humour
Table of Contents Laughter Yoga
Words and Illustrations by Margarita Louka
You Can’t Make This Shit Up Words and Illustrations by Jonathan Barrett
Don’t Be A Caveman, Learn To Laugh Again Words and Illustrations by Rachel Sawyer
Cover and Endpapers: Margarita Louka Editor: Anna Stone
Laughter Yoga By: Margarita Louka
On the first Sunday of May every year, we celebrate World Laughter Day - this year specifically, it falls on Sunday the 3rd of May. The year started off on a positive note - people everywhere were excited about the new decade! They were proclaiming how they will start the 20s with high hopes, huge goals and a fresh slate. But, as we know, this is not the year anyone imagined or could have predicted. Instead, we started the new decade shaken by a pandemic, Covid-19.
Illustrations By: Margarita Louka
People all over the world have been forced into lockdown - and I’ve seen how creative, flexible and resilient people became to deal with this situation. However, I’ve also seen how many people can struggle with this change of lifestyle and how it’s affected everyone’s mental health. It’s stressful to be forced to change your lifestyle so dramatically and so suddenly, so I think we could all use some laughter and cheerfulness this May!
World Laughter Day was popularized by Dr. Madan Kataria, who started the Laughter Yoga movement. Yoga, which is now a popular worldwide form of exercise, is a spiritual and meditative practice which originated in India. Laughter Yoga is a type of exercise involving voluntary laughter. The participants have lots of contact with everyone in the class; engagement includes eye contact and clapping, which encourages a sense of playfulness and positive affirmation. Participants then engage in a series of exercises where the teacher of the group starts laughing and the students eventually follow. The basic idea is that the brain cannot distinguish if the laughter is forced or spontaneous, and that it doesn’t matter! Either way, you get the same positive mental reaction and stimuli. I saw a TED Talk where an instructor and her
class were demonstrating laughter yoga. She would repeat positive statements such as ‘I am strong’ and ‘I am healthy’, and got the audience to join her. Soon, everyone was laughing. I found it very bizarre, but with so much positive energy, it was difficult to be judgemental of them, and I soon found myself laughing because everyone else was. Having a good laugh is one of the many things you could do to make yourself feel better during this time; whether it’s calling your friend to laugh, or giving Laughter Yoga a go. This is such a trying time for everyone, where everything is tested and strained - your relationship with the people you live with, your mental health, and your physical health. So do yourself a favour - don’t mentally isolate yourself and remember, a good laugh is scientifically proven to make any situation easier!
You Can’t Make This Shit Up
By: Jonathan Barrett
Who needs a laugh? I know I do. Luckily for us history is full of hilarious stories, some so stupid you couldn’t make them up. I have scoured the internet and found the creme de la creme just for you. So strap on your funny bones and enjoy. RMS Carmania SquaredDuring World War 1, the Germans converted one of their ships the Trafalgar to look like a british ship the RMS Carmania. Their plan was to sneak in to british waters and launch a surprise attack. Clever right? Well it would have been but unfortunately for them one of the first ships they encountered was the real RMS Carminia and they were sunk pretty quickly after that.
Slow and Steady Saves LivesIn 1847 Dr Robert Liston preformed the only recorded surgical procedure with a 300% mortality rate. He preformed an amputation
in 25 seconds, which sounds impressive but he also amputated his assistance’s finger by accident. This lead to a spectator dying of shock and both the patient and assistant later died of sepsis. All in all it could have gone better.
A Rude GoodbyeAt president Andrew Jackson’s funeral, his pet parrot had to be removed. The reason is it would not stop swearing.
Burning IronyIf like me you’ve ever wondered who invented the fire hydrant I’ve got some bad news,
nobody will ever know. But if like me you love irony you’ll be happy with the reason why. Its patent was distorted in a fire. Isn’t that just beautiful.
