Laughter contest has serious side
‘BEST CHORTLERS’ EVENT AIMS TO SPREAD JOY AND BRING COMMUNITIES TOGETHER
ARE you having a laugh? Well, yes actually...
Next weekend sees The Comedy Store Manchester host the seventh UK National Laughter Championships.
But this isn’t stand-up comedy, it’s laughter for no reason - the search for the best chortlers in the country.
During the contest, people will come on stage in a pair or small group and show how they laugh joyfully together. The audience will then choose the winners.
Anyone is welcome to compete, or just sit back and watch.
The championship, held at The Comedy Store on Deansgate Locks on Sunday, September 2, from 3.15pm, is a We Stand Together event.
It’s for people of all backgrounds and beliefs and languages to speak together with the universal languages of love and laughter.
Robin Graham, founder of the championships, said: “Our aim is to get people to connect with each other through laughter, feel happier and enjoy life.
“Fifty years of research backs up the fact that laughter really is a great medicine. It’s not a serious competition, no really it’s not, but a way to come together and make connections.
“The winner is chosen by the audience, and the prize cost us about 35p.”
With the summer coming to a close and the nights getting longer, what could be a better way to start the autumn months?
A spokesman for the Laughter Championships added: “It is not about comedy, but just laughing joyfully (laughter yoga), celebrating peace and communities.
“It is based on playfulness and laughing together – we never laugh at each other, but we laugh as one. A community that laughs together stands together.”
For more information visituklaugh.org or email festival@uklaugh.org.
● We Stand Together was created in 2015 to encourage people to come together as one and celebrate their differences, to help build a safer and stronger Greater Manchester and a safer and stronger country. You can follow the campaign on Twitter @WeStandTogether and on Facebook at facebook.com/WeStandTogetherBritain