Positive Therapeutic Benefits of Laughter (Humour/Humor Therapy)

Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan of Loma Linda University in California have been studying the effects of laughter on the immune system.

To date their published studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma-interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies.

Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.

Following is a summary of his research, taken from an interview published in the September/October 1996 issue of the Humor and Health Journal.

Laughter Activates the Immune System

In Berk's study, the physiological response produced by belly laughter was opposite of what is seen in classical stress, supporting the conclusion that mirthful laughter is a eustress state -- a state that produces healthy or positive emotions.

Research results indicate that, after exposure to humor, there is a general increase in activity within the immune system, including:

*An increase in the number and activity level of natural killer cells that attack viral infected cells and some types of cancer and tumor cells.

*An increase in activated T cells (T lymphocytes). There are many T cells that await activation. Laughter appears to tell the immune system to "turn it up a notch."

*An increase in the antibody IgA (immunoglobulin A), which fights upper respiratory tract insults and infections.

*An increase in gamma interferon, which tells various components of the immune system to "turn on."

*An increase in IgB, the immunoglobulin produced in the greatest quantity in body, as well as an increase in Complement 3, which helps antibodies to pierce dysfunctional or infected cells.
The increase in both substances was not only present while subjects watched a humor video; there also was a lingering effect that continued to show increased levels the next day.


Laughter Decreases "Stress" Hormones

The results of the study also supported research indicating a general decrease in stress hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity. These were shown to decrease in the study group exposed to humor.

For example, levels of epinephrine were lower in the group both in anticipation of humor and after exposure to humor. Epinephrine levels remained down throughout the experiment.

In addition, dopamine levels (as measured by dopac) were also decreased. Dopamine is involved in the "fight or flight response" and is associated with elevated blood pressure.

Laughing is aerobic, providing a workout for the diaphragm and increasing the body's ability to use oxygen.

Laughter brings in positive emotions that can enhance – not replace -- conventional treatments.
Hence it is another tool available to help fight the disease.

Experts believe that, when used as an adjunct to conventional care, laughter can reduce pain and aid the healing process. For one thing, laughter offers a powerful distraction from pain.

In a study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing, patients were told one-liners after surgery and before painful medication was administered. Those exposed to humor perceived less pain when compared to patients who didn't get a dose of humor as part of their therapy.

Perhaps, the biggest benefit of laughter is that it is free and has no known negative side effects.

So, here is a summary of how humor contributes to physical health.
More details can be found in the article, Humor and Health contributed by Paul McGhee [see the following post ]

Muscle Relaxation
- Belly laugh results in muscle relaxation. While you laugh, the muscles that do not participate in the belly laugh, relaxes. After you finish laughing those muscles involved in the laughter start to relax. So, the action takes place in two stages.

Reduction of Stress Hormones
- Laughter reduces at least four of neuroendocrine hormones associated with stress response. These are epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone.

Immune System Enhancement
- Clinical studies have shown that humor strengthens the immune system.

Pain Reduction
- Humor allows a person to "forget" about pains such as aches, arthritis, etc.

Cardiac Exercise
- A belly laugh is equivalent to "an internal jogging." Laughter can provide good cardiac conditioning especially for those who are unable to perform physical exercises.

Blood Pressure
- Women seem to benefit more than men in preventing hypertension.

Respiration
- Frequent belly laughter empties your lungs of more air than it takes in resulting in a cleansing effect - similar to deep breathing. Especially beneficial for patient's who are suffering from emphysema and other respiratory ailments.

"Humor and Health"

"Humor and Health"

"Humor and Health"
By PaulE.McGhee, PhD

"The art of medicine consists of keeping the patient amused while nature heals the disease." (Voltaire)

Click to expand...

[Adapted from Health, Healing and the Amuse System: Humor as Survival Training, 1999]

Voltaire (and your grandmother) recognized long ago that humor and laughter are good for you.
You've probably noticed yourself that you simply feel better after a good belly laugh.
The problem, of course, is that your sense of humor generally abandons you right when you need it the most--on the tough days.
But if you manage to bring your sense of humor to your daily conflicts on your job, your relationship with your spouse and children, and your health or financial problems, you'll go a long way toward improving the quality of your life; and you'll boost your physical health and well-being in the ways discussed here.

Psychoneuroimmunology and Humor

Every year, there is more evidence that your thoughts, moods, emotions, and belief system have a fundamental impact on the body’s basic health and healing mechanisms....

Whether or not you get sick depends on your body’s ability to fight off infection and disease. In 1980 (prior to the discovery of the AIDS virus), the departing editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Franz Ingelfinger, estimated that 85% of all human illnesses are curable by the body’s own healing system. We now know that building a positive focus in your life plays an important role in supporting the body's ability to do this.

The body’s healing system responds favorably to positive attitudes, thoughts, moods, and emotions (e.g., to love, hope, optimism, caring, intimacy, joy, laughter, and humor), and negatively to negative ones (hate, hopelessness, pessimism, indifference, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc.).

Click to expand...

So you want to organize your life to maintain as positive a focus as possible.

Emotion: The Key to the Mind’s Influence on Health

Candace Pert noted in Bill Moyers’ Healing and the Mind television series (and more recently in her book, The Molecules of Emotion) that emotions--registered and stored in the body in the form of chemical messages--are the best candidates for the key to the health connection between mind and body. It is through the emotions you experience in connection with your thoughts and daily attitudes--actually, through the neurochemical changes that accompany these emotions--that your mind acquires the power to influence whether you get sick or remain well.

The key, according to Pert, is found in complex molecules called neuropeptides. Peptides are found throughout the body, including the brain and immune system. These neuropeptides are the means by which all cells in the body communicate with each other. This includes brain-to-brain messages, brain-to-body messages, body-to-body messages, and body-to-brain messages.

Individual cells, including brain cells, immune cells, and other body cells, have receptor sites that receive neuropeptides. The kinds of neuropeptides available to cells are constantly changing, reflecting variations in your emotions throughout the day. The exact combinations of neuropeptides released during different emotional states has not yet been determined. The kind and number of emotion-linked neuropeptides available at receptor sites of cells influence your probability of staying well or getting sick. Building more humor and laughter in your life helps assure that these chemical messages are working for you, not against you.

