The Sense of Humor. RESOURCE GUIDE by Jim Winter

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The Sense of Humor. RESOURCE GUIDE by Jim Winter"

Albert Rose
5 years ago
Views:

1 The Sense of Humor RESOURCE GUIDE by Jim Winter Fun-damental strategies for using humor, laughter and improvisation to improve your teaching and your life! PowerPoint Presentation is available online:

2 HUMOR S EFFECTIVENESS HAPPIER HEALTHIER MORE EFFECTIVE Reduces stress and tension Physiology Improves mental functioning Decreases depression and anger Mature coping skill Psychology Promotes a sense of empowerment Improves mood Enhances climate Productivity Increases involvement Jumpstarts creativity Brain compatible Pedagogy Facilitates learning and productivity H.O.T. Higher Order Thinking 2

3 GREAT IMPROVISERS GREAT TEACHERS Need to be in the moment Play at the top of their intelligence Bridge conflict with yes.and Heighten and explore another s gifts Work without a script Don t deny another s creation. In improv, fun is always on the other side of yes! 3

4 THEORIES OF HUMOR From License to Laugh by Richard A. Shade I. Incongruity Theory - (Kant, Schopenhauer) Multiple meanings Detecting ambiguities Sudden shift of perspective II. Superiority Theory - (Plato, Aristotle, Descartes) Everything is funny as long as it s happening to someone else. - Mark Twain Humor to inflate our own ego Humor to deflate others we feel are superior Seeing flaw in others as compared to ourselves III. Relief\Release Theory - (Freud) Temporary freedom from our restrictions Rebellion against the repressive or uncontrollable Levity in a tense situation. IV. Humor as a Form of Play - (Eastman) A reversion to childish innocence V. Humor Exposes the Truth - (White) Rips away the veils of pretense Reveals truth of human nature and human affairs 4

5 THE FOUR FORMS OF HUMOR From License to Laugh by Richard A. Shade FIGURAL VERBAL Comic Books Comic Strips Cartoons Political Cartoons Jokes Puns Riddles Satire Parody Irony Wit Anecdote VISUAL (Physical) AUDITORY Impressions Impersonations Mime Pratfalls Practical Jokes Slapstick Sight gags Impressions Impersonations Noises Sounds FROM WAVELENGTH S LIVE KEYNOTE: THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE EDUCATORS 5

6 THE FOUR STYLES OF HUMOR SENSATE/THINKING SENSATE/FEELING Jokes (sexual, scatological) Puns Humor that takes establishment to task Interpersonal relationships Insightful humor Humor that comes from situations Soft, non-hurtful humor INTUITIVE/THINKING INTUITIVE/FEELING Jokes (class. affluence) Clever puns New Yorker cartoons Anecdotes Spontaneous humor Original humor Humor with insight 6

7 KEYS TO THE SUCCESSFUL USE OF HUMOR I. Relationship Know your audience Tell stories with a purpose II. Rapport Have an understanding of your audience s feelings Should be laughing with, not at someone III. Setting Make sure the humor is appropriate for the space Humor should enhance, not distract Areas of humor to likely avoid: Sexual Ethnic/racial Religious Hostile/Sick Demeaning to Men/Women From A Laughing Place by Christian Hageseth III, M.D. 7

8 HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR PERSONAL SENSE OF HUMOR Look for humor in everything Nothing is quite as funny as the unintended humor in reality. - Steve Allen Collect humor keep a journal/file/bulletin board/library of: Books Magazines Videos/Audio tapes Jokes Stories Cartoons Headlines Signs Anecdotes Excuses Oxymorons Smile more - Lighten up - Be more playful Participate in humorous activities Dress up for dress-up day Create/perform in a sketch written by/for your colleagues Make a presentation in costume Hang out with funny people - try the humor buddy system Use humor in your correspondence/surveys/tests Try out other styles/forms of humor Tell stories on yourself Have some sort of humor always at the ready 8

