“Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
– Edmund Gwenn
To begin with, acting is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, even those who have been successful as actors would agree that comedy is perhaps one of the toughest genres of acting since making someone laugh is more difficult than making them cry.
We guess that is why comedy and humour have so much to offer to healthy living. So much so that we see senior citizens enjoying a good laughter session after their morning exercise regime as it is a great cardio workout. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as you can achieve with a slow to moderate pace of walking.
A dash of humour in your life is known to offer physical health, mental health and social benefits. Let us check it out!
#1. Positive impact on physical health
Laughter is indeed the best medicine as it relieves physical tension and stress and relaxes the muscles. With a daily dose of humour, you are sure to decrease the stress hormones and increase immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thereby improving your overall immunity.
When you laugh, the body triggers the happiness hormones known as endorphins that are associated with the feeling of euphoria and can even temporarily reduce pain. Further, it is known to protect the heart by improving its functioning.
Yet another area where humour works wonders is in helping cancer patients. Laughter has helped patients change their outlook on how they would like to define their own healing and how to move through the cancer journey.
Finally, some studies in Norway suggest that people with a strong sense of humour outlive their counterparts who do not believe in laughing much.
Try to watch a comedy clip every day for 10 to 15 minutes. You will be amazed to know that laughing throughout the comedy clip will help you burn approximately 40 calories. Not bad!
#2. Positive impact on mental health
Humour is also known to be a great mind healer because when we laugh, we experience a sense of well-being. It is a stress buster, thereby increasing energy and enabling you to stay focused and achieve more.
When you are in a lighter mood you tend to see situations in a more realistic, less intimidating light. Always remember that your laughter has the power to draw you closer to others, which can have an intense effect on all aspects of your mental and emotional health.
Trust us, that laughing can even turn a negative experience into a positive one and can cheer you up for the rest of the day.
#3. Positive social benefits
Can you recall how many times have we gone back to watching repeats of comedy movies with our friends and family? Why do you think we do so?
Well, because bonding over laughter is an effective tool for keeping relationships fresh and exciting. It not only builds resilience into our relationship but also adds joy, vitality, and years to the bonding. Moreover, humour helps to heal resentments, differences, and sufferings.
With humour on your side, you can be more spontaneous and forget resentments, judgments, criticisms, and doubts. Once you are able to release your inhibitions, you can express your true feelings. These qualities are automatically going to strengthen your bond with one and all.
In current times, online comedy classes are a boon for beginners learning comedy. It is believed in the industry that you can be good at comedy if you are spontaneous, can relate to the audience, have the right timing and can work hard. So sit back and use this time to not just learn but also watch good comedy movies and web series on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix and many more.
At the same time, if learning from experts is your preference, we have just the right person for you.
Learn comedy online with the evergreen Johnny Lever in his unluclass. One of the first stand-up comedians in India, he has won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role twice. This unluclass takes you through his journey and Johnny shares valuable lessons in this course. Subscribe and learn comedy online now!