"The chemicals that are running our body and our brain are the same chemicals that are involved in emotion. And that says to me that . . . we’d better pay more attention to emotions with respect to health." (Candace Pert)

There is no longer any doubt that your daily mood or frame of mind makes a significant contribution to your health--especially when it persists day after day, year after year. Anything you can do to sustain a more positive, upbeat frame of mind in dealing with the daily hassles and problems in your life contributes to your physical health at the same time that it helps you cope with stress and be more effective on the job. Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health.

How Humor Contributes to Health

The mere fact that you feel better after a good laugh is enough for many to conclude that humor must be good for you. But new evidence confirms what our grandparents knew all along. Your sense of humor not only enriches life; it also promotes physical, mental and spiritual health.

Muscle Relaxation

Research has shown that muscle relaxation results from a good belly laugh. One study even showed that people using a biofeedback apparatus were able to relax muscles more quickly after watching funny cartoons than after looking at beautiful scenery. You can see this effect in your own laughter, if you look for it. In my keynote addresses, I have a routine in which I get everyone in the room doing belly laughter for half a minute. Afterwards, I ask them what changes they notice in their bodies. The first comment is usually, "I feel a lot more relaxed." The next time you have a good long laugh, look for this feeling of relaxation and reduced tension.

Reduction of Stress Hormones

When you’re under stress, your body undergoes a series of hormonal and other body changes which make up the "fight or flight" response. Even though there’s no physical threat to your life, your body reacts as if there were. If you’re under stress day after day, this preparation for a vigorous physical response (which never occurs) itself begins to pose a threat--to your health! Anything which reduces the level of stress hormones in the blood on a regular basis helps reduce this health threat.

"There ain’t much fun in medicine, but there’s a heck of a lot of medicine in fun."
-Josh Billings-

The limited research on stress-related hormones and humor has shown that laughter reduces at least four neuroendocrine hormones associated with the stress response, including epinephrine, cortisol, dopac, and growth hormone. This is consistent with research showing that various relaxation procedures reduce stress hormones.

Immune System Enhancement

It has long been recognized that stress weakens the immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to illness. Only in the mid 1980s, however, did researchers begin to study the impact of humor and laughter on the immune system. The best evidence that humor boosts the immune system comes from studies where immune system measures are taken before and after a particular humorous event--usually a comedy video. But research showing that individuals with a better sense of humor have stronger immune systems is also significant, since it shows the importance (for your health) of making the effort to improve your sense of humor.

Immunoglobulins

The greatest amount of research to date has focused on immunoglobulin A, a part of your immune system which serves to protect you against upper respiratory problems, like colds and the flu. Our saliva contains IgA, and this is often referred to as the body’s first line of defense against upper respiratory viral and bacterial infections. Several studies have shown that watching as little as 30 or 60 minutes of a comedy video is enough to increase both salivary IgA and blood levels of IgA. This has been shown for both adults and children.

Immunoglobulins M and G have also been shown to be enhanced as a result of humor/laughter. Laughter even increases levels of a substance called Complement 3, which helps antibodies pierce through defective or infected cells in order to destroy them.

Cellular Immunity

Several different aspects of the cellular immune system have also been shown to be enhanced by watching a comedy video. B cells are produced in the bone marrow, and are responsible for making the immunoglobulins. If you count the number of these cells in the blood before and after a comedy video, you can demonstrate a significant increase in the number of B cells circulating throughout the body following humor.

Watching a one-hour humorous video also increases the activity--and number--of natural killer cells, the number and level of activation of helper T-cells, and the ratio of helper to suppresser T-cells. Natural killer cells have the role of seeking out and destroying tumor cells in the body, as well as battling the latest cold- and flu-generating viruses and other foreign organisms.

Humor has also been shown to increase levels of gamma interferon, a complex substance that plays an important role in the maturation of B cells, the growth of cytotoxic T cells, and the activation of NK cells. It also tells different components of the immune system when to become more active, and regulates the level of cooperation between cells of the immune system.

Taken as a whole, it’s clear that there is something about humor and laughter that causes the immune system to "turn on" metabolically and do more effectively what it is designed to do--promote health and wellness in the face of internal or external threats.

Duration of Humor-Induced Immuno-enhancement

Only a few studies have examined the duration of the immuno-enhancement effects of humor. This may be an artificial question, since emotional changes are known to cause fluctuations in the immune system, and your emotional state generally depends on whether or not you’re dealing with anything stressful at the moment. If something happens to make you angry or anxious soon after watching a comedy video, this counteracts the immune benefits resulting from the video. This is where the strength of your own sense of humor comes in. If you are able to find a light side of the situation, you sustain the immunoenhancing benefits resulting from the humor you’ve been exposed to.

The limited research along these lines suggests that a strengthened immune system is sustained for 30 minutes for IgA, IgG, number of B cells, activation and number of T cells, activation and number of natural killer cells, and gamma-interferon. The immunoenhancement effect was still present 12 hours later for IgA, IgG, number of B cells, complement 3 and gamma-interferon. No attempt has been made to study durations beyond 12 hours.

Sense of Humor and Immunity

Given all the evidence that watching a humorous video strengthens different components of the immune system, it makes sense that individuals who have a better developed sense of humor--meaning that they find more humor in their everyday life, seek out humor more often, laugh more, etc.--should have a stronger immune system, because they get more of the kinds of benefits offered by watching a comedy video by exercising their sense of humor more often. Consistent with this expectation, three studies have shown that individuals with higher scores on a sense of humor test have higher "baseline levels" of IgA.

"The simple truth is that happy people generally don’t get sick."
-(Bernie Siegel, M.D.-

Humor’s ability to protect you against immunosuppression during stress was evident in a study which compared people with a well-developed sense of humor (they found a lot of humor in their everyday life or frequently used humor to cope with stress) to people with a poor sense of humor. Among those who rarely found humor in their own lives, especially when under stress, greater numbers of everyday hassles and negative life events were associated with greater suppression of their immune system (IgA).
Among those with a well-developed sense of humor, on the other hand, everyday hassles and problems did not weaken the immune system.
Their sense of humor helped keep them from becoming more vulnerable to illness when under stress.


Pain Reduction

Norman Cousins drew the attention of the medical community to the pain-reducing power of humor in his book Anatomy of an Illness.
This spinal disease left him in almost constant pain.
But he quickly discovered while watching comedy films that belly laughter eased his pain.
In his last book, Head First: The Biology of Hope, he noted that 10 minutes of belly laughter (just counting the laughing time) would give him two hours of pain-free sleep.
Over a dozen studies have now documented that humor does have the power to reduce pain in many patients.

