Taking Laughter Seriously

Taking Laughter Seriously
Author: John Morreall
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 158
Release: 1983-06-30
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 9780873956437

Preface Part One: Laughter 1. Can There Be a Theory of Laughter? 2. The Superiority Theory 3. The Incongruity Theory 4. The Relief Theory 5. A New Theory Part Two: Humor 6. The Variety of Humor 7. Humor as Aesthetic Experience 8. Humor and Freedom 9. The Social Value of Humor 10. Humor and Life Notes Works Cited Index

Humor, Seriously

Humor, Seriously
Author: Jennifer Aaker
Publisher: Crown Currency
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0593135296

WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER • Anyone—even you!—can learn how to harness the power of humor in business (and life), based on the popular class at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Don’t miss the authors’ TED Talk, “Why great leaders take humor seriously,” online now. “The ultimate guide to using the magical power of funny as a tool for leadership and a force for good.”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and Drive We are living through a period of unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval in both our personal and professional lives. So it should come as a surprise to exactly no one that trust, human connection, and mental well-being are all on the decline. This may seem like no laughing matter. Yet, the research shows that humor and laughter are among the most valuable tools we have at our disposal for strengthening bonds and relationships, diffusing stress and tension, boosting resilience, and performing when the stakes are high. That’s why Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas teach the popular course Humor: Serious Business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where they help some of the world’s most hard-driving, blazer-wearing business minds infuse more humor and levity into their work and lives. In Humor, Seriously, they draw on findings by behavioral scientists, world-class comedians, and inspiring business leaders to reveal how humor works and—more important—how you can use more of it, better. Aaker and Bagdonas unpack the theory and application of humor: what makes something funny, how to mine your life for material, and simple ways to identify and leverage your unique humor style. They show how to use humor to rebuild vital connections; appear more confident, competent, and authentic at work; and foster cultures where levity and creativity can thrive. President Dwight David Eisenhower once said, “A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” If Dwight David Eisenhower, the second least naturally funny president (after Franklin Pierce), thought humor was necessary to win wars, build highways, and warn against the military-industrial complex, then you might consider learning it too.

Featherless Chickens, Laughing Women, and Serious Stories

Featherless Chickens, Laughing Women, and Serious Stories
Author: Jeannie B. Thomas
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780813917238

Interested in preserving her family folklore, Jeannie B. Thomas recorded detailed oral histories from her mother and two grandmothers. While analyzing the tapes of these sessions, she notices the inappropriate laughter often accompanied the retelling of painful stories. In this book, Thomas combines these personal narratives with original scholarship drawing on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Julia Kristeva to uncover meaning behind the startling presence of unconventional laughter in women's histories.

Laughter

Laughter
Author: Robert R. Provine
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2001-12-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1101659254

Do men and women laugh at the same things? Is laughter contagious? Has anyone ever really died laughing? Is laughing good for your health? Drawing upon ten years of research into this most common-yet complex and often puzzling-human phenomenon, Dr. Robert Provine, the world's leading scientific expert on laughter, investigates such aspects of his subject as its evolution, its role in social relationships, its contagiousness, its neural mechanisms, and its health benefits. This is an erudite, wide-ranging, witty, and long-overdue exploration of a frequently surprising subject.

Laughter Yoga

Laughter Yoga
Author: Madan Kataria, M.D.
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2020-04-07
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 0143134949

Could you use a good laugh? This definitive guide by the founder of the worldwide laughter yoga movement will show you how to giggle your way to good health! Bring laughter into your life at any time of day--no special equipment needed, no new wardrobe, no expensive classes, not even a sense of humor! Laughter yoga is all about voluntary laughter--how you can learn to laugh even in the absence of humorous stimuli, and reap the extraordinary, scientifically proven benefits, which include stress reduction, pain relief, weight loss, heightened immunity, and, especially, enhanced mood: If you act happy, you'll become happy--your body can't tell the difference! Children laugh more than 300 times a day, adults fewer than fifteen. But it's easy to start laughing again. The exercises in this book combine voluntary laughter with yogic breathing to give you a full body-mind workout. And it turns out that laughter is the fastest way to reduce stress and the best kind of cardio: Ten minutes of hearty laughter is equal to thirty minutes on the rowing machine. With Laughter Yoga, join the growing worldwide movement and discover how laughter really is the best medicine. A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE

Taking Laughter Seriously

Taking Laughter Seriously
Author: John Morreall
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 158
Release: 1983-06-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1438413645