9 RESOURCES & REFERENCES The Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor - Mission: To advance the understanding and application of humor and laughter for their positive benefits. AATH provides state-of-the-art, evidencebased information about current research and practical applications of humor to education, health-care, business, and government. Energize Your Meetings with Laughter. Sheila Feigelson, ASCD Publishing, Health, Healing and the Amuse System. Paul E. McGhee, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1996 The Humor Project, Inc. Joel Goodman, Founder. (Produces annual Positive Power of Humor Conference.) 480 Broadway, Ste. 210, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, (518) Improvisation for the Theatre. Viola Spolin, Northwestern U. Press, 1983 The Laughing Classroom. Loomans & Kolberg, H J Kramer, Inc., 1993 A Laughing Place. Christian Hageseth III, M.D., Berwick Publishing Company, License To Laugh. Richard A. Shade, Teacher Ideas Press, 1996 She Who Laughs, Lasts. Article by Jim Winter in Principal magazine, March/April NAESP Publications. WAVELENGTH Award-winning improvisational comedy ensemble using humor to focus on Educational concerns. Videotapes, CDs, workshops and live performances for professional development. Online at or toll-free (877) LAUGHS-2. World Laughter Tour - Famous for its two-day Certified Laughter Leadership workshop to teach people enjoyable, systematic, self-care strategies. 9

10 GROUP ACTIVITIES LAUGHTER & IMPROVISATION EXERCISES

11 LAUGHTER CLUB EXERCISES BACKGROUND These laughter activities were originally devised as a mild form of exercise designed to take advantage of the physiological benefits of sustained laughter. (The founders of this movement reference a connection to an ancient form of laughter yoga.) The whole point is to increase the amount of time spent laughing so as to increase the benefits brought to the body through the deep breathing and movement associated with these exercises. The laughter clubs have a slogan Fake it, until you make it. Your body gets the benefits of laughing, even if you are faking the laughter to begin with. Eventually, in most cases, the laughter turns from fake or forced laughter to actual laughter and the benefits continue. THE BEGINNING CHANT Laughter clubs begin and end, and even transition between activities, with the Laughter Chant. This rhythmic chant gets the sustained laughter started along with the physical benefits. Typically groups are introduced to the chant first. After several rounds of just the chant, rhythmic clapping is added to the second round. This serves to stimulate acupressure points in the hands and increase group cohesion. Groups are also told at this time that after the last chant, they are to throw their arms in the air and shout Yay. The third round of chanting adds movement, stepping forward and back, swaying, moving slowly and gently in the space. This serves to slightly increase the level of exercise and movement and adds to the positive effects of the chanting. This completes the warm-up. THE GREETING EXERCISES There are a number of these exercises. Typically we start with a greeting. I like to use the Aloha Greeting. Participants are asked to move around the space, make eye contact with several neighbors, (8-12 in a larger group) and shake hands while verbally greeting them with this elongated Hawaiian greeting, Aloooooooohahahahahahaha. (Elongated to get the sustained laughter effect that is so beneficial.) 11

12 THE MIDDLE EXERCISES Following the greeting activity, we can move on to more fast-paced and interactive exercises. As the DVD shows, I enjoy using the following exercises: The Admonishment Laugh Participants are instructed to connect with several participants and exchange a Ho Ho Ho, Ha Ha Ha, or He He He laugh while wagging their finger at their partner. The idea is to send a bit of a mixed message, laughter and admonishment. The rationale is that this allows us to show disagreement without being disagreeable. The juxtaposition of these two activities, laughing and admonishing, usually generates a lot of real laughter as well. The Appreciation Laugh On the heels of the admonishment laugh, we turn the tables and connect with several participants with a sustained laugh along with an appreciation gesture. It could be thumbs up, it could be a positive and inclusive pointing gesture, or it could be the OK finger signal. This is to show approval and acceptance and that we re all in this together. Additional Middle Exercises Mentioned and explained on the DVD are a series of alternate exercises that can be used during this middle section of the exercise regime. They include: The Bow and Arrow Laugh The Lawn Mower Laugh The Drink Mixing Laugh The Marching Penguin Laugh The Roller Coaster Laugh 12