"Humor is the instinct for taking pain playfully."
-Max Eastman-

Many patients discover this in their own experience. Rheumatoid arthritis patients who report more chronic pain, for example, also say they look for humor more often in everyday life. They’ve learned that humor helps manage their pain. Consistent with this idea, one study showed that when elderly residents of a long-term care facility watched funny movies, the level of pain they experienced was reduced.

In a study of 35 patients in a rehabilitation hospital, 74% agreed with the statement, "Sometimes laughing works as well as a pain pill." The patients had such conditions as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, arthritis, limb amputations, and a range of other neurological or musculoskeletal disorders.

"A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast."
-Groucho Marx-

For those who do experience pain reduction following laughter, why does it occur? One possibility is distraction. Humor draws attention away from the source of discomfort--at least momentarily. The most commonly given explanation, however, is that laughter causes the production of endorphins, one of the body’s natural pain killers. This explanation makes good sense, but as of 1999, no one has been able to demonstrate it with data. Investigators who have tried to show the endorphin-humor connection have failed to do so.

Regardless of whether laughter does or does not cause the release of endorphins into the blood stream, its ability to reduce pain is undoubtedly partly due to its reduction of muscle tension. Even brief relaxation procedures have been shown to reduce pain--both in laboratory and clinical settings. Many pain centers around the country now use meditation and other relaxation techniques to reduce the level of pain medication needed by patients. Laughter is just one additional technique for achieving the same effect.

Other Benefits

Laughter also provides an excellent source of cardiac exercise. The next time you’re having a good belly laugh, put your hand over your heart when you stop laughing. You’ll see that your heart is racing, even after 15-20 seconds of laughter. It will remain elevated for 3-5 minutes. This has caused some to refer to laughter as "internal jogging." You can give your heart a good workout several times a day, just by laughing. One physician noted that his patients who say they laugh regularly have lower resting heart rates. While this is no substitute for real exercise, many seniors and bed-ridden patients don’t have the option of other forms of physical exercise. For them, laughter is FUNdamental to good cardiac conditioning.

Other physical health benefits may result from humor and laughter, but scientists have been very slow in looking for them. Laughter may turn out, for example, to help lower blood pressure. As your heart beats more rapidly during laughter, it pumps more blood through your system, producing the familiar flushed cheeks. Not surprisingly, blood pressure increases during laughter, with larger increases corresponding to more intense and longer-lasting laughs. If this were a lasting increase, it might be harmful. When laughter stops, however, blood pressure drops back down to its baseline. Given the relaxation effect of laughter, laughter may help bring blood pressure levels below one's baseline. At this point, however, researchers have made little effort to examine this possibility.

Laughter triggers a peculiar respiratory pattern which offers health benefits for certain individuals. In normal relaxed breathing, there is a balance between the amount of air you take in and breathe out. The problem is that when you are not breathing deeply, a considerable amount of residual air remains in the lungs. When you’re under stress, breathing becomes even shallower and more rapid, reducing the amount of oxygen taken in and producing a still greater amount of residual air. This breathing also occurs more from the chest, instead of the diaphragm. (Relaxation techniques emphasize the importance of breathing from the diaphragm.) As this residual air stays in the lungs for longer periods of time, its oxygen content drops and the level of water vapor and carbon dioxide increases. The health risk here arises for individuals prone to respiratory difficulties, since the increased water vapor creates a more favorable environment for bacterial growth and pulmonary infection.

Frequent belly laughter reduces this risk by emptying your lungs of more of the air that’s taken in. When you laugh, you push air out of your lungs until you can’t push out any more. Then you take a deep breath and start the same process all over again. Each time you laugh, you get rid of the excess carbon dioxide and water vapor that’s building up and replace it with oxygen-rich air.

Hospitalized patients with respiratory problems are often encouraged to breathe deeply and exhale fully, but nurses have difficulty getting them to do so. Most patients enjoy a good laugh, though, so many nurses have learned to tell them a joke from time to time or give them a comedy tape to view.

Emphysema and other respiratory patients often have a build-up of phlegm or mucous in their respiratory tracts. Nurses try to get them to cough to loosen up and expel these substances, but they generally don’t enjoy coughing, so the phlegm builds up. When they laugh, however, they inevitably start coughing, producing exactly the effect the nurses want--and the patients have a good time in the process.

Do People with a Good Sense of Humor Get Sick Less Often?

We have seen that humor and laughter positively influence our body in ways that should sustain health, but little research has been done on whether a better sense of humor actually helps keep you from getting sick. However, since people with a better sense of humor have higher IgA levels, and since research has shown that those with higher levels of salivary IgA are less likely to get colds or be infected with Streptococcus, humor should reduce the frequency of colds.

The only study to directly examine this question found that the impact of one’s sense of humor upon colds depends on the kind of sense of humor you have. It was only individuals whose sense of humor took the form of seeking out and appreciating humor who had fewer and less severe colds/flu than their low humor counterparts. Surprisingly, those whose sense of humor took the form of initiating humor more often did not have fewer or less severe colds/flu. The researchers argued that being a person who likes to tell jokes or otherwise initiate humor takes them into more frequent contact with other people, which serves to expose them to infectious agents more often, robbing them of the advantage that a more active sense of humor otherwise offers. Obviously, more research is required to clear up this confusing picture.

The importance of active use of one’s sense of humor in producing humor’s health benefits was confirmed in another study in an unusual way. It found that among a group of mothers with newborn infants, those who actively used humor to cope with the stress in their lives had fewer upper respiratory infections--and their infants also had fewer infections. This seemed to be because these mothers had higher levels of immunoglobulin A in their breast milk. Consistent with this finding, another study showed that mothers with low levels of IgA at the time of birth had babies who showed more illnesses in the first six weeks postpartum. So breast-feeding mothers now have all the more reason to build plenty of laughter in their life every day.

