Happy World Laughter Day
Make sure you enjoy a long laugh today: Laughter is good for you and it’s officially World Laughter Day. If you want to know about the health benefits of laughing, check out Albert Nerenberg’s serious, but fun, documentary Laughology.
The founder of laughter yoga and the man who started the worldwide craze, Dr. Madan Kataria, has this message for you:
My Dear Laughter Friends,
World Laughter Day is customarily celebrated on the first Sunday of May every year. This year on 1st of May, thousands of people in more than 70 countries will laugh together to promote peace and harmony in the midst of natural disasters, global unrest, violence and terrorism, all of which has disrupted the tranquility of our planet – mother earth. It is also a day committed to spread the message of good health and joy through laughter.
Every year millions of dollars are being spent on maintaining health as stress levels…
Model Wins America’s First Laughter Championship At ‘Laugh Riot’
Gabrielle Rivera
Gabrielle Rivera, a 23 year old Puerto Rican model, was the decisive winner of the first California Ultimate Laughing Championship in front of over 200 people at the historic Fremont Cinema in San Luis Obispo, California Saturday night.
Rivera was declared “Best Laugher in California 2011.” She triumphed in the “Diabolical laugh,” “Snort laugh,” and “Laugh at Yourself” competitions before defeating 10 contenders in a series of knock down “Laughter Duels.” She said she practices by laughing at herself.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune called the event a “laugh riot” and local TV station KSBY reported that the contest brought smiles to the faces of San Luis Obispo residents.
As the organizer and speaking as a professional laughologist (I’m the director of Laughology, the first feature documentary on laughter), I would never have expected that a model would win the championship. In my (limited) experience, models are usually robots, but this woman really…
Is Competitive Laughter Becoming A New Craze?
The documentary Laughology is helping set off a new fad with the discovery that competitive laughter can be entertaining.
The film makes the case that laughter itself is the primary motivator of laughter, so jokes aren’t necessary for people to have a good time. After a laughing contest in Montreal where the audience was in stitches, a competition made headlines in Tokyo. This Saturday a laughter contest hits America in the form of the California Ultimate Laughing Championship. Linda Massarella reports for the Toronto Sun:
So there was this American state called California with one of the highest unemployment rates on the continent and citizens fretting about losing their homes to foreclosure … when in walks this Canadian guy.
Yes, it’s Toronto documentary filmmaker Albert Nerenberg to the rescue of the depressed and anxious around here [San Luis Obispo, CA] next Saturday when he brings his movie, Laughology, to a film festival just north…
Laugh For Long Life
Lee Berk. Source: Loma Linda Univ.
Anyone who has seen Albert Nerenberg’s film Laughology knows that there are health benefits to laughing as much and as often as possible. Further scientific proof of the merits of Laughter Yoga, Laughtercize and just plain old laughing is reported by Discover Magazine:
Researchers have long known that laughter boosts the immune system, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduces stress. In a preliminary new study, psychoneuro-immunologist Lee Berk and his team at Loma Linda University in California show that the parallels between laughing and exercise go even further: Shifts in appetite hormones following a case of the giggles resemble the effects of a moderate session at the gym.
Berk measured blood levels of ghrelin, a hunger-regulating hormone, before and after 14 study participants watched 20 minutes of humorous TV (selected from a menu including Saturday Night Live, Bill Cosby’s stand-up, and Seinfeld). He then compared the data with…
‘Laughology’ Strikes Ontario, With Hilarious, Bizarre and Comical Events
disinformation’s breakthrough “new laughter” film Laughology launches in Ontario, Canada this week with a series of events and screenings featuring demonstrations of laughter techniques, laughter contests and a laugh-in.
