The Best Medicine: Humor [Tuesday 6th Period 9/12]

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

On the front desk next to the sign up sheet there was tea and coffee and a plate of home made cookies of various sorts. Wilson was already behind the desk, whistling as he set up his laptop. Someone of the angelic persuasion had sent him flowers and one of the handsome white roses was tucked dorkily into his lapel.

As soon as the students settled into their seats, Wilson leaned back against the desk and started the lecture.

"Good afternoon." He said in a chipper tone. "Today we’re going to talk about the senses of humor. Not just, your sense of humor but also how we take in humor through our senses."

Picking up a remote, Wilson dimmed the lights and lowered the white screen behind him.

Lecture:
“Let’s start with sight gags. This is also called physical humor. Seeing someone slip and fall or get bonked on the head or seeing someone make a funny face…”

As he talked about sight, he flipped through clips of some of the classic physical humor movies. The Three Stoogies: A plumbing we will go was used for this segment, showing how humor could be shared without a single word being spoken.

Wilson went on to also show clips of The Marx Brothers: Duck Soup where language and being able to hear the jokes as well as see the physical comedy were important.

After the movie clips, he passed out Pop Rocks candy to demonstrate how a funny sensation on the tongue could tickle, since he really couldn’t tickle a student in class and then he discussed the importance of touch and tickle in interpersonal relationships.

“One of the best ways to stimulate laughter--and it's probably the most ancient way--is by tickling. Tickling is inherently social; we can't tickle ourselves. We tickle to get a response. Or to entice ticklee to turn around and become tickler.

Not only do most people like tickling--ticklers as well as ticklees--most recognize it is a way to show affection. What's more, adolescents and adults prefer to be tickled by someone of the opposite sex. Which is a step towards building the network of support and close bonds that we all need to get through life. Tickling is probably at the root of all play and it is inherently reciprocal, a give-and-take proposition. In other words, it exactly represents the basic rhythm of all healthy relationships.”

Wilson sort of by passed the part of how tickling was also often a sexual cue as…this was humor class, not sex ed.

As they worked through the senses of humor, Wilson carefully wove in the different ‘types’ of humor highlighted in each example. Dry humor, raunchy humor, prankish humor, it was an extensive list and as they came to the end of it, Wilson set down the marker he was using to make notes on the board and walked back towards the front of the class.

Class Participation:
“All right. For the remainder of the class, I asked you each last week for homework to come up with your favorite joke or funny story and bring it in today. And ahyep, guess what, we’re going to share those jokes. I’ll be kind and go first.”

He grinned, crossed his arms and leaned against the desk as he began to recite one of his favorites.

"TO: Medical Personnel
FROM: Human Resource
It has come to our attention from several emergency rooms that many EMS narratives have taken a decidedly creative direction lately. Effective immediately, all members are to refrain from using slang and abbreviations to describe patients, such as the following.

Cardiac patients should not be referred to with MUH (messed up heart), PBS (pretty bad shape), PCL (pre-code looking) or HIBGIA (had it before, got it again).

Stroke patients are NOT "Charlie Carrots." Nor are rescuers to use CCFCCP (Coo Coo for Cocoa Puffs) to describe their mental state.

Trauma patients are not FDGB (fall down, go boom), TBC (total body crunch) or "hamburger helper". Similarly, descriptions of a car crash do not have to include phrases like "negative vehicle to vehicle interface" or "terminal deceleration syndrome."

HAZMAT teams are highly trained professionals, not "glow worms."

Persons with altered mental states as a result of drug use are not considered "pharmaceutically gifted."

Gunshot wounds to the head are not "trans-occipital implants."

The homeless are not "urban outdoorsmen", nor is endotracheal intubation referred to as a "PVC Challenge".

And finally, do not refer to recently deceased persons as being "paws up," ART (assuming room temperature), CC (Cancel Christmas), CTD (circling the drain), or NLPR (no long playing records).