Among adults, if we look at bodily symptoms alone, independent of any diagnosed illness, there is some evidence that individuals who have more negative reactions to humor (finding a lot of different types of humor aversive or objectionable) report more bodily symptoms and complaints. Students complaining of cardiovascular symptoms and gastroenterological symptoms also have been shown to have this more negative reaction to humor.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) has long been linked to the so-called Type A personality. One pair of researchers observed over 25 years ago that only type B individuals use humor as a coping tool in dealing with stress and hostile feelings. Hostile humor has also been found to be the main kind of humor enjoyed by Type A patients, while Type B patients enjoy non-hostile as well as hostile humor. This is consistent with the findings showing a close relationship between hostility and heart disease. While laughter at hostile humor must provide some of the benefits described above for CHD-prone individuals, those benefits are clearly not enough to offset the bodily effects caused by hostility to begin with. Developing non-hostile aspects of one’s sense of humor to counteract this effect is essential for Type A individuals.

Learning to Use Humor to Cope with Stress

The biggest obstacle to obtaining these benefits of humor in your own life is the growing stress on your job and in your personal relationships--and perhaps the fact that you've never made an effort to develop a good sense of humor. Humor is well-documented to be a powerful tool in coping with life stress, but how do you go about developing this skill if you don't already have it?

I have developed a hands-on Humor Skills Training Program which shows you how to develop the basic foundation skills you need in order to use humor as a coping tool. The skill development program is presented in my book, Health, Healing and the Amuse System: Humor as Survival Training.
I have also provided detailed guidelines on developing humor skills in the monthly article I write at my web site, www.LaughterRemedy.com.
Click on "Humor Your Tumor" once in the site to find a series of articles on improving your humor skills.

[NOTE: To obtain the original references for the research discussed here, or to obtain more information on the physical and mental health benefits of humor, see Dr. McGhee's book, "Health, Healing and the Amuse System."]

www.holisticonline.com

THE 100 FUNNIEST JOKES OF ALL TIME
(I bet It'll make you laugh)
Prescription: Keep reading until properly dosed with laughter.

(Caution to the easily offended, occasional adult lanquage follows.)

1
Three kids come down to the kitchen and sit around the breakfast table. The mother asks the oldest boy what he’d like to eat. "I’ll have some fuckin’ French toast," he says. The mother is outraged at his language, hits him, and sends him upstairs. She asks the middle child what he wants. "Well, I guess that leaves more fuckin’ French toast for me," he says. She is livid, smacks him, and sends him away. Finally she asks the youngest son what he wants for breakfast. "I don’t know," he says meekly, "but I definitely don’t want the fuckin’ French toast."

2
My grandfather always said, "Don't watch your money; watch your health." So one day while I was watching my health, someone stole my money. It was my grandfather. (Jackie Mason)

3
Last night I went to a 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, "Hey, the sign says you're open 24 hours." He goes: "Not in a row!" (Steven Wright)

4
Saul is working in his store when he hears a booming voice from above: "Saul, sell your business." He ignores it. It goes on for days. "Saul, sell your business for $3 million." After weeks of this, he relents, sells his store. The voice says ‘Saul, go to Las Vegas." He asks why. "Saul, take the $3 million to Las Vegas." He obeys, goes to a casino. Voice says, "Saul , go to the blackjack table and put it down all on one hand." He hesitates but knows he must. He’s dealt an 18. The dealer has a six showing. "Saul, take a card." What? The dealer has -- "Take a card!" He tells the dealer to hit him. Saul gets an ace. Nineteen. He breathes easy. "Saul, take another card." What? "TAKE ANOTHER CARD!" He asks for another card. It’s another ace. He has twenty. "Saul, take another card," the voice commands. I have twenty! Saul shouts. "TAKE ANOTHER CARD!!" booms the voice. Hit me,Saul says. He gets another ace. Twenty one. The booming voice goes: "un-fucking-believable!"

5
A guy joins a monastery and takes a vow of silence: he’s allowed to say two words every seven years. After the first seven years, the elders bring him in and ask for his two words. "Cold floors," he says. They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him back in and ask for his two words. He clears his throats and says, "Bad food." They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him in for his two words. "I quit," he says. "That’s not surprising," the elders say. "You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here."

6
I was making love to this girl and she started crying. I said, "Are you going to hate yourself in the morning?" She said. "No. I hate myself now." (Rodney Dangerfield)

7
A Jewish grandmother is watching her grandchild playing on the beach when a huge wave comes and takes him out to sea. She pleads, "please God, save my only grandson. I beg of you, bring him back." And a big wave comes and washes the boy back onto the beach, good as new. She looks up to heaven and says: "He had a hat!" (Myron Cohen)

8
Two guys are walking down the street when a mugger approaches them and demands their money. They both grudgingly pull out their wallets and begin taking out their cash. Just then one guy turns to the other and hands him a bill. "Here’s that $20 I owe you," he says.

9
I went to my doctor and told him "my penis is burning." He said, "That means somebody is talking about it." (Garry Shandling)

10
A car hits a Jewish man. The paramedic rushes over and says, "Are you comfortable?" The guy says: "I make a good living." (Henny Youngman)

11
Jesus and Saint Peter are golfing. St. Peter steps up to the tee on a par three and hits one long and straight. It reaches the green. Jesus is up next. He slices it. It heads over the fence into traffic on an adjacent street. Bounces off a truck, onto the roof of a nearby shack and into the rain gutter, down the drain spout and onto a lilly pad at the edge of a lake. A frog jumps up and snatches the ball in his mouth. An eagle swoops down, grabs the frog. As the eagle flies over the green, the frog croaks and drops the ball. It’s in the hole. Saint Peter looks at Jesus, exasperated. "Are you gonna play golf?" he asks "Or are you just gonna fuck around?"

12
A guy enters bar carrying an alligator. Says to the patrons, "Here’s a deal. I'll open this alligator's mouth and place my genitals inside. The gator will close his mouth for one minute, then open it, and I'll remove my unit unscathed. If it works, everyone buys me drinks." The crowd agrees. The guy drops his pants and puts his privates in the gator's mouth. Gator closes mouth. After a minute, the guy grabs a beer bottle and bangs the gator on the top of its head. The gator opens wide, and he removes his genitals unscathed. Everyone buys him drinks. Then he says: "I'll pay anyone $100 who's willing to give it a try." After a while, a hand goes up in the back of the bar. It's a woman. "I'll give it a try," she says, "but you have to promise not to hit me on the head with the beer bottle."

