“Humor Me”: Laughter Therapy (Chris Duffy)

Comedy writer/podcaster and popular TED-Talker (“How to Find Laughter Anywhere“) Chris Duffy claims in his new book Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy, “Comedy is as essential to a healthy and happy life as diet and exercise.” 

From the Publishers Weekly review: The three essential pillars identified by Duffy are being present, laughing at oneself, and taking social risks.

“Interpersonally, joking releases tension, inverts conflict dynamics, and helps groups and individuals bond (laughter, Duffy writes, is ‘a by-product of connecting honestly and deeply with each other’). Physiologically, laughter decreases blood pressure and stimulates the release of dopamine and serotonin. One of the book’s most intriguing chapters explores how humor fuels innovation, partly because the willingness to not take oneself seriously is fundamental to curiosity.”

Bookpage notes that Duffy encourages using humor, moreover, to decrease our shame about “imperfections and fallibilities” and increase our likeability, sex appeal, and ability to connect with others, even strangers. “The author also explores the power of inside jokes, the humor-innovation connection, how amusement can lead to social change and how humor helps us contend with grief. And what’s worse than having no sense of humor? ‘Having a bad sense of humor’ and using it to bully, rather than build connection.”

Selected Reviews 

Kirkus Reviews: “Though Duffy occasionally touches on techniques for crafting and telling a joke—’start with the second biggest laugh’ and ‘funny things come in threes’— his main focus is on allowing humor and laughter to arise naturally in social settings, and learning to laugh at yourself.”

Library Journal: “What makes this book stand out is how it delivers its message through the very medium it celebrates: humor…Another strength of the book is in its reflective elements. Each chapter includes thought-provoking reflection questions that encourage readers to dig deeper in examining their own relationships with humor.”

Author A.J. Jacobs: “I missed my deadline for sending the publisher a blurb, because I kept re-reading passages, taking notes, and telling my wife my favorite parts of this book. Luckily, I got an extension so that I could write the following: What a wonderful book! Funny, wise, inspiring, practical, and many other positive adjectives.”