Laughter As Medicine with Josh Johnson

The Happier Life Project

We’re all familiar with the old saying ‘laughter is the best form of medicine’. Dig a little deeper and scientists and doctors are discovering more and more this to be true - laughter is a strong medicine - for our physical and mental health. When we are highly amused, this has physiological effects; it changes our body chemistry and brain function.

Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Laughter can also help lessen your stress, depression and anxiety and may make you feel happier. Humour helps relieve tension, reassures people, and draws them together. Laughter, like humour, typically sparks from recognizing the incongruities or absurdities of a situation.

In a world plagued by stress, and absurd situations; when we can, surely it’s better to laugh rather than cry? By seeking out more opportunities for humour and laughter, you can improve your emotional health, strengthen your relationships, find greater happiness—and even potentially add years to your life. This is why The Happy Life Project welcomes Josh Johnson who gets paid to make millions of people laugh, to explore this further.

Josh Johnson is an Emmy-nominated writer, comedian, actor, podcaster and NAACP award-winner from Louisiana by way of Chicago. He is currently a writer on the prestigious The Daily Show, and is a former writer and performer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he made his late-night debut in 2017. In addition, Johnson is Comedy Central’s ‘most watched comedian ever’ with 40M+ views to date across their platforms.

Josh talks to host Gabby about how making people laugh, along with going to therapy, saved his life. He also shares how he uses laughter to process his own feelings, “it’s a way to exhale hurt. Some people cry, scream… I laugh.” Josh discribes the incredible power in people coming together, charged on the currency of laughing out loud at a comedy show and offers suggestions on how we can invite more joy, fun and humour into our life.

For all things Josh Johnson: https://www.joshjohnsoncomedy.com/
To download the free My Possible Self App: https://mypossibleself.app.link/podcast
To follow My Possible Self on instagram: @mypossibleself