13
A guy meets a hooker in a bar. She says, "This is your lucky night. I’ve got a special game for you. I’ll do absolutely anything you want for $300, as long as you can say it in three words." The guy replies, "Hey, why not?" He pull his wallet out of his pocket, and one at a time lays three hundred-dollar bills on the bar, and says, slowly: "Paint…my…house."

14
At a White House party, a woman approached Calvin Coolidge, famed for his silence, and said "Mr. President, I made a bet I can get more than two words out of you." He replied: "You lose."

15
L.A. is so celebrity-conscious, there's a restaurant that only serves Jack Nicholson -- and when he shows up, they tell him there'll be a ten-minute wait. (Bill Maher)

16
I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out. (Rodney Dangerfield)

17
A man goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, my brother's crazy, he thinks he's a chicken." The doctor says, "Why don't you turn him in?" The guy says, "We would. But we need the eggs."

18
I was raised half Jewish and half Catholic. When I'd go to confession, I'd say "Bless me, father, for I have sinned -- and you know my attorney, Mr.Cohen." (Bill Maher)

19
A guy dies and is sent to Hell. Satan meets him, shows him doors to three rooms, and says he must choose one to spend eternity in. In the first room, people are standing in shit up to their necks. The guy says "no, let me see the next room." In the second room, people are standing with shit up to their noses. Guy says no again. Finally, Satan opens the door to the third room. People are standing with shit up to their knees, drinking coffee and eating danish pastries. The guy says, "I pick this room." Satan says okay and starts to leave, and the guy wades in and starts pouring some coffee. On the way out Satan yells, "O.K., coffee break's over. Everyone back on your heads!"

20
Jack Benny is walking down the street, when a stick-up man pulls out a gun and says "Your money or your life!" An extremely long silence follows. "Your money or your life!" the thug repeats. Finally Benny says "I’m thinking!"

21
A man is driving his five year old to a friend’s house when another car races in front and cuts them off, nearly causing an accident. "Douchebag!" the father yells. A moment later he realizes the indiscretion, pulls over, and turns to face his son. "Your father just said a bad word," he says. "I was angry at that driver, but that was no excuse for what I said. It was wrong. But just because I said it, it doesn’t make it right, and I don’t ever want to hear you saying it. Is that clear?" His son looks at him and says: "Too late, douchebag."

22
On a passenger flight, the pilot comes over the public address system as usual to greet the passengers. He tells them at what altitude they’ll be flying, the expected arrival time, and a bit about the weather, and advises them to relax and have a good flight.. Then, forgetting to turn off the microphone, he says to his co-pilot, "What would relax me right now is a cup of coffee and a blowjob." All the passengers hear it. As a stewardess immediately begins to run toward the cockpit to tell the pilot of his slip-up, one of the passengers stops her and says "Don’t forget the coffee!"

23
I was so ugly when I was born, the doctor slapped my mother. (Henny Youngman)

24
Two campers are walking through the woods when a huge brown bear suddenly appears in the clearing about 50 feet in front of them. The bear sees the campers and begins to head toward them. The first guys drops his backpack, digs out a pair of sneakers, and frantically begins to put them on. The second guys says, "What are you doing? Sneakers won’t help you outrun that bear." "I don't need to outrun the bear," the first guy says. "I just need to outrun you."

25
TV commercials now show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem. (Jerry Seinfeld)

26
A guy has a talking dog. He brings it to a talent scount. "This dog can speak English," he claims to the unimpressed agent. "Okay, Sport," the guys says to the dog, "what’s on the top of a house?" "Roof!" the dog replies. "Oh, come on..." the talent agent responds. "All dogs go ‘roof’." "No, wait," the guy says. He asks the dog "what does sandpaper feel like?" "Rough!" the dog answers. The talent agent gives a condescending blank stare. He is losing his patience. "No, hang on," the guy says. "This one will amaze you. " He turns and asks the dog: "Who, in your opinion, was the greatest baseball player of all time?" "Ruth!" goes the dog. And the talent scount, having seen enough, boots them out of his office onto the street. And the dog turns to the guy and says "Maybe I shoulda said DiMaggio?"

27
A guy shows up late for work. The boss yells "You should have been here at 8:30!" he replies: "Why? What happened at 8:30?"

28
When I went to college, my parents threw a going away party for me, according to the letter. (Emo Philips)

29
A lady at a party goes up to Winston Churchill and tells him, "Sir, you are drunk." Churchill replies, "Madam, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober."

30
I was born a suspect. I can walk down any street in America and women will clutch their purses tighter, hold onto their Mace, lock their car doors. If I look up into the windows of the apartments I pass I can see old ladies on the phone. They’ve already dialed 9-1- and are just waiting for me to do something wrong. (Chris Rock)

31
I worked some gigs in the Deep South…Alabama…You talk about Darwin’s waiting room. There are guys in Alabama who are their own father. (Dennis Miller)

32
In football you wear a helmet; in baseball you wear a cap. Football is concerned with downs; baseball is concerned with ups. In football you receive a penalty; in baseball you make an error. In football the specialist comes in to kick; in baseball the specialist comes in to relieve somebody. (George Carlin)

33
I want to have children, but my friends scare me. One of my friends told me she was in labor for thirty six hours. I don’t even want to do anything that feels good for thirty-six hours. (Rita Rudner)

34
A guy has a parrot that can sing and speak beautifully. He takes it to the synagogue on Rosh Hashonah and makes a wager that the bird can conduct the High Holiday service better than the temple’s cantor. When the big moment comes, though, the parrot is silent. The guy is outraged. He takes the bird home and is about to kill it when the bird finally speaks: "Schmuck! Think of the odds we’ll get on Yom Kippur!"

35
At the airport they asked me if anybody I didn’t know gave me anything. Even the people I know don’t give me anything. (George Wallace)

36
I always look for a woman who has a tattoo. I see a woman with a tattoo, and I’m thinking, okay, here’s a gal who’s capable of making a decision she’ll regret in the future. (Richard Jeni)

37
If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee. (Abraham Lincoln)

38
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land. (Jon Stewart)

39
This greasy spoon restaurant was so bad, on the menu there were even flies in the pictures. (Richard Lewis)

40
There’s always one of my uncles who watches a boxing match with me and says "Sure. Ten million dollars. You know, for that kind of money, I’d fight him." As if someone is going to pay $200 a ticket to see a 57-year-old carpet salesman get hit in the face once and cry. (Larry Miller)

41
Three guys, stranded on a desert island, find a magic lantern containing a genie, who grants them each one wish. The first guy wishes he was off the island and back home. The second guy wishes the same. The third guy says "I’m lonely. I wish my friends were back here."

