Want More Joy? Try Taking Yourself Less Seriously with Comedian Chris Duffy

When we’re exhausted, overworked, or just going through a difficult time, our instinct is often to put our heads down and simply focus on getting through it. But those serious moments may actually be when we benefit from a little silliness and absurdity the most.
Laurie explores the science of humor with comedian Chris Duffy, host of How to Be a Better Human (ted.com/series/how_to_be_a_better_human) and author of the new book Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy (amazon.com/Humor-Me-Laughing-Creative-Connecte…). Chris shares what he’s learned about how to find humor in almost any situation — and how embracing the funny can improve our wellbeing in surprising ways.
Experts Mentioned:
• Chris Duffy (docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1J3UhISUl9UK8gG…), comedian, author, and host of How to Be a Better Human (ted.com/series/how_to_be_a_better_human)
• E. B. White (nytimes.com/1985/10/02/books/eb-white-essayist…), writer and essayist
• Mimi M.Y. Tse (researchgate.net/profile/Mimi-Tse), Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Ross Gay (rossgay.net/about), poet, essayist, and Professor of English at Indiana University
• Annie Rauwerda (annierau.com), creator of “Depths of Wikipedia (depthsofwiki.com)”
• Aparna Nancherla (aparnacomedy.com), comedian and author
• Greg Bryant (comm.ucla.edu/person/greg-bryant-2), Professor of Communication at UCLA
• Adam Mastroianni (adammastroianni.com), experimental psychologist and author
Resources Mentioned:
• Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy (amazon.com/Humor-Me-Laughing-Creative-Connecte…), by Chris Duffy (2026)
• How to Be a Better Human (ted.com/series/how_to_be_a_better_human), TED podcast hosted by Chris Duffy
• “The impression management benefits of humorous self-disclosures: How humor influences perceptions of veracity (sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074…),” by T. Bradford Bitterly and Maurice Schweitzer (Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2019)
• “The effect of a pratfall on increasing interpersonal attractiveness (link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03342263),” by Elliot Aronson, Ben Willerman, and Joanne Floyd (Human Learning and Thinking, 1966)
• “Humor Therapy: Relieving Chronic Pain and Enhancing Happiness for Older Adults (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21151506),” Mimi Tse, Anna Lo, Tracy Cheng, Eva Chan, Annie Chan, and Helena Chung (Journal of Aging Research, 2010)
• The Book of Delights: Essays (amazon.com/dp/1616207922?lv=shuf&channelId…), by Ross Gay (2019)
• Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching (imdb.com/title/tt38023177/?_ssoLoop=1), directed by Owen Reiser (2025)
• “Depths of Wikipedia (depthsofwiki.com)”
• “Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34618536),” by Juliana Schroeder, Donald Lyons, and Nicholas Epley (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2022)
• “The Perception of Spontaneous and Volitional Laughter Across 21 Societies (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30044711),” by Greg Bryant et al. (Psychological Science, 2018)
• “Neural substrates of spontaneous musical performance: an FMRI study of jazz improvisation (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18301756),” by Charles Limb and Allen Braun (PLoS One, 2008)
• “Good conversations have lots of doorknobs (experimental-history.com/p/good-conversations-…),” by Adam Mastroianni (Experimental History, 2022)
Related Episodes:
• “Laurie Gets a Fun-tervention (Part One) (pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-…)”
• “The Surprising Case for Oversharing (pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-…)”
• “How To Embrace Imperfection (pushkin.fm/podcasts/the-happiness-lab-with-dr-…)”
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