13 THE COOL DOWN EXERCISE The goal here is to bring the group energy down a bit from the fun, sometimes more frenetic energy of the Middle Exercises. One nice way to do this is to have the group sing a well known song, substituting the laughter syllables (HO, HA or HE) for the original words of the song. Happy Birthday Ask the group if someone celebrated a birthday recently or has one coming up soon. Ask the group to sing Happy Birthday to that person, randomly substituting the laughter syllables for the words to the song. You can also use popular melodies that the group will know. I have often used a short passage from the Blue Danube Waltz or as the DVD shows, the last passages of the William Tell Overture to bring the session to a close. CONCLUSION Club meetings, or in this case, the group activity, can end where it began, with the Laughter Club chant HO, HO, HA, HA, HA. Repeat as many times as you like, conducting the group so they know when to finish. After the last chant, throw your arms up and say Yay! FOR MORE INFORMATION For more exercises, information or to become a Certified Laughter Leader, visit either of two websites. WorldLaughterTour.com gets you to Steve Wilson and his organization which certifies people in a twoday workshop. I received my certification with Steve. The other location, LaughterYoga.com puts you in touch with the founder of the Laughter Club movement, Dr. Madan Kataria, now doing more training in the US. Best of luck and Jest Wishes.

14 HOW TO USE OUR IMPROVISATIONAL THEATRE EXERCISES Hello fellow teacher/trainer. Jim Winter here from the improvisational comedy troupe Wavelength. I thought you should have the following information and background so that you can share the power and magic of improvisation with your group. I have found these exercises work with groups ranging from 6 to 86. I think they work for everyone. BACKGROUND When I received my improvisational training at the Players Workshop of Second City, I was taught that improvisation is really an extraordinary form of collaboration. In a true improv setting, the players would take the stage with no idea of their setting, their relationship or their goal. So what they really have is each other. They must be able to create something from nothing. To do that, improvisers are taught a couple of key rules. They need to be present in the moment They need to play at the top of their intelligence. Then need to bridge conflict and stay in agreement They have to listen and cooperate They learn to heighten and explore what the other player gives them. They learn that the only way to be successful together is to look out for the other guy. RATIONALE I believe the best teachers are also great improvisers. In addition, educational research and research on problem solving and productivity all confirm that groups that have fun, that can get into a playful mode, are more productive and more creative in their solutions. To that end, you can provide the opportunity to have your group experience some basic improvisation and find the spark and the energy that come from collaborating spontaneously. 14

15 I usually start by creating a context for improvising, often sharing some of the above information with my groups, depending on their levels of interest and sophistication. Then I typically proceed with these activities using the following script. Feel free to adapt for your needs. Here s the way I do it. OPENING INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPANTS I need everyone to stand, find a partner, and find out which of the two of you has the larger hand (or more recent birthday, or newer shoes, etc). That person will be Player A. (Jim waits for the group to pair up, settle down and calls them to their first task) ACTIVITY: MAD/SAD/GLAD Okay. We are going to start with something basic. The classic three faces of theatre. Remember that our Western notions of theatre come from Greece, and when the Greeks performed theatre, they often wore masks. We are going to replicate the 3 basic masks or faces of theatre and communication. The first is the GLAD face. Can you all give me a big smiley face? Get those nasal-labial lines around the mouth and nose going. Almost a clown face. Now show that face to your partner. Now turn that face around and give me a big SAD Face. Right. Big and sad. And show that to your partner. And finally, the MAD face. Grit your teeth. Perhaps you want to add a sound to that face. Now show that to your partner. All right. Now I want you to stand back to back with your partner and on the count of three I want you to turn to your partner and reveal one of those three faces, Mad, Sad or Glad. Everybody ready? Ok. 1, 2, 3 turn and reveal Mad, Sad or Glad. How many people matched? Good. Now let s try it again and see if we get more matches. One more time. Back to back. Turn and reveal one of those faces on 3. 1,2,3 turn and reveal Mad, Sad or Glad. All right. Did we get more matches that time? Tell me what that was like for you. (I then do a minimal amount of processing before moving to the next activity.) 15

