ByKat Hours Updated
Comments 70 Comments

Laughter, Anxiety, and the Overachieving Chick

· · · ·
"Baby trashes bar in Las Palmas"

Update: We still stand by this roundup of laughter, anxiety, and the overachieving chick — you may want to check out our more recent discussion (with recommendations!) on how to deal with anxiety through laughter.

I've been thinking lately about how important laughter is — specifically, how important it is to have an honest-to-god giggle fest or a nice deep belly laugh. For my $.02, I feel like it helps me manage anxiety and stress, and for some reason it puts things in perspective. Even if I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, a bit of laughter reminds me that it isn't quite so bad.

At various points in my life I've tried to ensure that I get at least one good chuckle a day — in college it was watching a Simpson reruns; in later years it was reading TiVoing The Daily Show, or reading The Onion or Go Fug Yourself. It's a habit that has fallen by the wayside as life got busier, but that I'd like to pick up again.

So, ladies, which are your favorite spots for a good chuckle or pick-me-up? I swear, I am keeping the Banana Slicer bookmarked for my next rainy day — and I hate to admit it but this video (“Baby trashes bar in Las Palmas”, embed below) makes me die laughing every time.

A few other favorites I've linked to in the past:
– Mean Kitty
– Target Women: Yogurt

What are some of the funniest things that you've seen on YouTube, or read on the Internet? Where do you go for a good dose of laughter?

70 Comments

  1. Sort of a threadjack, but it sort of pertains: Just got an email from my supervisor that she would like to try to promote me up to the next grade level this year (I’m in the top half of my grade level now). I totally did not expect this. I’m excited, but also filled with anxiety as I contemplate having to set goals and achieve them.

    Plus with wacky Congressional hijinks pretty much ensured this year, I’m not sure where this will go. Still, it’s nice, although surprising, to contemplate.

    For background, I think my work style is very different from my supervisor’s, but I have tried to work with that. Also, my subject matter expertise is a quite a bit different than hers and I never thought she valued it much, mostly because she doesn’t really understand it. Guess I was wrong.

    4. Thanks all, although I’ll believe it when I see it. And sorry Cornellian, that sucks. I offer bourbon and calmari, my comfort drink and food of choice.

  2. Dr. Katz Manatee is my go to. I can recite the whole thing and share it with everyone I know. But I laugh loads anyways. I have at least 1-2 tears running down my face laughs a week and those normally keep me going (yes, I’m the crazy person at my desk laughing because I remembered something funny). I have really funny co-workers and generally find life pretty entertaining.

    The weird thing is that I’m pretty literal and don’t tend to get jokes. It’s funny voices and really stupid jokes that get me laughing versus something more sophisticated.

    1. I had never heard of this before, but it is funny. Thanks for posting about it!

      1. I was having a no-good, very bad day and a colleague took me into the conference room and we watched it on youtube. It saved my sanity more than once.

    2. That thing on the internet that shows the best auto-corrects had me laughing so hard I got tears in my eyes. Google 25 best autocorrects or something. It was great.

      Also love the baby.

  3. I am also a huge fan of the Daily Show for laughs. (Also helps me keep up on news although I probably shouldn’t admit that).

    If anyone has any good sitcom recs for laughter I’d love to hear them. I’m not a huge tv watcher but sometimes it’s the perfect thing and my old stand by for laughs is not as funny as it used to be.

    1. modern family
      early 30 rock
      flight of the concords
      scrubs

      usually makes me laugh at least once an episode

    2. No one has mentioned Big Bang Theory?? Even if I’ve seen an episode 3 times, it’ll still usually make me chuckle and put me in a better mood.

    4. Tuesday nights are my favorite funny TV nights. I will literally laugh outloud multiple times a night watching Happy Endings, New Girl, and the Mindy Project.

    5. How I Met Your Mother! I’m about 7 years late to jumping on this bandwagon, but here I am!!

  4. Arrested Development, for sure. I hadn’t watched it in a bit and found season 2 on sale this weekend. Popped it in as background while doing housework and I couldn’t stop cracking up, that show is fantastic.

    1. It was such a shame when Arrested Development was cancelled. By far the funniest TV show ever!

          1. Every time I see your handle I think of Arrested Development and my day gets a little better :)

        2. YES! It’s my favorite comedy show of all time. Mr. AnonInfinity and I are watching all 3 seasons in preparation to binge watch Season 4 in May.

  5. I realized at one point last year that I was regularly going several days at a time without laughing at all and started watching old episodes of Who’s Line is it Anyway on YouTube to remedy this issue.

  6. Thanks a bunch for sharing the banana slicer reviews. Sarcastic product reviews is becoming one of my favorite comedy genres.

    The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are great! For those who are called hipsters and those who live among them, Portlandia is quite funny. Hipsterdom is like fight club, nobody admits to it in earnest. A friend of mine enjoys listening to comedy on Pandora.

    Time to sign up for an improv class!

    1. LOL on Portlandia. I just discovered it and watched a marathon of episodes. I live among the hipsters and have some (aging) hipster elements in my personality as well.

  7. I’ve had to go to cuteoverload and also dogshaming several times in the last stressful week. Sometimes I go to those sites right before a difficult call. Puppies to the rescue!