"There has never been a time in Western history that humor and laughter were not topics of intellectual debate and interest. That is still true. John Morreall's broad-ranging concerns in Taking Laughter Seriouslymake it a book that will interest those in the social and behavioral sciences, philosophy, English literature and criticism, drama, and folklore. Morreall has done an admirable job of analyzing earlier theories. His discussions of humor as aesthetic experience, social lubricant, and valuable human feature are original and provocative." -- Jeffrey H. Goldstein, Professor of Psychology, Temple University "The attempt at providing a theoretical framework which will include all forms of laughter and humor and will accommodate the main types of theories previously advanced, is the principal thrust and success ofTaking Laughter Seriously. The topic is important and is one which philosophers have tended to ignore, as have most disciplines. It needs periodic philosophical reflection. The book is clearly written, well organized, and well illustrated. Morreall's style, sometimes almost conversational, fits the subject matter. One would hope that a book on laughter and humor, even a scholarly one, would not be so ponderous and officious that it evidenced little relationship to its announced topic. Taking Laughter Seriously avoids that contradiction and strikes a good balance." -- Conrad Hyers, Professor of Religion, Gustavus Adolphus College, author of The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith. "The book's qualities are, first, its scope and persuasiveness. The whole book demonstrates the seriousness of humor and its central place in human life. I know of no comparable work. The second quality of Taking Laughter Seriously is its clarity and its engaging style. It knocks out previous theories of laughter (including Freud's) and replaces them with a comprehensive one of its own. It is bloody funny. It will be enjoyed by philosophers, psychologists, teachers, and anyone who can read." -- G. J. Barker-Benfield, Associate Professor of History, State University of New York at Albany

Surprised by Laughter

Surprised by Laughter
Author: Terry Lindvall
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2012-01-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1595554785

Surprised by Laughter looks at the career and writings of C. S. Lewis and discovers a man whose life and beliefs were sustained by joy and humor. All of his life, C. S. Lewis possessed a spirit of individuality. An atheist from childhood, he became a Christian as an adult and eventually knew international acclaim as a respected theologian. He was known worldwide for his works of fiction, especially the Chronicles of Narnia; and for his books on life and faith, including Mere Christianity, A Grief Observed, and Surprised by Joy. But perhaps the most visible difference in his life was his abiding sense of humor. It was through this humor that he often reached his readers and listeners, allowing him to effectively touch so many lives. Terry Lindvall takes an in-depth look at Lewis's joyful approach toward living, dividing his study of C. S. Lewis's wit into the four origins of laughter in Uncle Screwtape's eleventh letter to a junior devil in Lewis's The Screwtape Letters: joy, fun, the joke proper, and flippancy. Lindvall writes, "One bright and compelling feature we can see, sparking in his sunlight and dancing in his moonlight, is laughter. Yet it is not too large to see at once because it inhabited all Lewis was and did." Surprised by Laughter reveals a Lewis who enjoyed the gift of laughter, and who willingly shared that gift with others in order to spread his faith.

Between Heaven and Mirth

Between Heaven and Mirth
Author: James Martin
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2011-10-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0062098624

“Between Heaven and Mirth will make any reader smile. . . . Father Martin reminds us that happiness is the good God’s own goal for us.” —Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York From The Colbert Report’s “official chaplain” James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestselling The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, comes a revolutionary look at how joy, humor, and laughter can change our lives and save our spirits. A Jesuit priest with a busy media ministry, Martin understands the intersections between spirituality and daily life. In Between Heaven and Mirth, he uses scriptural passages, the lives of the saints, the spiritual teachings of other traditions, and his own personal reflections to show us why joy is the inevitable result of faith, because a healthy spirituality and a healthy sense of humor go hand-in-hand with God's great plan for humankind.

The Accidental Prime Minister

The Accidental Prime Minister
Author: Tom McLaughlin
Publisher: Oxford University Press - Children
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2015-04-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0192737775

When Joe tells a local news reporter exactly what he would do if he were leader of the country, the video goes viral and Joe's speech becomes famous all over the world! Before long, people are calling for the current leader to resign and give someone else a go . . . and that's how an ordinary boy like Joe ended up with the most extraordinary job. Now the fun can really start . . . Hats for cats! Pet pigs for all! Banana shaped buses! Swimming pools on trains! A hilarious story of one boy's meteoric rise to power!

Dangerous Laughter

Dangerous Laughter
Author: Steven Millhauser
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2008-02-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 030726873X

Thirteen darkly comic stories, Dangerous Laughter is a mesmerizing journey that stretches the boundaries of the ordinary world.