World Laughter Day The Happystance Way!

Despite the dour or bemused expression on the dog's face, we had a good time with the Laughter in the Park event for World Laughter Day. There was some initial reticence but the sunshine persuaded people to loosen up and despite the dour disapproval of the dog (whom I am sure that Wodehouse would have named McTavish and evolved an entire biography in which he is the embodiment of one of the narrower sects that disapprove of earthly pleasures) people overcame their inhibitions and laughed in public. The next big event on the laughter calendar is the national Laugh-a-thon on Sunday, May 28th which is being run in collaboration with the British Heart Foundation.

I've been invited to be the warm-up man for the Summer Concert in the Park event scheduled for August 20th. I've always wanted to run a laughter event with several hundred people so this is a great opportunity. One of the most enjoyable exercises that we do is the laughter wave (think Mexican wave) combined with the laughter orchestra (different tones of laughter). The wave needs a good 30 people to be truly effective, but with a potential orchestra of hundreds, the results should be impressive.

There are several interesting projects in the UK at present, including laughter workshops for people who are depressed. Early results from those are promising - I'll keep you updated as I learn more.

I would like some alternative caption ideas for the dog.

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project