Finding Laughter: 9 Laughter Date Ideas (Day 23)

When was the last time you had a laughter date?

“I have laughter dates with myself, where I find comics on YouTube and watch them. Louis C.K. was my first laughter date a couple years ago. I’ll also watch those videos of people doing idiotic things. That cracks me up.” ~ Inga Muscio

Laughter dates are meant to expose you to things that could bring on laughter. I am trying to have a laughter date 1-2 times a week. Things like games, gratitude, and being around funny people do that for me.

WHY LAUGH? Here is a quote Barbara left in the comments.

“Mirth is God’s medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. Grim care, moroseness, anxiety — all this rust of life ought to be scoured off by the oil of mirth. It is better than emery. Every man ought to rub himself with it. A man without mirth is like a wagon without springs, in which everyone is caused disagreeably to jolt by every pebble over which is runs.”
— Henry Ward Beecher

Below are some of the laughter dates I’ve had while writing this series.

1. Volunteer to be a nursery helper at church. You will see yourself doing all kind of SILLY just to get a kiddo to smile. And when they laugh, you feel like you’ve hit gold.
2. Play Telestrations at a family game night. This is the Telephone Game with a drawing twist. None of us are artists. And we all think so differently from another. It was hilarious trying to figure out what that drawings REALLY meant.
3. Interview a funny person. Ask him/her about their humor beginnings, tips, and  a recent humorous event. I had a funny and connecting time when I interviewed Lorna.
4. Watch Patch Adams. This movie stars Robin Williams. I was alone when watching this. And I LAUGHED out loud multiple times.
5. Go to staff lunch. Humor always abounds when we are together.
6. Recall humorous times. In your humor notebook write down funny events from childhood, work, etc. I don’t have much written in my book yet, but it is a work in progress.
7. Watch the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. There are plenty of youtube videos. Much of this is just plain silly. I don’t usually find plain silly funny. But it is clean and sometimes I actually LAUGH.
8. Write a gratitude list.Then thank God in prayer for those things. It is hard to be happy (which leads to laughing) without first being grateful.
9. Meet a funny person for coffee. I had an unplanned “date” with a funny person. And it was great. I will be doing more of this.

Your Turn . . .  What are some ideas you have for a laughter date? You might not need ideas, but I sure do!

I am joining 100’s of others at #write31days to write every day in October 2015 on a single topic. My topic is 31 Days of Finding Laughter. I will spend time each day studying laughter to see if I can improve my laughter quotient.

Go here for the landing page which has all the posts in one spot.

Read, learn, and discover with me what this world of laughter is all about and is it all that it’s cracked up to be. And be sure to leave a comment. Talking together will make for a richer, interactive experience for all of us.