Hello there,
Did you know that one of the simplest and most effective ways to trick your brain is laughter? It can actually alter the chemicals in your brain, releasing serotonin and dopamine, reducing the body's stress response, and affecting organs and muscles. There's even a whole area of psychological study about how laughter affects the brain.
This week, something that made me laugh hysterically was the Godzilla vs Kong trailer. How is this not satire?!
If you have more time to invest in laughing, here are some of my go-tos.
Watch
There are shows that are funny, and then there are shows that make you burst out laughing in every episode and have such memorable lines that you remember them months or years later. These are some of those shows.
What We Do in the Shadows, on FX and Hulu, was for me a light during some of the darkest parts of the pandemic. It's the story of a group of vampires living together on Staten Island, told in a mockumentary style. The casting is impeccable and you have to watch carefully (put down your phone!) so as not to miss the quick beats of humor in a facial expression or camera cut. The citizenship episode (Season 1, Episode 8) is one of the funniest episodes of TV possibly ever. This show employs a very specific kind of dark humor that some people don't find appealing, and I honestly feel sorry for them.
Derry Girls, on Netflix, is a wonderful, incredibly funny and moving show about a group of teenage girls (and their male sidekick) growing up in Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles in the 1990s. You may want to put on closed captioning, because some of the accents are thick and some of the slang takes some getting used to.
Party Down, available on Starz and on demand, is one of those shows that never quite got its due and was cancelled too soon. It's about a group of struggling actors working at a catering company in LA with an all-star cast. I happened to find it especially relatable since I know people who have worked in this business, but I think others will find it funny, too.
Bonus Round
I’m Sorry (Netflix) is about a comedy writer in LA and the hilarious situations she gets into with her husband and kid. It, too, was cancelled too soon.
Catastrophe (Amazon) is a darkly funny show about an American and a Brit who become a family in a somewhat unconventional way.
Nailed It! (Netflix) is a family-friendly reality show in which people who cannot bake well compete to create intricately decorated baked goods. The results, while predictable, are laugh-out-loud funny. (The show's popularity spawned several international versions but be sure to watch the original US version, because the host is hilarious.)
Read
Back in the heyday of blogs, comic artist Allie Brosh had one of the funniest ones on the internet: Hyperbole and a Half. If you haven't read it, now is the time to go back through it, start to finish (I'd recommend going from earliest to latest, to understand the context). It's extraordinarily funny, moving and hilariously illustrated. You'll probably recognize a few of the drawings, which became memes. Brosh also garnered a devoted fandom for her incredible depictions of depression.
Once you're done, read her two books: Hyperbole and a Half and Solutions and Other Problems. Just a warning that the second book has very funny parts but also deeply upsetting ones.
Follow
There's an account on Instagram called Round Boys and it's just animals that are fat or round. That's it.
One of my absolute favorite posts they ever shared is this poor cat trying to exercise. It's very important to watch with the sound on.
Do
Right before the pandemic started, I bought a green jade roller. It's supposed to help smooth the skin and improve relaxation, though there are caveats about the extent of its effectiveness. Personally, I have found the roller and the gua sha, the flat piece that comes with it, to help with puffy eyes and to be really soothing for headaches, especially after leaving them in the freezer. There are a lot of different kinds with different bells and whistles but just a simple one does the trick.
Until next week,
Rachel