The Great Emu WarIn 1932 Australian farmers got sick of the estimated 20,000 emus that had been eating their crops. They went to the military of defence (obviously) with their problem and were given 2 Lewis machine guns, 10,000 bullets, 2 expert gunners and major G.P.W Meredith. War was declared. Now turns out emus are wicked smart, they hid in the tall grass and even figured the range of the guns. On the first battle they found a group of 100 emus but after about a dozen bullets the gun jammed and the emus dispersed. Their next idea was to attach the guns to a car and chase them down buuuuut emus are wicked fast. The gunner had to put all of his focus on holding on and couldn’t fire the gun. In the end, 986 out of the 20,000 emus died
and they used up 9,860 bullets to do it. And that is how the emus won the great emu war. And finally my favourite quote of all time, said by none other than Mike Tyson himself. “I guess I’m gonna fade into Bolivian” If that doesn’t put a smile on your face nothing will.
Illustrations By: Jonathan Barrett
Don’t Be A Caveman, Learn To Laugh Again By: Rachel Sawyer
As we edge away from this first Covid peak, it is integral to take stock of what is important: loved ones, our dreams and aspirations, the planet’s health, and laughter; ranging from a small chortle up to the biggest red faced, tear inducing ab workout. Humour is a subjective topic where our life experiences have helped to form and continue to develop the basis of our individual tastes, but why is it that this innocently guised outlet is more integral to our mental health than ever? Laughter in its base form is a release system. As cave men, our routine consisted of hunting, finding shelter and avoiding predators, which in turn entailed stress, constant uncertainty and a high likelihood of ending up a sabre tooth’s dinner. But seeing as the last of our ancestors to be made a meal of by a fanged cat was around roughly 12,000 years ago, it is safe to conclude that our daily challenges are quite different. Modern life still comes with its stresses and battles though, and as it is no longer socially acceptable to be aggressive and combative, how are these primal emotions meant to find catharsis? Other than a punching bag or a sharply written letter, our pent up negative emotions no longer have an outlet, and as stated in ‘Man and Civilisation: Control of the Mind,’ “we either suppress ourselves and turn destructive energies inwards or else we do not suppress ourselves and we start hitting people”. As with any over pressured pipe, a crack will eventually form to vent its contents. It can seem such a malicious mode of communication, especially when it is at the expense of others’ tragedies, fictional or
otherwise. We laugh when Jerry leads Tom into the expectant jaws of the bulldog, or when a friend slips over on a messy night out. We howl with joy at these situations and in doing so, we release tension; our built up stresses, the aggression brought on by the weeks events. Humour expels our frustrations without facilitating physical harm to others. Adversity has already afflicted the unfortunate and so jumping on the bandwagon in verbal form is the least destructive way of gaining relief to our problems. But as mentioned before, humour lies in tragedy and there is a line drawn at the point where it is no longer funny. For the majority of people, this is when real violence occurs. It is the difference between a swimmer having their trunks snatched by stalking shark, leaving them exposed and vulnerable, compared to the swimmer caught in the predator’s locked teeth with gore painting the water red... with a limb floating off in the current... So we come full circle. The current lockdown is causing increased frustration and we are all losing patience. But it is more important than ever to find mental sanctuary in a way that does not rely on unessential trips out of the home. Laugh. With household members or alone. FaceTime your most hilarious friend, watch comedians, take a moment to chuckle at the goofy antics of pets. It is not a magic cure all, but it will give you the serotonin boost that your mind desperately needs. We may not be in the same boat, but we are all riding the same wave. Let’s find a way to reconnect with our laughter and make sure that everyone meets safely back in the harbour by the lockdown’s end.
Illustration By: Rachel Sawyer
Copyright Š 2020 by Margarita Louka, Rachel Sawyer, Jonathan Barrett, and Anna Stone. All rights reserved. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, copied, reprinted, reworked, redistributed, or used in any manner whatsoever without the explicit written permission of the copyright holders.