It’s tough to nail down a single origin story for April Fool’s Day – some point to a line in The Canterbury Tales, others pore through ancient manuscripts for references to a day of trickery. Either way, it’s fascinating how this holiday has lasted for hundreds of years. Somehow, somewhere, folks created a day dedicated to making ourselves and each other laugh, because exercising that part of our humanity was important to them.
We look for reasons to laugh all the time – we have an entire profession dedicated to comedy. And there are real biological reasons why we seek out humor. For episode 201 of the Disrupt Yourself podcast, I interviewed Dr. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, who teach a class called “Humor: Serious Business” at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“Laughing has unparalleled effects on our neurochemistry and our behavior,” Naomi said in our interview. “So we know that it changes the chemistry of our brains to make us more primed for connection, more creative, more resourceful, more resilient to stress. And this is because when we laugh, our brains release a cocktail of hormones.”
Dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin – these hormones flood our brains when we laugh. “Humor is a powerful insulator against feeling overwhelmed and anxious,” Jennifer said. “And it’s because laughter suppresses cortisol, the stress hormone that’s been linked to these higher levels of anxiety and increased levels of depression.” Just the anticipation of laughter decreases cortisol and epinephrine by 39% and 70%, respectively.
There’s also a deeper, more spiritual element to the power of laughing. As Jennifer put it, “In humor or comedy, you have to be fully present. You’re listening for those moments of callback, you’re waiting for a moment to join in on laughter.” When you’re listening for the punchline, your mind and body are fully there, engaged with the moment.
Now it makes sense why we’re naturally drawn to people who make us laugh, because that laughter is reinforcing our own feelings of confidence, of humanity. I visited my mom last month in Arizona, and one of her favorite movies is Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain, all about silent film actors making the jump to movies with sound. There’s a song in it called “Make ‘Em Laugh,” and I love these lines:
“Now you could study Shakespeare and be quite elite,
And you can charm the critics and have nothin’ to eat,
Just slip on a banana peel,
The world’s at your feet.”
Laughter makes us stronger, draws us together. So, can we find some reasons to laugh this month? Standup comics usually keep a list somewhere on their phone of things that made them laugh in passing, so they can use it as material later – why don’t I take April to do the same? I might not be performing at an open mic show any time soon, but it’ll log the moment and reinforce the connection between the act of laughing and how I felt in the moment.
I’ll leave you with a classic:
It doesn’t matter how much you push the envelope; it’ll still be stationary.
