Show 83: Laughing Matters

Everyone knows that maintaining a good sense of humor is important in everyday life - and it can go an especially long way for parents raising children. On this program we'll explore how we can all insert more laughter (the best medicine!) into our day-to-day lives while learning to laugh more as a family. We'll find out why laughing is good for the bodies, minds and spirits of people of all ages and why.

• • •

IN-STUDIO GUESTS: Host Shana Sheehy examines the therapeutic and educational benefits of laughing with two guests:

• Jason Martin is a third generation Alaskan and one of the founding members of Alaska's longest running comedy improv troupe, Scared Scriptless Improv. When not on stage he loves spending time kayaking and hiking with his wife and son. His 7-year old son is already funnier than he is proving there's more to nature than nurture, he says.

• Mary Kay Morrison is an international humor educator. She spent decades in the classroom and says she enjoys learners of all ages. For more than 20 years she’s worked as a keynote speaker and conference educator teaching today’s teachers and professional educators about using humor to promote balance and reduce stress. Mary Kay serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor.  She joins us today from her home in Illinois.

LINKS FROM THIS PROGRAM:

• Scared Scriptless Improv (check out their classes for kids!)
• Quest for Humor (Mary Kay Morrison)
• Using Humor to Maximize Learning
• Using Humor to Maximize Living
• Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor
• Dr. Lee Berk's medical research on laughter
• Alaska Native Knowledge Network
• Happiness Linked to Longer Life (CNN)
• World Happiness Report 2012 (Columbia University)

FEATURED STORIES:

- Knock Knock, Who's There?, Little Comedians! - KTD contributor Jessica Cochran visited Tenaina Child Development Center and Denali Montessori, both in Anchorage, to ask little kids, preschool to 3rd grade, to tell us their best jokes.

- The Science of Laughter - Could laughter really be the best medicine? To find out how laughter and positive emotions can effect the body and mind, we spoke with  one of the leading researchers on humor in the medical community. Dr. Lee Berk is a professor of medicine at Loma Linda University in California and, as he told KTD producer Sarah Gonzales, he's serious about laughter.

- Laughter as a Traditional Inupiaq Value - At the end of the Seward Peninsula, one man’s family lives to laugh. They are Inupiaq and humor is taken pretty seriously in Inupiaq culture. As KTD contributor Emily Schwing reports from Fairbanks, it’s one of 17 values people live by and use to teach younger generations.