Laugh with/at me!

To commemorate my 15th blog post (I love odd numbers) and also to make this Tuesday go by a leeetle bit faster, I thought I'd make a list of some random thoughts about "funny stuff" that has crossed my mind in the past 24-48 hours. There is no method to this mayhem, there probably is no method to my thinking of these random thoughts but I am in a sharing mood, so why not?

• the laughter in sitcoms, such as everybody loves raymond, 2 and a half men, friends, so on so forth, really really really annoys me. I guess I never payed much attention to it, because I usually would laugh at those 'on queue' moments as well but the minute you don't laugh and you hear the laughter, you start to wonder, "why is that funny" and then you question, who's that laughing? how come I'm not laughing? who pushes that funny-button anyway? that must be a cool job, editing the funnies, and I drift and before you know it I am annoyed again because I missed out on the next funny and not because It wasn't funny, but because I wasn't paying attention to whether it was funny or not and now I may never know...
• so of course, I googled "laughter in sitcoms" and realized I am not the only weirdo that has found this annoying, and there are blogs dedicated (okay maybe I am exaggerating) but alot of cyberspace is dedicated to this canned laughter and trying to get rid of it. But I did learn that they put the laughter on there, so we, the AUDIENCE find whats happening even funnier. those sneaks! they want to control our laughter and society is giving in, because apparently it works, and they laugh which in return makes us laugh, and not because we actually think its funny but because other people are laughing so maybe we should be laughing too and we do this subconsciously. so I wanted to share with you,my friends, so they (people in tvland) don't control you anymore. Because guess what? i cannot watch those shows anymore without paying attention to the canned laughter. so if i cant enjoy them, why should you?
  
• on a brighter note, I found this video online that made me laugh. i don't know what it is about it, the monotone voice, the surrealistic feel to it, but its very funny. feel free to laugh with me. and no, it does not have the canned laughter on it on "funny" moments. so watch out, you might have to actually decipher whats funny on your own. dont worry, i have faith.
  
• with all this laughter in mind. some how i ended up on wiki's how-to website. and get this, yep, they have one, our very own HOW TO LAUGH-wikihow. don't believe me? read for yourself. and what happens if you are on a budget? apparently we are encouraged to laugh on a budget too. please don't forget to read the warnings on the bottom of the page. those are very important because "too much laughter may cause people to think you have serious mental problems"

http://www.wikihow.com/Laugh

1. Think of something you find funny. Not surprisingly, the easiest way to laugh is to think of something that you personally find very amusing. It seems a no-brainer, but it can be useful for those occasions where everybody but you is laughing at a joke. Why would you want to laugh just because others are laughing? Laughing along with one or more people shows you how to have to amuse yourself.
2. Smile. If you do want to fake... er, create a laugh, start with a smile. Scientists have found that genuine laughter is almost accompanied by the contraction of about 15 facial muscles, most of which are the same you use when you smile. Remember to smile with your eyes as well as your mouth. Smiling not only is a part of the natural laugh reflex; it can actually put you in a better mood and make you more apt to laugh.
3. Laugh at the appropriate time. Genuine laughs almost always begin at the end of a phrase or sentence. That is, they do not interrupt spoken phrases, but rather punctuate speech when the speaker would normally pause to breathe or start a new thought. You have probably noticed that stand-up comedians, for instance, pause at certain times during or after their jokes. These are spaces for laughter, and if a comedian had the lung capacity and the audacity to deliver a two-minute monologue without ever pausing, it's quite possible no one would laugh, regardless of how funny the routine was.
4. Match your vowels. A typical laugh consists of short vocalizations, each with the same vowel sound. So, for example, "ha ha ha" will sound like a normal laugh, as will "bo ho ho," but "ha ho ha" just sounds weird. And kind of scary.
5. Time your vocalizations. Research shows that the individual vocalizations that make up a "natural" laugh are about 210 milliseconds apart. The precision of that statistic is useless, because it varies around four per second, and comedians have made fun of limits in the machine gun tempo.
6. 
   Feel it in your belly. You've got your timing and vowels right, but if you just say "ha ha ha" people are liable to think that you are either stuttering or mocking them. If this is not your desired effect, remember that sustained or frequent laughter is a proven way to strengthen and tone your abdominal muscles. The reason, of course, is that a good laugh uses those muscles to rather forcefully expel short bursts of air. Practice this by doing your best belly laugh—it doesn't necessarily need to be loud—for one minute. You will feel the burn. You may want to be seated if you try this, however, as laughter is characterized by irregular breathing and is actually similar to gasping for air.
7. Taper your laugh. The typical laugh starts relatively loud and then tapers gradually off. While this isn't always the case, laughs that increase in volume or that stop abruptly are generally suspicious. And remember, laughing is showing people that you're happy. So, have fun with it and don't worry about what people think of your laugh. Everyone has their own unique laugh, and everyone will love to hear yours!

Warnings

• While scientists believe that laughter has a whole host of health benefits, it's not recommended for some people, such as those who have recently had certain surgeries or those with certain medical conditions. Sometimes people laugh at sneezes or hiccups; however after surgery either can causes severe groans; which may seem funny to the innocent bystander but not to the one groaning: " `Hic' , awnh-aaaawnh-aah-awh!".
• Always follow the advice of your medical professional, and if you ever experience pain or discomfort while laughing, especially if the discomfort persists after you have stopped laughing, consult your doctor immediately.
• As is the case with other forms of body language, it's difficult to fake laughter, and if you're unconvincing, people may suspect there's something phony about you.
• Too much "laughter" may cause people to believe that you have serious mental problems.