors are being introduced into British
MENU tuesdayhospitals
may 30 2017to make sick children laugh themselves back to health.
Cynics might say there are enough clowns in the NHS already,
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but these arent managers: they are trained entertainers who
perform magic tricks and show children how to juggle.
They are not the only health service humourists. Kate Hull
Rodgers has run workshops on humour and mental health for
more than a decade. These were a spin-o from her award-
winning play Cracked Up, which told her story of being a mental
health patient. During her year of being institutionalised, Kate
says she was chemically coshed and physically restrained. She
responded by creating her own programme of healing through
humour. Last month the comedienne opened a free event for
people recovering from mental health issues, Toolkit for
Recovery, in Morpeth, Northumberland, leading workshops on
eective laughter therapy.
But its not all hee-hee, ha-ha, for pioneers of healthy humour.
MENU tuesdayWhen
may 30 2017
Roland Schutzbach and his partner, Christine Fleur de
Lys, the European Laughter Queen, tried to cheer up
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Aberdeen, the locals failed to see the gag.
Last month the pair took to the streets dressed in bright red-
and-orange wigs, Dame Edna glasses, huge ties and angel wings
wacky stu for two natives of Switzerland at the start of a
three-year mission to look for the laughter cities of Europe.
We hope to develop laughter schools and to coach them to
remain happy cities, Schutzbach says.
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