I know you will all join me in respecting the cultural diversity of our patients to include their medical orientations in creating proper, narratives and log entries.

Sincerely,
Directory of Human Resource."

After everybody had told their jokes and stories, in the last few minutes of class, Wilson called for attention.

Homework and Field Trip:
"Okay, a few announcements. First of all, homework. I have written up on the board a website for a humor quiz I would like you to go out on and take. Ignore the OOC of the quiz, you try finding a 'fun' clean humor quiz on the net It won’t take long. Take the quiz, write down the result then give me a paragraph about whether you agree or disagree with that as your sense of humor. Now, I know some of you don’t have ready access to a computer. I have office hours on Thursday from 11:00am to 1:00pm and again on Monday from 9:30am to 11:30am and can also be here by appointment if you would like to come in and use my laptop for this assignment. Just, let me know after class."

Grinning he straightened up and set his hands back on the front of the desk.

"Now for the fun announcement. November 10-12 we are taking a field trip with another class…to Las Vegas. I will have permission slips for your parents or guardians to sign and before anyone asks, those of you with transdimensional parental issues, we are working with the school to come up with a viable solution so that everybody can go. I’ll have more details next week but airfare, hotel, meals and show admissions will be covered. So, that’s all for now, you’re free…I’ll be here if anyone has any questions."

[ooc: Please wait for The OCD is up, have at!!]

[OOC-PS. Because I'm a dork and forgot to say so in the comment, please feel free to groan and comment upon your classmates jokes. :)]

Comments

Sigh In

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

Have a cookie and or some tea or coffee just remember, collapsable is love!

Re: Sigh In

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

Lana Lang

Re: Sigh In

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

V. Cally.

Class Participation

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

After Wilson finished with his joke, he opened the floor to the class. Please don't make him call on people because that's just awkward.

Re: Class Participation

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"So this guy was writing a book in his study when the doorbell rang. He went to the door, no one there. He went back and started working again. Ten minutes later the door bell rang again. He went to the door, still no one there. But, as he looked around he saw this small snail sitting on his doorstep. He picked it up and flung it across the street into the field.

Two years later, the man was in his study again when the doorbell rang. He went to the door and there was the same snail. the snail looked up at him and said, "What the heck did you do *that* for?"

Lana smiles. "It's my favorite surreal joke."

Re: Class Participation

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

One arm across his chest, Wilson had the other propped up so that his hand was across his mouth. He didn't want to interupt anyone else but his dark eyes twinkled.

"Gottah love the image of a snail crawling up to ring a doorbell."

Re: Class Participation

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

"An English Pirate, a Scandinavian Pirate, and a Scottish Pirate are all in a bar drinking beer. The English Pirate sees a fly in his beer. He says, 'Ew! There's a fly in my beer!' Puts the beer aside and demands a new one. The Scandinavian Pirate sees a fly in his beer and says, 'Oh, there's a fly in my brre.' Fishes the fly out of his drink and continues to drink it. The Scottish Pirate sees a fly in his beer, fishes it out and starts to shake it while screaming 'SPIT IT OUT YA WEE BASTARD!'"

Re: Class Participation

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

Wilson's shoulders jerked as he fought back the ready image of a certain pint loving angel doing the exact same thing as the Scott!

"Very nice one, Miss Longstocking." He approved, dark eyes dancing with mirth.

Re: Class Participation

[sogothcally.livejournal.com]

"So, these two farmers on Picon were minding their own business, when all of a sudden all of the chickens burst out of the coop in a mad fury. Naturally, the older farmer keeps a level head, while the younger one panics. The older man steps in front of the younger one, to form a shield.

'What are you doing?' the young farmer asks.

'Protecting you in case they attack!' the older farmer replies.

'Why?' the young farmer asks.

'I always told myself, if things got really down... I'd take a pullet for you.'"

Cally grinned, expecting horrible, horrible groans.

