A Laughing Matter : UCLA Extension Offers Training in the Art, Craft and Therapy of Comedy

The students in the lecture hall at UCLA’s Franz Hall were asked to pair off and face each other. With their eyes closed and holding hands, they were told to think about someone who causes them a lot of stress.

As some students’ hands began to sweat and others tensed, they were instructed to picture themselves walking up to that person.

“Get as close to that person as you can without touching them,” the instructor said. He paused a moment. “And now, on the count of two, drop a cream pie down their shorts.”

As the students broke out in laughter, their sweaty palms dried, their grips relaxed and nervousness disappeared. Instructor Bob Basso explained that the point of the exercise was to show that there is a correlation between a person’s physical and mental state.

Laughter Over Stress

“Your thinking can change bodily functions,” Basso said. “If you are laughing, you cannot be stressed out.”

How to find and use humor in everyday life is the focus of this UCLA Extension course, which is the first class in a new sequential curriculum for professional training in the art, craft and therapy of comedy.

The introductory class, called Funny Bone, is an eight-week course that costs $195 and meets Tuesday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. through March 14.

Two other courses, Performing Stand-Up Comedy ($350) and Improvisational Comedy Workshop ($350), are also offered. Additional courses are being developed and will be offered this fall.

UCLA Extension is the continuing education arm of the university. It receives no state tax money and is supported by student enrollment fees.

A university curriculum in comedy may be unusual, but Basso said it may be the way of the future as more people turn to comedy for relief.

“UCLA Extension has always been on the cutting edge of every new trend,” he said.

Comedian Steve Allen, a recent guest speaker in the class, said that in a magazine article he wrote in the 1950s, he observed that there were about 50 American comedians in show business. Today, he said, there are about 2,000.

“The reason for that particular mushroom growth in the professionally funny population is that this is the first generation in history that has been brainwashed with comedy literally from the cradle,” Allen said. “In the old days, 50 years ago, you could hear Jack Benny on the radio or see Bob Hope in a funny movie.

“But it wasn’t morning, noon and night. Now, there’s comedy available as soon as you get up in the morning and turn on the set. You can watch (Jackie) Gleason reruns all day or Lucy (Lucille Ball), or whatever . . . you want. There’s cable, there’s concerts, there’s movies, and the young people want to get into that.

“Humor is by no means something trivial. Did you ever notice how much they pay comedians? Much more than presidents and Nobel Peace Prize winners. It’s a marketable skill and a very rare one.”

Initially, Basso thought most of his students would be people pursuing careers in comedy. But he found that about 90% of his class are people simply looking to incorporate humor into their lives.

“Our society has never been more stressed out, more confused than now,” said Basso, an actor and comic who formed Laughter Therapy and Light Management, a consultant service designed to help business managers lighten their management style. “All these comedy clubs are not popping up for nothing.

“Today we have more comedy that is self-effacing. People are talking about personal matters. We are making fun of it because if we take it seriously, we’ll go crazy.”

Therapeutic Effect

The therapeutic effect of comedy can also be used in treating physical illnesses, Basso said.

At a recent session of Funny Bone, guest speakers included comedians Allen, Sid Caesar and Bill Dana, who have all spoken and written books on humor and health.

“There is an overlapping between what might seem purely mental factors on the one hand and purely physical on the other,” Allen said.

Two other guest speakers that night were Dr. Malin Dollinger, an oncologist who believes in the therapeutic uses of humor, and Dr. Harold Benjamin, who heads a support group for cancer patients called the Wellness Community in Santa Monica.

Dollinger said he rarely tells jokes but that often patients do need a release from the anxiety of their illnesses. He related a situation in which humor was needed:

“This woman with cancer came into my office and was very upset because she dropped her cancer medication into a trash compactor. This was a life or death situation in her mind. She didn’t realize that she could just get more pills.

“I very quickly assessed that I needed to say something to break the anxiety. I told her I had bad news and good news. The bad news is that you’ve lost your pills and now you’ll have to get new ones. The good news is your trash compactor will never get cancer.”

Benjamin said there is probably more laughter in his Wellness Community than in “most places you know.”

“Laughter is simply a catch-all phrase for pleasant emotions,” he said. “To evoke a pleasant, relaxation state enhances physical well being.”

Laura Owens, who had two successful operations for breast cancer, said: “The laughter makes you feel better and relaxed. It counteracts the unpleasantness.”

Another cancer patient, Mary Ann Simon, who lost a breast to cancer, said humor has helped her deal with her situation. “I really find that it energizes me,” she said.

Simon is enrolled in both the Funny Bone and stand-up comedy classes at UCLA Extension. “I want to laugh,” she said.

But humor is not only therapeutic for people with physical ailments. Some students in Basso’s class said they just want more humor in their lives.

“I wanted at least one night of humor in my life, and it has been more than I expected,” said Beverly Lewis of West Los Angeles, a bank trust officer.

“Banks are very unfunny places,” Lewis said.

“I don’t think I would be a comedian, but I really hope I can put the humor in my everyday life,” said Irene Bosco of Van Nuys, who is in real estate.

Lila Alexander of Los Angeles said simply: “I want to laugh a lot.”

Basso said he doesn’t care why people want to laugh, only that they do want to laugh and that they start by learning to laugh at themselves.

“There is only one therapeutic use of humor,” he said. “If you can’t learn to make fun of yourself, you will never have any true, consistent practical humor skills. You reduce the threat of everyone else when you make fun of yourself.”

And to make his point, he had his students stand up, touch the tip of their noses with their right hand, with their left hand grab the earlobe of the person to their left, and in a loud voice repeat:

“I will stop taking myself so seriously. I will make fun of myself. I will find humor in any situation. I will never move an Indian holy man unless absolutely necessary for my mental state.”