Fancy a laugh?
Today’s post will start with a challenge: look at the following gifs for 20s and try not to laugh or smile. Ready? Set. Go!
How did you do? Still starring grimly at the screen?
Did you know that this Sunday, 6th May 2018, is World Laughter Day? Yes, you’ve read right. A whole day dedicated just to the jolliness and sheer joy that is laughing (preferably out loud). We have a choice here now: I could go into all the details of how the Indian doctor, Dr. Madan Katria, founder of the worldwide laughter yoga movement, arranged this day for the first time ever in 1998. But, I mean really, I’m not Wikipedia and there’s no point in copying stuff (that bit of information I just gave you pretty much sums it up anyway). Or I can introduce you to some seriously funny PhD (and non-PhD), laugh-out-loud material that will turn your grey PhD life into a hoot (well let’s hope I’m not overselling this…I’m not someone people would describe as particularly funny, so my kinda hilarious might not be your kinda hilarious…let’s find out.)
Let’s start with the tumblr blog “Shit my Reviewers Say” and look at some feedback academics have gotten on their submissions:
After all these, I wonder if I should ever submit a paper anywhere? I haven’t done so yet, so maybe I’ll leave it at that.
Let’s move on from that before we lose all our motivation and look at lol my thesis, a website that posts your thesis in one sentence:
Adults have repeatedly and historically failed children in their care.
This affected them somewhat.
English Literature. University of Sussex
Your brain is too far away from your heart.
PhD Bioengineering, University of Southampton
(Prediction of Perivascular Drainage of Aβ from the Brain Using Computational Modelling: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease)
Things that literally couldn’t ever matter
Philosophy, University of Cambridge
The Metaphysics of Impossible Worlds
If you’re a fan of online humour, there are many more pages to check out: Game of Academics, a Twitter Account that aligns our PhD emotions with Game of Thrones scenes…
… or the Twitter-hashtag #OverlyHonestMethods. Another great one: Shit Academics Say. Here’s a taster:
Credit: @CrayonElyse
The problem with these sites is that you could scroll through them endlessly only to find that afterwards you feel like you’ve wasted a considerable amount of time of your day during which you could have been productive or learned something. Fret not – let me introduce you to John Oliver if you haven’t met him yet. He’s the British host of the American programme “Last Week Tonight” and his analysis of current issues is not only very informative but also absolutely hilarious. (To be fair, you can lose track of time watching his stuff as well, but at least you’ll feel like you’ve expanded your horizon a wee bit). He’s my regular lunch-companion (of course if you have real people to go to lunch with, maybe choose that…seems more social and less sad). Here, one of John Oliver’s latest bids – watch it until the end, it’s so worth it:
However, if you prefer your comedy a bit more animate and live, why not check out Glasgow’s laughing landscape. For starters, there’s The Stand Comedy Club which has something on every night of the week. (They can also be found in Edinburgh and Newcastle, in case you’re more likely to be around these areas.) A special treat are their Bright Club nights where comedy and academia meet – don’t miss out on their next show on 11th June. Another good night out is the Yesbar which in addition to providing comedy 5 nights of the week, also seems to offer great pizza (I’m not a pizza fan, so can’t judge but the reviews online are pretty good. However, if you’re against Scottish independence, maybe don’t go…you most likely won’t feel at home.) In case you don’t feel like venturing into city centre, there’s always the UofG’s very own Stand Up and Sketch society. They can be found performing around the West End – give them a follow if you don’t want to miss out on some student comedy. Last but not least (and unfortunately still quite far away): Glasgow’s International Comedy Festival. This year’s edition has just closed its curtains but they will re-open next year from 14 - 31 March 2019.
If you want to honour World Laughter Day this Sunday, try to find an event that will put that LOL on your face. Alternatively, here are some suggestions of other fun activities:
You could do this…
Credit: Drew Farwell on Unsplash
Or this…
Credit: Abigail Keenan on Unsplash
This looks fun too:
Credit: Allen Taylor on Unsplash
Or, you know, just go on a subway like these folks here, start laughing and see what happens:
Whatever you do, laugh it out loud!