Re: Class Participation

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

That got a full on face-palm of pain from Wilson.

"Fowl, I cry fowl!"

Please, let he could resist?

Re: Class Participation

[connernotconnor.livejournal.com]

Conner just happened to have a peanut in the pocket of his soccer shorts.

Not for long, though, since he tossed it lightly at Cally.

Re: Class Participation

[like-a-sponge.livejournal.com]

"Okay, so this doctor walks into a bar after a really long day," Greg said, grinning. "And he sidles up to the bar and says, 'Bartender, I want a hazelnut daiquiri.'"

The bartender looks around, and he can't find the stuff to make a hazelnut daiquiri. But he finds the ingredients for something else, and slides it across the bar to the the doctor.

The doctor takes a sip, and spits it out. 'What is this?' asks the doctor.

'It's a hickory daiquiri, doc,' said the bartender."

Greg beamed and tried not to laugh at his own omg so bad hilarious joke.

Re: Class Participation

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

I brought this on myself. Wilson reminded himself even as he groaned.

Actually, one had to admire the utter horribleness that was that pun and the grace with which Greg got there.

"Mr. Saunders... I'm torn between giving you detention for that pun or giving you an A." There warm laughter in his voice showed he was not about to follow through on the detention threat but that Greg probably had just marked high on his homework grade.

Re: Class Participation

[connernotconnor.livejournal.com]

Conner bounced up out of his seat, rubbing his hands and grinning. "Okay. So. There's this soccer player. He's been with the team since the beginning of the season, but he's so slow and clumsy he's done nothing but ride the bench all year. It's the last game of the season, and man, it's brutal out there. Fouls and injuries all over the freakin' field, right? He's thinking, 'Sweet, dude, maybe I finally get my chance!'"

"Game keeps going, the subs keep getting used, it hits the eightieth minute and there's another player getting carried off the field. The coach looks over at the substitute bench and straight at this poor bench-riding bastard, and he gets super excited. He looks back at the coach and goes, 'You sending me in, coach? You sending me in?'"

Conner grinned even more as he got toward the punchline. "And the coach says, 'No, get out of the way! I'm sending in the bench!'"

Re: Class Participation

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

.....

Well, one definitely had to give points to Conner for the enthusiasm he put into the joke and hell, half the time it was all about the way you told the joke so on that score alone, Conner had Wilson grinning.

"Very nice, Mr. McKnight. Do you play soccer?"

Re: Class Participation

[singasoloduet.livejournal.com]

"A musician goes by the orchestra office, asks for the conductor, and is told that he is dead.

The musician stops by 25 times more and gets the same answer from receptionist.

She asks why he keeps coming by. He replies, 'I just like to hear you say it.'"

Re: Class Participation

[herald-thief.livejournal.com]

Skif shifted uncomfortably. "All my jokes are filthy. I don't know any clean ones."

Talk Amongst Yourselves

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

Quietly though so he can pretend he doesn't hear you.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi is taking notes and giggling.

After Class

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

Come talk to him if you have any questions or concerns.

Re: After Class

[lovelylana.livejournal.com]

"Dr. Wilson... in terms of the permission slip. Now that I'm 18 I'm considered my own guardian. Do I still need to find someone to sign?" She looked concerned. "I suppose Lex would sign for me if I need someone."

Re: After Class

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Wilson gave it a moment, then grinned at Lana.

"I think Aziraphale and I are having more challenges with the permission slips than anything else so far. Let me talk to Dean Washburn and see what she wants to do in your case and I'll get back to you?"

Re: After Class

[lovechildblair.livejournal.com]

"Dr. Wilson?" Blair waved from the door.

OOC -

[dr-jwilsonmd.livejournal.com]

Cause we love our OOC, oh yes we do!

Re: OOC -

[a-phale.livejournal.com]

*feels bad for the lonely OCD tag*

*leaves it an avocado*