On Monday, Nov. 22nd, Laughology director and professional laughologist Albert Nerenberg speaks in downtown Toronto and about the repression of female laughter:
The Power of Female Laughter takes place Monday evening at 5:30 at the Duke of Westminster Pub at First Canadian Place, 77 Adelaide Street West and is being put on by the Toronto Chapter of 85 Broads. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
Contact: 85BroadsTO@gmail.com
On Wednesday, Nov. 23rd, Laughology launches in the town of Collingwood, Ontario, with a new laughter demonstration and a feature screening. More info here:
http://www.town.collingwood.on.ca/node/3562
Finally, on Friday November 26th, a mass laugh-in precedes a screening of Laughology at the Revue Cinema in Toronto. Nerenberg will demonstrate new contagious laughter triggers, while there will be a short laughter competition before…
So You Think You Can Laugh? ‘Laughology’ Inspires First-Ever Laughter Championship
Contestants and their fans will converge in Montreal on October 27, 2010 for the first ever laughter competition — Le Grand Championnat de Rire de Montreal. Comedy contests are common, however this will be the world’s first televised laughing contest. The contest was inspired by my documentary Laughology, currently distributed by The Disinformation Company, in which I demonstrate that people can laugh spontaneously by using various “active laughter” techniques.
Contestants across Quebec will compete in diabolical laughter competitions, contagious laughter face-offs, and competitive laughter duels to see who will be crowned the “Best Laugher in Quebec.” The show is a pilot for an eventual international laughter competition to demonstrate that laughter could itself be a competitive sport.
The Championnat is a based on the revolutionary concept that because laughter is contagious: laughing makes people laugh. It involves games designed to produce natural contagious laughter. The whole event is also being filmed for Rire Extreme, a documentary for CANAL D. I got the idea for my documentary Laughology after meeting Doug Collins, an American who is said to have the most contagious laugh in the world:
I believe that because of Quebec’s tradition of Joie de Vivre and Quebec may have laughers who are as good or better than Collins. This summer Laughter contests where held at major Quebec festivals, including le Festival du Grand Rire in Quebec, The Western Festival of St. Tite and le Festival de Poutine du Drummonville. The winners of those contests have been invited to the Championnat which takes place at in Montreal in a special ring.
We really found some extraordinary laughers. I’m afraid to imagine what happens when we get them all in the same room. I hope that the idea of a laughter competition is to spread the positive, healthy emotions of laughter. And I’m trying to prove that laughter could be a competitive sport.
Contestants are coming from around Quebec however, we have left one spot open for one last great laugher. Auditions will be held on Oct 27th at Salla Rossa at 5 p.m. Please email hey@laughology.info. to be put on the list.
The Great Union Square Laugh-In
The Great Union Square Laugh-In that was held in New York City this past Saturday, September 25, had participants falling over with laughter. Doug Collins, the man with the most contagious laugh, made a guest appearance as one of many unique laughers. The event was inspired by the filmmaker Albert Nerenberg’s latest documentary, Laughology. The film discusses the benefits of laughter in our daily lives and the ever growing practice of Laughter Yoga. With the participation of various NYC laugh groups, onlookers were drawn towards the fun and encouraged to join in.
Laughter Disrupts New York Morning TV (Video)
The “Laughman” Doug Collins arrived in New York this morning in a way that the hosts of the popular morning show on WPIX 11 TV won’t forget for some time. He had them laughing so hard they couldn’t read the news, as you’ll see in this clip (make sure to watch till the end).
The Laughman is in New York City for the Great Union Square Laugh-In, taking place at Manhattan’s Union Square South at 4:00 PM EST, Saturday September 25, 2010. If he can do this to a few people in a sterile TV studio, one can only imagine what’s going to happen to the hundreds of people planning to attend. For details of the event check out the Facebook Page.
Laughing Burns 400 Calories Per Hour (Among Other Benefits)
Forbes report on Laughter Yoga, in which they reveal that in the U.S. there are over 3,000 certified instructors, 400+ Laughter clubs, and 1,000 private classes per week. To learn more about this check out the new disinformation documentary Laughology.
Laughter Yoga Is For Everyone
Free Laugher Yoga in NYC
Next month disinformation is releasing a new film from documentarian Albert Nerenberg, Laughology. It’s the fourth film we’ve distributed for Albert and we have a lot of faith in him, even if we had never heard of Laughter Yoga before.
It turns out it’s massive and the public library next door to our office in New York has free classes, so a few of us went along. If you can get over the embarrassment factor, it actually does seem to work. The New York Times has just discovered the same thing:
I was in a vile, despicable mood when I arrived at laughter yoga. It was Wednesday, and my brain felt torn in one too many directions; the usual, only worse. Laughter seemed a remote possibility.
I waited patiently inside a nondescript office at 40th Street and Broadway among a group of wildly divergent strangers, with only my skepticism to keep…