  9. I’ve been listening to Kate Nash’s “Made of Bricks” album on repeat for the past month. It is too funny and it takes a lot of effort not to dance in my seat at work on the train. Favorites include The $hit Song, D!ickhead, and Pumpkin Soup. I don’t like the “My Best Friend is You” album as much.

    1. thanks for sharing thankstextbooks–“Who could resist such a magnificent animal?” is making me grin right now :)

      1. I HAD to close it, I was starting to do the old man laugh and it’s dead silent in my office this afternoon. Love it.

  12. I’m sitting at my desk with people around, it’s quiet as a library here. I started to read the banana slicer comments and had to exit out I was laughing (quietly) so hard I was about to start snorting. So I clicked over to the baby trashes bar video, thinking ‘oh it’s a you tube video, they’re never funny’. Wrong! I had to exit out of that within the first 2 minutes, I was crying! Thanks for brightening up my day, I just bookmarked this page for future reference … like when I’m alone!

    1. OMG, I just died holding in laughs watching that baby video!! I didn’t think the start was funny, but then the hilarity snuck up on me. One of my coworkers just checked on me because they thought I was crying, so we watched it together and cried until we were crying.

    2. I missed the BANNANNA Slicer last week, but it IS Funny!

      I can think of a couple of GUY’S that I’d LOVE to try that thing out next time they try and wave there bannanna’s at me! FOOEY on there weenie’s!!!!

      Mabye I should get one and keep it in my apartement, so when a guy get’s fresh, I can pull this out and tell him that it doe’s a GREAT job on BANNANNA’s so does he want to try? Yay!!!!!!

  14. I Can Has Cheezburger is my distraction of choice!

    I also love product reviews. Uranium Ore on Amazon is my favorite.

  15. When I was stressed in law school, there was a you tube clip I watched called Laughing Yoga that killed me. It’s basically a grainy video of an old swami just going nuts with laughter. Very contageous. Highly recommend if you need to brighten your day. It should be the first thing that pops up.

  16. What Should We Call Me on tumbr is hysterical! I subscribe to that and Daily Squee (a Cheeseburger site) on Google Reader and check their feed when I need a laugh. (Now adding Thanks, Textbooks!)

    The Simpsons, Arrested Development and How I Met Your Mother are always good for a laugh. And a David Sedaris book always does the trick!

    1. Oh, Buzzfeed is another site I visit at work. Jezebel also has some great articles, but not always safe to look at at work!

  17. I needed those! My dad has been in town for about a week bouncing between my house and my Aunt’s house, and he and his girlfriend just really take over a place. My house is 720 square feet, 1 bathroom, and the bathroom has been clogged twice (5 years in that house, never had a clog before…). (I do have a secret “shop bathroom” down in my unfinished basement no one knows about, thank goodness!) Poor DH had to go buy a snake! I’m also finding scratches/gouges in the wood furniture…oh and if I don’t want to cook or eat fast food, I get to buy. Argh. I’ll be glad when the guest room with bathroom over the garage is finished this summer!

    2. Depends on your finances and how much you need to sleep on the plane. But, IMHO, as long as it iis a flatbed seat, yes.

    3. Only if you are expected to hit the ground running on arrival, or if it’s being funded by your employer or your frequent flyer program.

  19. Anything written by Jen Lancaster (I have all her books on my Kindle), and I’ll also read the Oatmeal, the Bloggess, and re-read Hyperbole and a Half. I also will watch Arrested Development and the various tumblr sites that people have recommended here always make me laugh (Life in Biglaw, whatshouldwecallme, myfriendsaremarried, etc).

    1. second J Lancaster, just finished Bitter is the New Black on vacation. I have two more to read now.

  20. I read Get Off my Internets for hilarity. It feeds my snarky side which isn’t what needs feeding, but the posts and the comments really can be funny.

  21. I use the pinterest humor tab for this purpose, and I’ve made a board to collect my favorites that I know will make me giggle. Also Jennifer Lawson’s blog TheBloggess is hilarious and ridiculous.

  22. The “Les Chats Ninjas” YouTube video (and various other videos by the same guy – Faireset). I laugh until I cry every.single.time.

  25. Go to happyplace.com. I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried. See the notes left on (badly) parked cars and notes by coworkers, you won’t be disappointed!

  26. I’ve been in moderation all day. I like puppies and kittens on live cams. Links to follow.

  27. I always read Calvin & Hobbes to pull me out of the dumps, and sometimes it makes me laugh pretty hard.

    1. this is possibly the funniest thing ever posted on the internets. Its my most used bookmark!

  32. I read Dave Barry (when I can find him – if not current, I grab from one of his past articles/books).
    He makes me laugh out loud. Very dry.

  33. The Red Green Show is the funniest thing I have ever watched. There are lots of clips from it on youtube, and since it doesn’t have much plot they’re funny even without the whole episode. The old British sitcom Are You Being Served is also fantastic. I have vivid memories of my parents watching it when I was a child and my family still loves it today.

    The Budweiser Real Men of Genius ads are all available on youtube and they’re hilarious. I can’t stand beer, but I love beer commercials and these are the very best.

Comments are closed.