42
I was thrown out of NYU. On my metaphysics final, they caught me cheating. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me. (Woody Allen)

43
I know a guy who called up the Home Shopping Network. They said "Can I help you?" and he said "No, I'm just looking." (George Miller)

44
Three comedians are shooting the breeze at the back of a nightclub after a late gig. They’ve heard one another’s material so much, they’ve reached the point where they don’t need to say the jokes anymore to amuse each other – they just need to refer to each joke by a number. "Number 37!" cracks the first comic, and the others break up. ""Number 53!" says the second guy, and they howl. Finally, it’s the third comic’s turn. "44!" he quips. He gets nothing. Crickets. "What?" he asks, "Isn’t 44 funny?" "Sure, it’s usually hilarious," they answer. "But the way you tell it…"

45
A Jewish guy goes into a confession box. "Father O’Malley," he says, "my name is Emil Cohen. I’m seventy eight years old. Believe it or not, I’m currently involved with a 28 year old girl, and also, on the side, her 19 year old sister. We engage in all manner of pleasure, and in my entire life I’ve never felt better." "My good man," says the priest, "I think you’ve come to the wrong place. Why are you telling me?" And the guy goes: "I’m telling everybody!"

46
Contrary to what most people would say, the most dangerous animal in the world is not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It’s a shark riding on an elephant’s back, just trampling and eating everything they see. (Jack Handey)

47
The only thing I know about Africa is that it's far, far away. About a thirty-five hour flight. The boat ride's so long, there are still slaves on their way here. (Chris Rock)

48
Last year, I deducted 10, 697 cartons of cigarettes as a business expense. The tax man said, "Don’t ever let us catch you without a cigarette in your hand." (Dick Gregory)

49
Animals may be our friends. But they won’t pick you up at the airport. (Bobcat Goldthwait)

50
Sid and Irv are business partners. They make a deal that whichever one dies first will contact the living one from the afterlife. So Irv dies. Sid doesn't hear from him for about a year, figures there is no afterlife. Then one day he gets a call. It's Irv. "So there is an afterlife! What's it like?" Sid asks. 'Well, I sleep very late. I get up, have a big breakfast. Then I have sex, lots of sex. Then I go back sleep, but I get up for lunch, have a big lunch. Have some more sex. Take a nap. Huge dinner. More sex. Go to sleep, and wake up the next day." "Oh, my god," says Sid "So that's what heaven is like?" "Oh no," says Irv. "I'm not in heaven. I'm a bear in Yellowstone Park."

51
I knew these Siamese twins.
They moved to England, so the other one could drive. (Steven Wright)

52
I always keep a supply of whiskey handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy. (W.C. Fields)

53
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. "Well, there's so much to live for!" "Like what?" "Well... are you religious?" He said yes. I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant ? "Protestant." "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist" "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God!" "Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God!" "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off. (Emo Philips)

54
Two old ladies are in a restaurant. One complains, "You know, the food here is just terrible." The other shakes her head and adds, "And such small portions." (Woody Allen)

55
A father is explaining ethics to his son, who is about to go into business. "Suppose a woman comes in and orders a hundred dollars worth of material. You wrap it up, and you give it to her. She pays you with a $100 bill. But as she goes out the door you realize she’s given you two $100 bills. Now, here’s where the ethics come in: should you or should you not tell your partner?" (Henny Youngman)

56
I feel sorry for people who don’t drink or do drugs. Because someday they’re going to be in a hospital bed, dying, and they won’t know why. (Redd Foxx)

57
I failed my driver’s test. The guy asked me "what do you do at a red light?" I said, I don’t know… look around, listen to the radio… (Bill Braudis).

58
China has a population of a billion people. One billion. That means even if you’re a one in a million kind of guy, there are still a thousand others exactly like you. (A. Whitney Brown)

59
Last time I was down South, I was in a restaurant and ordered some chicken, and these three cousins, you know the ones I mean, Klu, Kluck and Klan, come up and say "Boy, we’re givin’ you fair warnin’. Anything you do to that chicken, we’re gonna do to you." So I put down my knife and fork, and I picked up that chicken, and I kissed it. (Dick Gregory)

60
If I ever have twins, I'd use one for parts. (Steven Wright)

61
A Jewish man is walking on the beach when he discovers a bottle containing genie. He rubs it and a genie comes out, promises to grant him one wish. He says, "Peace in the Middle east, that's my wish." The genie looks concerned, then says "No, I'm sorry, that's just not possible. Some things just can't be changed. Do you have another wish?" The guys says 'Well...for my whole life I've never receievd oral sex from my wife. That would be my wish." The genie pauses for another moment and then says "How would you define peace?"

62
Waiters and waitresses are becoming nicer and much more caring. I used to pay my check, theyd’ say "Thank you." That graduated into "Have a nice day." That’s now escalated into "You care care of yourself, now." The other day I paid my check – the waiter said, "Don’t put off that mammogram." (Rita Rudner)

63
A lawyer dies and goes to Heaven. "There must be some mistake," the lawyer argues. "I’m too young to die. I’m only fifty five." "Fifty five?" says Saint Peter. "No, according to out calculations, you’re eighty two." "How’s you get that?" the lawyer asks. Answers St. Peter: "We added up your time sheets."

64
Last night I was having dinner with Charles Manson, and in the middle of dinner he turned to me and said "Is it hot in here, or am I crazy?" (Gilbert Gottfried)

65
An old woman is upset at her husband’s funeral. "You have him in a brown suit and I wanted him in a blue suit" The mortician says "We’ll take care of it, ma’am" and yells back ‘"Ed, switch the heads on two and four!"

