It was a Saturday morning which started out with a bike ride to my favorite diner. You know the deal, if I exercise I can justify eating breakfast out at a diner. It quickly became afternoon as I found myself having difficulty riding by those enticing garage sale signs that are so plentiful on a holiday weekend. Fortunately and quite suddenly, I was inspired to write. Unfortunately, the deadline was one day away. Writing a column on a regular basis is something that I am not too experienced at doing especially when it is a humor column and I am feeling depressed. However, this all changed on my third garage sale stop (not being sure if it was a good excuse to rest or if the merchandise caught my eye). Regardless, I hit the jackpot. There were tons of toys at this garage sale. Old Etch-a-Sketch’s, rubber hammers (to pass out to various board chairmen that I know), silly games of trivia with all kinds of subjects (like MASH, my favorite television show of the 70's, old Newsweek magazine top stories, Baby Boomers, etc.), a pull and speak toy that made animal sounds, and even a few puppets.

Needless to say, I bought everything from the old lady having the sale. She seemed a bit taken aback watching me "play from a distance." Then the silence was broken when she said "It’s amazing how many adults are buying the toys." I was moved that adults might actually be getting the message about humor. The cute doggie puppet I was about to purchase addressed her: "Gee, us big kids deserve to have fun and play a little too, don’t we?" She smiled and said, "Yes, I guess we should play some more." She proceeded to have quite a conversation with the puppet. I serenaded her with my new animal sounds toy and entertained her with the rest of my new found toys. By the time I left, my friend and I were both feeling a whole lot better since we had shared some laughs and silly moments as we talked about old toys and the things that we used to do as children.

When I got home, I looked up the word "play" in the dictionary. Some of its many definitions were: "to engage in sport or recreation; frolic; to move aimlessly about; jest; recreational activity." The one definition that caught my eye was "especially the spontaneous activity of children." What happens to the spontaneity, the willingness and the ability to play as we age? Do we lose it? Or, is it merely lying dormant, awaiting our rediscovery or invitation to come out of hibernation.

I have been offering a self-help humor group once a week for the past six months at an outpatient wellness center for mental health consumers. As a strong advocate that humor is "good for you" both physically and emotionally, I was excited about the group. Initially, I brought my own "toy box" to the group since over the years, I had been consciously working at adding more humor into my life. I have collected various toys, noise makers, bubbles, giggle balls, a whoopee cushion, laugh boxes, laugh mirrors, joke calendars, joke books, kazoos, slide whistles, clown noses, Groucho glasses, puppets, smiles on sticks, yo-yo’s, assorted games of catch, balls of various sizes, and many other silly props and things to play with either alone or with someone else.

When the group first started, I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to get people to PLAY. Everyone came in, took a seat and watched. What they watched was ME play in a silly outfit with my clown nose on. I blew bubbles and tooted my horns in an attempt to get them engaged in doing the same. Playing seemed very intimidating and scary. This necessitated making one rule. Everyone had to have something to hold on to or to play with throughout the group. I began demonstrating from the box and then offering the toys around. People began to show some interest as they picked their toys. Blowing bubbles, noise makers and whistles were popular. Some people didn’t want anything, but I found that if I could get them to smile when I used one of the props, they were willing to take it and try it. Some of the catch and throw games or just catching a beach ball and throwing it to someone else also got them PLAYING.

The humor group is voluntary and there is an extremely informal atmosphere. People are encouraged to share any jokes, cartoons, humorous stories or things that happened to them or someone else. I use overheads with cartoons to educate the group on various aspects of humor. This includes such things as articles about applications of humor, the difference between positive and negative humor, laughter clubs and humorous quotes. Videos are popular. Some favorites are Red Skeleton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and others that produce some generalized good feelings and possibly some smiles.

One of the most popular exercises is the "tapping your funny bone" part of the group. I have a three-foot blow up hammer that squeaks when it taps things. (Since my name is "Hammer," it caught my eye at a garage sale for a quarter many years ago.) When I bought it, I had no idea what I would do with it, but I just couldn’t "pass it up" as anyone who has been to a garage sale knows. Who would buy such a hammer other than a person named Hammer? I felt that I was destined to have it back then, and now I finally have found a use for it.

This is how the "tapping your funny bone" game goes ( a Hammer original I might add). A person in the group volunteers to have their funny bone(elbow) tapped. Upon tapping the funny bone he or she then does something unpredictable, silly or anything that does not injure anyone. After this, the group gives a round of applause and the performer gets a sticker for bravery. That performer then gets the hammer and taps the elbow of the next volunteer. This involves taking a risk. Not surprisingly, there were many just plain elbow jerks as the hammer tapped them initially. But as time went on, people got more comfortable and creative. Some people sang songs, did somersaults or sit-ups, made loud noises or silly faces; all sorts of unpredictable "clean" acts were performed.

Most recently, people have come and rummaged through the toy box. They are becoming a lot more playful. They play with my new string puppets and make them dance and interact with the other puppets. This entertains the entire group. Smiles are easier to spot within the group as people notice and enjoy other people’s humor. Most people, given the chance, are ready, willing and able to rediscover their own playfulness and spontaneity. I find the humor group challenging but equally rewarding as it gives me an opportunity to reintroduce people to their playful side that is often forgotten in our busy lives or illnesses. I recommend starting humor groups wherever there are people and purchasing a toy for yourself to enjoy.