Plato hated it, the Bible discouraged it and psychologists once thought it would drive you insane. When Albert realises he's forgotten how to laugh, he embarks upon a global investigation into this mysterious physical phenomenon, spanning neuroscientists, holy laughter groups and the man with the most contagious laugh in the world.
"Haahaahaahaa", pants prehistoric man, excitedly clubbing another man over the head. He's having fun, the man is his friend, and this is the elemental sound of laughter. A couple of million years later, we find Albert sitting in his dressing gown in a grey city apartment. It's a picture of stress and exhaustion broken only by the giggle of his baby daughter. "Who taught this baby to laugh?", Albert demands. He hasn't laughed in months and has all the symptoms of seriousness.
"He-he-he", demonstrates the Indian doctor, who gave up traditional healing for laughter therapy, "try it!" Doctor Michael Miller has a more scientific approach: "when you take yourself too seriously, you begin to respond to stress in a more negative way that has been proven to harden arteries". Both believe that laughter is not only an important social tool, confirming social alliance, but an instant stress-reliever.
"Hyuck, Hyuck, Hyuck", laughs Doug Collins, the man with the most contagious laugh in the world. Albert has his friends in hysterics with jokes every day. But proof that we don't decide to laugh, that it's something in-built, is very new. "I've yet to come across anything that has a neural response that is more contagious", says British doctor Sophie Scott. It's the science behind the 'laughter tracks' we find on almost every comedy show.
"There's the point laugh, the guffaw, the cry laugh, the Alabama-thigh-slapper...". The laughers were hired in as professional laughers for several comedy shows during the 90s. Now out of work, they keep themselves sane by going to the 'laughing groups' that have sprung up across the world. Some of these groups are in it for the exercise. Some because they feel, like Albert, that they've lost their joy. Some believe laughter gets them closer to God. "Jesus didn't come to condemn. With a lot of religious people, the thinking is if I can keep them sad, I can keep them coming back".
"Ho ho ho" - one of the Inuits who live on the incredibly harsh conditions of 'Baffin Island', is throat singing. "We were taught from a very young age to play laughing games. I think it's the way we've survived". And as the Inuits explode into laughter, Albert's laugh comes back. "I have a message for the world", says Doctor Kataria, "life is serious, death is serious, it's time to take laughter seriously".
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"Screamingly funny!" - THE NATIONAL POST
Meaning of Laugh Inc
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| Making the film |
"This film changed my life. I discovered, as many other people have, that there is an entirely new way to laugh. The amazing thing about laughter is that it's universal. In almost every culture, humans make almost identical noises for laughter. But they go to different extremes. For example, in Africa, we found that it was quite common for people to fall down on the floor with laughter. Westerners, by comparison, are really, really serious." |
| The Producers |
Albert Nerenberg (born October 13th, 1962) is a Canadian independent filmmaker, actor, journalist, and laughologist. His films include 'Stupidity' (2003), 'Escape to Canada' (2005), 'Let's All Hate Toronto' (2007), and 'Laughology' (2009). Both 'Stupidity' and 'Laughology' are the first feature length documentaries to discuss the topics of stupidity and laughter. |
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