Episode 36: Coming up with material / Laughter & Medicine

Doctor Vs Comedian

On today’s episode, after a brief discussion of Jerry Seinfeld’s “Is this Anything?”, Ali discusses how he and other comedians come up with material (2:21). He talks about writing out jokes, practicing them at open mics and refining them over time. He then talks about what happens when you recommend a joke to a comic. Then, Asif discusses the health benefits of laughter on pain tolerance, interpersonal relationships and stress (29:17). He then discusses ‘laughter yoga’ and whether there is evidence for its use in medicine. Finally, he discusses so-called “laughing seizures”.

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Music courtesy of Wataboi and 8er41 from Pixabay

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Show Notes:

• Social Laughter Triggers Endogenous Opioid Release in Humans: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/37/25/6125
• Effects of laughter and relaxation on discomfort thresholds: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3302270/
• Six Science-Based Reasons Why Laughter Is The Best Medicine: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2017/06/05/six-science-based-reasons-why-laughter-is-the-best-medicine/?sh=65281b007f04
• Does laughing have a stress-buffering effect in daily life? An intensive longitudinal study: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0235851
• Laughter yoga versus group exercise program in elderly depressed women: a randomized controlled trial: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/gps.2545
• Laughter-inducing therapies: Systematic review and meta-analysis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619300851?via%3Dihub