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The Daily Times - Pakistan
Tuesday, 30 May 2006
The Laughter Tonic 24.8.03

A hospital is probably the last place any one would expect to see the brightly coloured laughing booth, which looks as if it wouldn't be out of place in some seaside town.

But as artist Nicola Green explains laughter is a very important part of well-being.

And she said her laughter booth had been a popular installation at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where staff, patients and relatives were able to get a little light relief from the misery of ill-health.

"Laughing is a sign of coping and even if someone is dying, laughter is a sign of coping. Here there are quite a lot of families who live here with their kids. It is an expression of happiness and happiness is good for all of us. It stimulates the body's defences, reduces pain and helps recovery from illness.

"Laughter therapy is developing fast and new research is looking into the ways that laughter happens, how it affects hormones, how it stimulates the brain and how it makes us all healthier and happier.'

Nicola along with Lara Agnew, a filmmaker and video artist, took five filmed portraits of people laughing to the hospital as well as a record of the sounds of various other people laughing.

Visitors could then go into the special booth at the hospital to hear the way different people laugh and see what responses it provoked in them. After listening to the often-infectious laughter many people found themselves convulsed.

The laughs are influenced by a person's sex, their age, their race and their background. "We looked at how different sounds engendered different responses.

"It has been most interesting being in the hospital with this exhibition because you get all sorts of people from the patients and the visitors to the staff."

The Daily Times - Pakistan
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