By Lori Nick
Fraser Valley Regional Library
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”
-Groucho Marx
Laughter is a gift that has beneficial effects on your health, according to scientific reports. Academic studies mention that laughter provides many benefits, including an increase in blood-flow, resulting in healthier blood vessels. Laughter can help you to lose weight --10 to 15 minutes of laughter can burn 50 calories! Laughter is reported to form new connections between brain cells that may help with learning. Laughing increases levels of endorphins in the brain, which block pain and make you feel good, and laughter may help to prevent depression by increasing a person’s feeling of hope and ability to deal with stress. An article in Current Health suggests ways to “up your dose of laugh medicine” in the following ways: hang out with funny people; join a laughter club, watch funny movies and read humour books. Your local library can provide many humourous books, downloadable audio books, books on CD, movies and TV series.
Comedians fascinate me. They have the ability to stand up in front of groups of strangers, telling stories and jokes, hoping that their audiences share and appreciate their sense of humour. Some of my favourite biographies written by comedians include the following:
700 Sundays by Billy Crystal
This is a memoir based on Billy Crystal’s one-man Broadway play. Crystal focuses on his childhood, telling stories about his youth and relationship with his father, who died at a young age. Sunday was the day Crystal spent with his dad—he estimates that he had only 700 Sundays together, because his father worked 2 jobs. On Sundays, Crystal would put on comedy shows for his parents, honing his skills as a stand-up comic. In the book, Crystal tells humourous and sometimes touching stories about his youth and the many influences that helped to shape the entertainer he became.
Don’t Touch Me by Howie Mandel
I have been a fan of Canadian Howie Mandel since watching him portray Dr. Wayne Fiscus in the television medical drama St. Elsewhere. In his biography, the stand-up comic, actor, television show creator, and game-show host chronicles the ups and downs of his career. He also talks candidly about his struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders.
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
Steve Martin is multi-talented. He is a magician, author, actor, banjo player and comedian. I have watched Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live, I enjoyed his book and dramatic movie Shopgirl, and I am a fan of several of his comedies including Planes, Trains and Automobiles with John Candy. In his biography, Martin takes the reader on his life’s journey from his days working at Disneyland’s magic shops to his first experiences in stand-up comedy. He has worked as a writer for television, and opened for Ann Margaret in Las Vegas. He appeared more than 16 times on the Tonight Show on the way to his breakthrough appearance on Saturday Night Live. Steve Martin explains how he developed his famous stand-up routine, which made him one of the most famous comedians of the 1980s.
One of my favourite television sitcoms available at the library is Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. In the series, the co-creator of Seinfeld finds himself in many situations that make me both cringe and laugh hysterically. I have also enjoyed watching the series Arrested Development with a cast including Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi and Michael Cera. Canadian-produced TV series such as Little Mosque on the Prairie, Corner Gas, and Royal Canadian Air Farce can also be found at the library. There are also many funny classic TV comedies available, such as I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Gilligan’s Island.
Visit your local library and ask the library staff to help you find the titles I have recommended, or other books written by comedians, comedic feature films and television shows. As author e.e. cummings once said, “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