16 ACTIVITY: WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Next we want to ramp it up a little bit by having you work across the hemispheres of your brain. This next exercise is called What Are You Doing? and involves doing one thing and saying another. This is great for pushing out the boundaries of your thinking, getting you to be more spontaneous and breaks down the sort of categorical thinking that can diminish brainstorming and ultimately problem solving. In this activity, Player A (the person with the larger hand) begins by miming a simple activity. It could be brushing your teeth, combing your hair, talking on your cell phone. Anything simple. Player B then asks Player A, What Are You Doing? Player A doesn t describe what they are actually doing (miming) they describe a different activity, like, flipping pancakes. Player B must then begin to mime the spoken activity (flipping pancakes.) Player A immediately asks Player B what they are doing. Again, Player B doesn t describe what they are doing (flipping pancakes) but describes a different activity which Player A begins to mime. The game continues on like this until I call time. (Demonstrate this activity with another player so as to model the process for the group at large.) Okay, let s begin. Player A, you start by miming a simple activity, Player B you ask them, What Are You Doing? Ready? Begin. (After the activity has run for a couple of minutes, call time, get the audience reseated and process the feelings and insights from the activities and relate them to successful endeavors in working with people on the job.) 16

17 PROCESSING THE ACTIVITIES ITIES You may want to note the many educational take-aways and learning objectives are accomplished doing this work: Use of the kinesthetic learning style rather than the typical verbal, visual and auditory styles. Use of other forms of Intelligence, i.e., Interpersonal, Intra-personal Bodily-Kinesthetic and Spatial Intelligences are used rather than the typical Linguistic and Logical/Mathematical forms that tend to dominate education. Socialization - the ice-breaking effect of connecting people who might not typically work together. The verbal and non-verbal communication skills necessary to work together successfully, i.e. sender, message, receiver, listening, eye contact and the interpretation of non-verbal cues. The chance to compare and contrast while determining Player A vs. Player B. The team-building skills of relying on your partner to continue the activity. The spontaneous energy of creating and performing activities in the moment. The joy of supporting and collaborating with your fellow player. Now your group is ready to work, play, brainstorm, problem-solve or go back to learning, refreshed, renewed and with their brains stimulated. For more improvisational activities you can contact us at or check out the improviser s bible, Viola Spolin s book Improvisation for the Theatre or The Laughing Classroom by Loomans & Kolberg. Both books are listed on the Resources & References page of this Guide. Jest Wishes, Jim Winter 17

18 REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS FOR VIDEO COMEDY SKETCHES

19 REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS FOR VIDEO COMEDY SKETCHES As a bonus feature of this enhanced DVD program, we have included 6 comedic sketches originally created for our live keynote presentations. (These sketches are excerpted from our award-winning training videos, the titles of which are noted beneath each sketch title and can be previewed and purchased through our website These clips represent different forms and styles of humor and also address relevant issues and challenges in Education. You can use these clips to demonstrate their respective forms and styles of humor and/or as a context for discussing the respective issues they address. We have included some reflective questions and activities so that after viewing the clips you can then jump-start your discussion. 19