66
We had a depression fair in the back yard. A major game there was Pin the Blame on the Donkey. (Richard Lewis)

67
I bet the main reason the police keep people away from a plane crash is they don’t want anybody walking in and lying down in the crash stuff, then, when somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, "What was that?!" (Jack Handey)

68
New York now leads the world's great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn't make a sudden move. (David Letterman)

69
Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it’s worse when you see them wearing dark glasses, having streamers around their necks and a hat on their antlers. Because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot. (Ellen Degeneres)

70
I had a cab driver in Paris. The man smelled like a guy eating cheese while getting a permanent inside the septic tank of a slaughterhouse. (Dennis Miller)

71
Two ministers doing missionary work in the South Seas are captured by a tribe and tied to stakes. The chief says to them, "You have a choice – death, or ugga bugga." The first guy says, "Well, I guess ugga bugga." The chief shouts "UGGA BUGGA!" and 30 members of the tribe attack and sodomize the first missionary. The chief then asks the second minister, "Now you have a choice, death or ugga bugga." He says "well, my religion does not allow me to choose ugga bugga, so I suppose it must be death." The chief says, "Very well," and shouts "DEATH. But first, UGGA BUGGA!

72
I was on the subway, sitting on a newspaper, and a guy comes over and asks ‘Are you reading that?" I didn’t know what to say. So I said yes. I stood up, turned the page, and sat down again. (David Brenner).

73
These impossible women! How do they get around us! The poet was right: can’t live with them, or without them! (Aristophanes)

74
I went to the psychiatrist, and he says "You're crazy " I tell him I want a second opinion. He says, ‘Okay, you're ugly too!" (Rodney Dangerfield)

75
Two campers are hiking in the woods when one is bitten on the rear end by a rattlesnake. "I’ll go into town for a doctor," the other says. He runs ten miles to a small town and finds the town’s only doctor, who is delivering a baby. "I can’t leave," the doctor says. ‘But here’s what to do. Take a knife, cut a little X where the bite is, suck out the poison and spit it on the ground." The guy ruins back to his friend, who is in agony. ‘What did the doctor say?" the victim asks. "He says you’re gonna die."

76
Last night, it was so cold, the flashers in New York were only describing themselves. (Johnny Carson)

77
Take my wife…please (Henny Youngman)

78
A guy asks a lawyer what his fee is. "I charge $50 for three questions," the lawyer says. "That’s awfully steep, isn’t it?" the guy asks. "Yes," the lawyer replies, "Now what’s your final question?"

79
My wife and I took out life insurance policies on each other -- so now it's just a waiting game. (Bill Dwyer)

80
I can’t think of anything worse after a night of drinking than waking up next to someone and not being able to remember their name, or how you met, or why they’re dead. (Laura Kightlinger)

81
Mario Andretti has retired from race car driving. That's a good thing. He's getting old. He ran his entire last race with his left blinker on. (Jon Stewart)

82
My sister was with two men in one night. She could hardly walk after that. Can you imagine? Two dinners! (Sarah Silverman)

83
I have a large seashell collection, which I keep scattered on beaches all over the world (Steven Wright)

84
A guy is sitting at home when he hears a knock at the door. He opens the door and sees a snail on the porch. He picks up the snail and throws it as far as he can. Three years later, there’s a knock on the door. He opens it and sees the same snail. The snail says ‘What the hell was that all about?"

85
Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made. (George Burns)

86
After 12 years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes.. He said, "No hablo ingles." (Ronnie Shakes)

87
Two Irish guys are fishing. The first guy reels in his line and sees that he's snagged an old bottle. As he's taking it off the hook, a genie pops out and promises to grant him one wish. "Turn the lake into beer," he says. The genie goes "Poof!" and the lake turns into beer. He says to the other guy, "So what do you think?" The other guy says, "You jerk. Now we've got to piss in the boat."

88
My grandfather is hard of hearing. He needs to read lips. I don’t mind him reading lips, but he uses one of those yellow highlighters. (Brian Kiley)

89
I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for member. (Groucho Marx)

90
A guy tells his psychiatrist: ‘It was terrible. I was away on business, and I wired my wife that I’d be back a day early. I rushed home from the airport and found her in bed with my best friend. I don’t get it. How could she do this to me?" "Well," says the psychiatrist. "Maybe she didn’t get your telegram."

91
They say animal behavior can warm you when an earthquake is coming. Like the night before that last earthquake hit, our family dog took the car keys and drove to Arizona (Bob Hope/Gene Perret)

92
A Catholic teenager goes to confession, and after confessing to an affair with a girl is told by the priest that he can't be forgiven unless he reveals who the girl is. "I promised not to tell!" he says. "Was it Mary Patricia, the butcher's daughter?" the preist asks. "No, and I said I wouldn't tell." "Was it Mary Elizabeth, the printer's daughter?" "No, and I still won't tell!" 'Was it Mary Francis, the baker's daughter?" "No," says the boy. 'Well, son," says the priest, "I have no choice but to excommunicate you for six months." Outside, the boy's friends ask what happened. "Well," he says, "I got six months, but three good leads."

93
I was coming back from Canada, driving through Customs, and the guy asked "Do you have any firearms with you?" I said: "What do you need?' (Steven Wright)

94
A comedian is sitting at the bar of a comedy club late one night when a beautiuful woman comes up to him and says "I saw you perform tonight, and you’re the funniest guy I’ve ever seen. I want to take you home and give you the hottest night of sex you’re ever had." The comedian looks at her and says, "Did you see the first show or the second show?"

95
The guy who shot Robert Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, goes up for parole every year. Once he even told the parole board that if Kennedy was alive today, he would speak in his favor and say let him go. What a tough break, you know? The one guy who would have supported him, and he shot him. (Paula Poundstone)

96
Bob: "Emily, aren’t you afraid of death?" Emily: "I just think of it as a part of life." Bob: "Yeah. The last part." (Bob Newhart show)

97
I believe Dr. Kevorkian is onto something. I think he’s great. Because suicide is our way of saying to God, "You can’t fire me. I quit." (Bill Maher)

98
My father heard the story of the Menendez brothers. He quit playing the lottery. He said ‘Screw it, I’ve got twelve kids. Any one of them could snap." (Paul Rodriguez)

99
I bought a box of animal crackers and it said on it "Do not eat if seal is broken." So I opened up the box, and sure enough... (Brian Kiley)

&
100
I went to a restaurant with a sign that said they served breakfast at any time. So I ordered French toast during the Renaissance. (Steven Wright)

