The study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity, found that subjects burned 20 per cent more calories when watching clips of the Bill Cosby Show than they did when watching a video of sheep grazing in a meadow.
In a different study, one pioneer in laughter research, William Fry, claimed it took ten minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of hearty laughter.
It's not all plain sailing, however: it will take 10-15 minutes to burn the calories contained in a medium square of chocolate. People who prefer serious drama should not eat chocolate during their viewing.
Another study done at the University of Maryland found that laughing may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease because, during laughter, the blood vessels expand and contract more effectively.
Some followers of this belief actually engage in something called laughter yoga.
I promise there is such a thing though I don't know whether you have to wear tights for it.
Yet another study found good news for diabetics.
The study of 19 people with diabetes looked at the effects of laughter on blood sugar levels.
The group ate a meal then attended a boring lecture.
On the next day, the group ate the same meal and watched a comedy. After the comedy, the group had lower blood sugar levels than they did after the lecture.
More evidence - anecdotal, at least - comes in the book Anatomy of an Illness by Norman Cousins. Cousins was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful spine condition, and he found that a diet of comedies helped him feel better. He equated ten minutes of laughter to two hours of pain-free sleep.
In any field of research, there is always a wet blanket. Robert Provine, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, says that "the definitive research into the potential health benefits of laughter just hasn't been done yet."
He says, for example, that most laughter researchers are biased: they WANT to find that laughter has health benefits.
He also worries that researchers have not also looked at the effects of other similar activities such as ... screaming!
"I don't mean to sound like a curmudgeon," says Provine, "but the evidence that laughter has health benefits is iffy at best." Iffy! Curmudgeon! Hahahahaha. Mr Provine might well be a big poopyhead.
We interrupt this dissertation to bring you a joke we prepared earlier:
Texan: Where are you from?
Harvard Graduate: I come from a place where we do not end our sentences with prepositions.
Texan: OK - where are you from, jackass? Anyway, at last I'm getting to the inspiration for today's theme.
I have just learned of someone in Ethiopia who clearly does not regard the evidence as iffy and is far from curmudgeonly.
Belachew Girma claims to hold a Guinness World Record for laughing nonstop (a total of three hours and six minutes).
While it may seem like a rather frivolous achievement, Girma has a serious goal behind his record.
There is not a lot of humour in Ethiopia: nor is there in the record holder's own life (he lost two wives to HIV and lost businesses to fire and flooding).
Girma's aim is to help minimise stress and pain and promote healing through laughter and, to this end, the world record holder has now set up what he believes to be the first laughter class in Africa to further his cause. Yes, laughter lessons.
So, in the interests of good health, I would like to leave you with a thought to laugh about. They watched a video of sheep grazing?
Hahahahahahahahaha.
Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, public speaker and musician.
