Laughter

I wonder if he who laughs rurally laughs longest? Rural places are meant to be happier than urban places. I suspect the take up of the service profiled here is therefore bigger in the city. Laughter on prescription might make us all in public sector feel better whatever our spatial context. Read on and see what you think..

Would you drag yourself out of bed at 7am every morning to laugh your head off on the telephone with a group of total strangers? And would you pay £6 a month for the privilege? This is just one of the services people around the country are signing up for – a sure sign that in Britain, laughter is becoming an industry.

It might be one of the least serious of human activities, but corporations, schools, behavioural experts, religious leaders and health workers are suddenly desperate to get people chucking more.

As a growing body of research demonstrates the health benefits of a good cackle, the number of people flocking to “laughter yoga” sessions, festivals, telephone clubs, laughter-fuelled religious services and workshops is growing.

The UK’s Laughter Network – largely made up of trained laughter yoga teachers, social workers and mental health professions – has more than tripled in membership since it was launched nine years ago