Tig Notaro on the Healing Power of Laughter

Chasing Life

CNN

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.5 • 8K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2021

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Scientifically speaking, what is the purpose of laughter? Why is it so important for our brains and well-being? And how might it help us get back to “normal” as we emerge from the pandemic? CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with Emmy- and Grammy-nominated comedian Tig Notaro about telling cancer jokes after her 2012 breast cancer diagnosis and why she actually laughed a lot during quarantine. We also hear from humor expert and psychologist Janet Gibson, as well as medical clown "Chester Drawers" played by Leo Desilets. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
0:03.0	How I wonder where I parked the car.
0:06.0	Up above the garage, so high.
0:09.0	Like a Chevy in the sky.
0:12.0	Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
0:14.0	How I wonder where I parked the car.
0:19.0	That's Dr. Chester Drollers, played by Leo Desilitz.
0:23.0	He's a medical clown at Healthy Humor Red Nose Docs.
0:27.0	That's a program that offers kids in hospitals a little magic and a little relief during their hospital stays.
0:34.0	Our program is two clowns performing as clown doctors.
0:38.0	We make rounds just like doctors do.
0:40.0	And we're using laughter, we're using magic, we're using puppetry, improvisation, physical comedy.
0:47.0	Leo got his degree in business, but he switched to clowning in 1977.
0:52.0	And he hasn't looked back since.
0:54.0	One of my favorite things to do is trying to get out of the room.
0:59.0	And I can't find the door.
1:01.0	I'm walking into the refrigerator, I'm walking into a closet, I'm walking inside the wall.
1:06.0	I went into a three year old's room doing that routine.
1:09.0	I just went right into the closet and he turned to my partner and he said,
1:14.0	Dr. Chester George isn't that smart, is he?
1:17.0	Leo describes this sort of work as a labor of love.
1:21.0	He never expected that he'd be doing this, but he considers it the most rewarding job he's ever had.
	...

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