The American Film Institute's List of the Top 100 Funniest Films

1. Some Like It Hot (1959) (on VHS)
2. Tootsie (1982) (on VHS)
3. Dr. Strangelove (1964) (on VHS and DVD)
4. Annie Hall (1977) (on VHS and DVD)
5. Duck Soup (1933) (on VHS and DVD)
6. Blazing Saddles (1974) (on VHS and DVD)
7. M*A*S*H (1970) (on VHS)
8. It Happened One Night (1934) (on VHS and DVD)
9. The Graduate (1967) (on VHS and DVD)
10. Airplane! (1980) (on VHS)
11. The Producers (1968) (on VHS)
12. A Night at the Opera (1935) (on VHS)
13. Young Frankenstein (1974) (on VHS and DVD)
14. Bringing Up Baby (1938) (on VHS)
15. The Philadelphia Story (1940) (on VHS and DVD)
16. Singin' in the Rain (1952) (on VHS and DVD)
17. The Odd Couple (1968) (on VHS)
18. The General (1927) (on VHS and DVD)
19. His Girl Friday (1940) (on VHS and DVD)
20. The Apartment (1960) (on VHS)
21. A Fish Called Wanda (1988) (on VHS and DVD)
22. Adam's Rib (1949) (on VHS and DVD)
23. When Harry Met Sally... (1989) (on VHS)
24. Born Yesterday (1950) (on DVD)
25. The Gold Rush (1925) (on VHS and DVD)
26. Being There (1979) (on VHS)
27. There's Something About Mary (1998) (on VHS and DVD)
28. Ghostbusters (1984) (on VHS and DVD)
29. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) (on VHS and DVD)
30. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) (on VHS and DVD)
31. Raising Arizona (1987) (on VHS and DVD)
32. The Thin Man (1934) (on VHS)
33. Modern Times (1936) (on VHS and DVD)
34. Groundhog Day (1993) (on VHS and DVD)
35. Harvey (1950) (on VHS)
36. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) (on VHS and DVD)
37. The Great Dictator (1940) (on VHS and DVD)
38. City Lights (1931) (on VHS and DVD)
39. Sullivan's Travels (1942) (on VHS)
40. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) (on VHS)
41. Moonstruck (1987) (on VHS and DVD)
42. Big (1988) (on VHS and DVD)
43. American Graffiti (1973) (on VHS and DVD)
44. My Man Godfrey (1936) (on VHS and DVD)
45. Harold and Maude (1971) (on VHS and DVD)
46. Manhattan (1979) (on VHS and DVD)
47. Shampoo (1975) (on VHS)
48. A Shot in the Dark (1964) (on VHS and DVD)
49. To Be or Not to Be (1942) (on VHS)
50. Cat Ballou (1965) (on VHS and DVD)
51. The Seven Year Itch (1955) (on VHS)
52. Ninotchka (1939) (on VHS)
53. Arthur (1981) (on VHS and DVD)
54. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) (on VHS)
55. The Lady Eve (1941) (on VHS)
56. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) (on VHS)
57. Diner (1982) (on VHS and DVD)
58. It's a Gift (1934) (on VHS)
59. A Day at the Races (1937)
60. Topper (1937)
61. What's Up, Doc? (1972) (on VHS)
62. Sherlock Jr. (1923) (on VHS and DVD)
63. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) (on VHS)
64. Broadcast News (1987) (on VHS and DVD)
65. Horse Feathers (1932) (on VHS and DVD)
66. Take the Money and Run (1969) (on VHS and DVD)
67. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) (on VHS and DVD)
68. The Awful Truth (1937) (on VHS)
69. Bananas (1971) (on VHS and DVD)
70. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) (on VHS and DVD)
71. Caddyshack (1980) (on VHS and DVD)
72. Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House (1948) (on VHS)
73. Monkey Business (1931) (on VHS and DVD)
74. 9 to 5 (1980) (on VHS)
75. She Done Him Wrong (1933) (on VHS)
76. Victor/Victoria (1982) (on VHS)
77. The Palm Beach Story (1942) (on VHS)
78. The Road to Morocco (1942) (on VHS and DVD)
79. The Freshman (1925)
80. Sleeper (1973) (on VHS and DVD)
81. The Navigator (1924) (on VHS and DVD)
82. Private Benjamin (1980) (on VHS and DVD)
83. Father of the Bride (1950) (on VHS)
84. Lost in America (1985) (on VHS)
85. Dinner at Eight (1933)
86. City Slickers (1991) (on VHS)
87. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) (on VHS and DVD)
88. Beetlejuice (1988) (on VHS and DVD)
89. The Jerk (1979) (on VHS and DVD)
90. Woman of the Year (1942) (on VHS and DVD)
91. The Heartbreak Kid (1972) (on VHS)
92. Ball of Fire (1941) (on VHS and DVD)
93. Fargo (1996) (on VHS and DVD)
94. Auntie Mame (1958) (on VHS)
95. Silver Streak (1976) (on VHS)
96. Sons of the Desert (1933)
97. Bull Durham (1988) (on VHS and DVD)
98. The Court Jester (1956) (on VHS and DVD)
99. The Nutty Professor (1963) (on VHS)
100. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) (on VHS and DVD)

Possible medical effects of laughter

While it is normally only considered cliché that "laughter is the best medicine," specific medical theories attribute improved health and well-being to laughter.

A study demonstrated neuroendocrine and stress-related hormones decreased during episodes of laughter, which provides support for the claim that humor can relieve stress.

Norman Cousins wrote a book, "Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient", in 1979, on his experience with laughter in helping him recover from a serious illness.

In 1989, the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article, wherein the author wrote that "a humor therapy program can increase the quality of life for patients with chronic problems and that laughter has an immediate symptom-relieving effect for these patients, an effect that is potentiated when laughter is induced regularly over a period".

Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter_therapy#Jokes_and_brain

great info

great info

yo- i am boggled, great info thanks much. i could use a good laugh. can't wait to get started. thanks again

Man those jokes were great. I only read the first ten of em'...I'll save the rest for when I'm in a bad mood. Thanks.

Ways To Annoy People

Maintain a high-level of constructive decorum by addressing someone with whom you disagree as "monkey boy".

Ask Austrian readers about kangaroos.

Ask Australian readers about alpine skiing.

Demand that others cease using the letter e, as you find it "dply offnsiv".

Enrich the lives of thousands with a thoughtful and impassioned debate on the topic "AOL users suck".

Followup another person's posts every twelve minutes to accuse them of "obsessing".

...More posted @
Various Ways To easily Annoy People (humour)
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=29867