About one month into her treatment my brother and two girl friends showed up for any evening visit. My brother brought with him a very funny CD which we all listened to for the duration of our visit. I can't explain the joy it gave me to see my daughter laughing all evening. It was great therapy for all of us.
It is now 2 years later (full remission) and for my birthday she bought tickets for me, my two girlfriends and herself to come see you at the Improv. We all laughed so much it hurt. Thank you again for your incredible talent and generous willingness to make people laugh, for 90 whole minutes.

When I was young, I suffered horribly from other children laughing at me. You know what kids are like - any hint of weakness, vulnerability or anything out of the ordinary is up for mockery. This is all fairly normal, but I was particularly sensitive about it and went through a lot of anguish over it. After some years, though, something different began to happen. Aware that people would laugh at me when I said or did anything dim or uncool, I gradually started to experiment with recreating that effect deliberately, on my own terms. I was beginning to be in charge of the process, which was a big change; people were still laughing at me, but now I was more okay about it.

After a decade or more of experimentation, I was earning a reputation as being one of those people with 'a sense of humour'. Without fully realizing it, I was turning an experience of victimhood into a positive process, discovering a source of power - for humour is a highly regarded and powerful asset in our society. People who can get others laughing, it seems, are that bit more popular and more charismatic; I liked this.

In the nineties, comedy was hailed as 'the new rock-and-roll'; and since then it has continued to occupy an increasingly powerful presence in entertainment and the media. Stand-up comedians are regarded as demigods, adulated for their ability not only to be funny but to do it in circumstances which most people consider more scary than being naked in public. But I reckon we're now coming into the next phase of this development, when many people are ready to reclaim some of this and have a go for themselves. Something parallel is happening in the field of artistic creativity with Julia Cameron's phenomenally successful work with "The Artist's Way".

Comedy improvisation is the key factor in this work, the magical catalyst that fuels this powerful alchemy of comedy and self-development. Improvisation simply means making stuff up as you go along - not knowing what's going to happen next; it's an extraordinary tool. Yet improvising is what we all do every day as we go about our lives. There isn't a script - we respond to each moment, even though we may have principles and strategies to guide our overall progress. We're constantly dealing with the unexpected, because most of what happens around us cannot be anticipated. So we do improvisation quite naturally. Furthermore we were all children once, and we knew very well how to play-act, to accept a role and dive into it wholeheartedly, believe in it totally and live it fully, then cast it aside and take up another without batting an eyelid. And that was a fantastic way of learning and evolving for us. We all still have that inner child somewhere inside us - even if we're now ninety-five.

Now some very interesting things happen when we go into this mode of improvisational play-acting, spontaneously creating bits of life - speeches, dialogue, events, interactions or whatever. For a start, we're obliged to reside more in the present moment, because we don't really know what's going to happen next. We don't know what we're going to come up with by ourselves, and if we're improvising with someone else we're constantly having to let go of our own ideas of what should happen, because the other person has just taken things in another direction. There's a lot of letting go and going with the flow.

As for me, I've certainly found the path of comedy improvisation to be transformative. I haven't turned into an out-and-out extrovert -I still honor the part of me that is shy and vulnerable; but that old wound seems to have been healed. I've extended my personal comfort zone, and I can now thoroughly enjoy the thrill of a thousand people watching me, listening and sometimes laughing as well - , without being entirely sure what’s going to happen next.

You may know the benefits of laughter on the mind and spirit, but are you aware of how much a good laugh can help you physically?

Norman Cousins used to say that laughter is so beneficial physically that it is like "inner jogging."

Mayo Clinic (Mayo Clinic Health Letter, March 1993) reports that laughter aids breathing by disrupting your normal respiration pattern and increasing your breathing rate. It can even help clear mucus from your lungs.

Laughter is good for your heart. It increases circulation and improves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues throughout your body. A good laugh helps your immune system fight off colds, flu and sinus problems by increasing the concentration of immunoglobulin A in your saliva. And it may help control pain by raising the levels of certain brain chemicals (endorphins).

It is also a natural stress reliever. Have you ever laughed so hard that you doubled over, fell off your chair, spit out your food or wet your pants? You cannot maintain muscle tension when you are laughing!

The good news is that you are allowed more than 15 laughs a day! Go ahead and double the dose and make it 30 times today. (You may begin to notice your relationships improving!) Then double it again! You are bound to feel better, you will cope with problems more effectively and people will enjoy being around you.

  I am the guy that spoke to you after your wonderful show on Sunday night at the Pasadena Ice House.  Thank you for a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable night.  I laughed so hard that at times the tears were streaming down my cheeks.      

   More importantly I want to tell you once again how your comedy helped me through my own personal crisis.  As I briefly mentioned to you after your show, my Mom recently passed away.  She died at the end of August in Limerick Ireland.  Because of the short notice of her illness I had to scramble to get home before she died.  It took me 27 hours from the time that I left my home in Sunland until I arrived at her house.  I listened to your CD two or three times on the flights back home and I also listened to it while I was there.  You, through your comedy, helped me cope with a very difficult and trying situation.  Laughter is truly the best medicine. 

As a cancer survivor and the President and Founder of a state wide organization, I'm thrilled to see your foundation.   Laughter has been my sanity sometimes.  Through some very difficult situations before the cancer and even afterwards, I would pray for something funny to laugh about - otherwise I would have been in a very, very sad situation.    

Thanks so much for your time and efforts.  If I can help you in any way in Georgia through my organization, please let me know.    

Sincerely,      Beverly Bentley

State Coordinator

Georgia Division