20 CLIP # 1: TEACHER EVALUATION (From our teambuilding video/dvd Do It Yourself Wavelength Show Kit ) This scene is a parody of an Olympic sporting event. Imagine a figure skating or extreme sports competition, narrated by two broadcasters. Now substitute a teacher in her classroom for the athlete and you have the essence of Teacher Evaluation. After viewing the sketch, you might want to offer the following questions to your audience as a catalyst to their discussion: When judges evaluate Olympic events they have certain criteria or competencies they observe. 1. What knowledge, skills and attitudes would you like your supervisor to judge about the artistry of your teaching? (e.g. your interactions with students one-on on-one, one, physical environment, critical questioning skills, etc.) One of the things you may have wished to be judged on is the degree to which you use active learning techniques in your classroom. 2. Take a moment to discuss with one or two people what kinds of strategies, practices or techniques actively involve students in learning? (e.g. cooperative projects, group problem solving activities, pair and share discussion questions, etc.) 3.. In a brainstorming group of four to seven people, take several minutes to brainstorm alternative methods of assessing teachers competencies both in and outside the classroom. (e.g. oral interviews on classroom techniques, written student evaluation, conversations with peer coaches, etc.) Clip # 2: ADMINISTRATIVE STYLES (From our training video/dvd A Funny Thing Happened Leaving No Child Behind ) This series of three short sketches was created as a satire about the different styles of leadership administrators might use to lead their faculties. You will detect elements of satire, parody, caricature and impersonation in these three quick clips. To pull the issues out of the humor, you can use the following questions: 1. What leadership qualities bring out o the best in your teaching performance? 2. In a time when many veteran educators are retiring, what do you think is needed to develop new leadership in schools? 20

21 Clip # 3: HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA? (From our video/dvd Musical Staff: The Hilarious Musical About Teaching ) A parody based on the popular tune from The Sound of Music this song uses elements of farce and exaggeration to address the challenges of responding to students with behavioral or emotional problems. Audiences might want to discuss the following issues raised in this song: 1. What unusual skills, strategies or communication techniques are called upon to deal with students whose behavior is outside the norm? 2. At what point do you acknowledge that the situation is too difficult d for your skill set and call in an expert and/or a special education advisor? Clip # 4 IRATE PARENT (From our training video/dvd Faculty Lounge A one-woman comedy revue ) This caricature of an encounter between a classroom teacher and an irate parent sets in motion a lot emotional issues for anyone who s ever been in a similar situation. After viewing the parents rant about how unfairly the teacher is treating her daughter, ask your audience these questions: 1. If you found yourself in a challenging c situation with a parent, what skills would you employ to assure a positive result for all concerned? 2. How can you approach a defensive parent to work with you on solving an academic or behavioral problem? 3. Think of a time you have had a parent/teacher p interaction that produced positive results. What were the key skills that led to the positive results? 4. Most teachers are also parents. How do you feel when an issue arises concerning your child and you are the parent in a parent/teacher er interaction. In what ways can your professional expertise help (or hinder) in this situation? 21

22 Clip # 5: GET AISLEWISE (From our training video/dvd Success with Discipline The Trials of Jenny Tippet ) The detective genre is used as the basis for this parody of a line-up, in this case an attempt to identify the culprit in a classroom disturbance. The detectives insist that the teacher needs to Get aislewise in order to head-off future classroom management problems. Consider these issues for discussion after your group has viewed the clip: 1. Is it important to project to students that you have a unique sense of what s going on in the classroom the attribute this clip defines as withitness? If so, is this attribute more important in elementary, ementary, middle or secondary classrooms? 2. Do you agree that the notion of being aislewise, much like a police officers sense of being streetwise, is more a perception that needs to be transmitted rather than an actual attribute or skill? 3. What qualities and characteristics contribute to a teacher being perceived as both aislewise and withit? Do you have those qualities? Clip # 6: CHANGE THERAPY (From our training video/dvd The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective Educators ) This rant uses hyperbole and exaggeration to bring a comedic perspective to the fact that Education is always undergoing change and/or reform. For this clip we have both a pre-view and post-view activity your group might find helpful in gaining perspective to the ever-changing landscape of what constitutes effective teaching and productive change initiatives. Pre-View Activity Create a histogram by collectively recalling all the educational trends and fads the group has experienced during their teaching careers. What qualities make some of these change initiatives productive and long-lived lived and others non- productive and short-lived? Post-View Activity - Apply the successful change initiatives identified in the pre-view activity to the current or proposed change initiatives iatives you are facing. 22

THE ART OF LAUGHTER & SPONTANEITY

THE ART OF LAUGHTER & SPONTANEITY Using Humor, Laughter, and Improvisation to Train, Motivate, and Inspire. Presented by Jim Winter WAVELENGTH 4753 North Broadway, Suite #808 Chicago, Illinois 60640 USA