“Sandcastles over selfies” … Visit Wollongong caught a few nappers on April Fools’ Day with the announcement that phones were to be banned at the region’s most iconic locations, including North Wollongong Beach. Photo: Visit Wollongong.
They say laughter is the best medicine and in this sick and sorry world we live in, I’ll take a double dose any day.
I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting more of the lighter side of life and in fact, our story on the Illawarra’s April Fools’ Day pranks was one of the most popular stories of the week.
It may just be the passage of time, but I can’t remember seeing as many pranks as I did this year. And some of them were crackers. You couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of sympathy for the poor Year 11 kids from Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts who were told they had a compulsory 13th year added to their schooling.
The principal’s performance was worthy of an Oscar, and showed the drama students how it’s done.
The Illawarra Hawks took note of our recent story where one fan called for a statue of coach Justin Tatum and announced it would indeed, be placed on top of the “palm tree up the pole”, while Wollongong City Councillor Andrew Anthony gave madam mayor Tania Brown heart palpitations by suggesting a bid for the 2030 Olympics.
Did you see the fairy penguins floating around in Lake Illawarra? With the huge seas pounding the coast early in the week that was almost believable.
And I loved Visit Wollongong’s announcement that phones would be banned at the Illawarra’s most popular tourist locations. True to form, it didn’t take long for one very slow respondent to ask, “But how will I take photos then?”.
As long as the pranks aren’t cruel or dangerous, then why not have a day to celebrate fun and laughter?
According to the Museum of Hoaxes – and I guess we can trust it is serious in this explanation – references to April Fools’ Day can be found as early as the 1500s.
But the most popular theory about the origin of the day is that it involves the French calendar reform in 1564 when the start of the year was changed from the end of March to 1 January.
Those who failed to keep up with the change (or forgot, like how so many of us forget that Daylight Saving ends tomorrow, 7 April) had jokes played on them.
The victims of the pranks were called Poisson d’Avril, or April Fish – which is still the French term for April Fools’.
Apparently in the early 1900s, newspapers decided to get in on the act and started publishing fake stories on 1 April. In the 1950s, television joined in the fun – even the staid BBC pranked viewers with a fake story about the Swiss spaghetti harvest (watch the YouTube clip below).
Millions of people watched the report about a Swiss family harvesting spaghetti from trees and lots of them actually believed it. Remember, in 1957’s Britain, spaghetti wasn’t really an everyday dish.
Of course, there are plenty of killjoys who reckon the day is outdated, of no use and should be killed off. In a way they’re probably right, especially when the media – who demand to be taken seriously and trusted every other day of the year – try to pull tricks to fool their readers.
After all, there’s plenty of fake news around as it is.
But on the whole, we need more light relief and laughter and if April Fools’ Day fills that prescription, then let’s have it.
The aptly-named The Humour Foundation was created in the mid-1990s to “deliver the many benefits of laughter where it is unexpected, yet most needed”.
The charity was co-founded by the late general practitioner Dr Peter Spitzer and professional performer Jean-Paul Bell, who introduced clown doctors to the Sydney Children’s Hospital in 1997.
Dr Spitzer understood the value and benefit of laughter: “Plenty of studies have shown that laughter can combat many common ills. For instance, research shows that humour lowers blood pressure and releases endorphins. Laughter is also proven to improve circulation, stimulate the nervous system, heighten the immune system, and make the heart stronger.”
In recent years The Humour Foundation developed the Laughter Care program for the aged care sector.
The foundation conducted a study to measure the impact the Laughter Care program had on aged care residents living with dementia. The main findings showed agitation levels of residents decreased to the same extent as those prescribed antipsychotic drugs – but without the side effects.
Just look at how much happiness the Illawarra Hawks spread around town with their incredible championship win. Everyone joined in, from the city’s top politicians to businesses to life-long fans – even those who don’t usually watch the game were swept up in the joy of seeing “our boys” beat the best in the country.
Our team caught up for a rare lunch together this week and by far the most popular person at the table was young Henry, who happened to turn one that day. Henry charmed everyone with his toothy smiles and fascination with mundane objects like his socks.
There is nothing like a baby’s smile to make everyone else around them feel happy.
It’s the simple things in life that often give you the most joy. We should all laugh more often and be like Henry – rip off our socks, throw them around and smile at everyone.
