{"id":1411,"date":"2019-07-04T16:28:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T15:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1411"},"modified":"2021-12-08T14:06:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T14:06:21","slug":"laughter-as-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2019\/07\/laughter-as-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Laughter as Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been said that laughter has benefits for health and wellbeing. If so, the recently published book of Lost Voice Guy (AKA Lee Ridley) \u2013 \u2018I\u2019m only in it for the parking\u2019<\/a> (published this April) should be given out freely to every household and a copy put in every hotel room and bed-and-breakfast. Lee, best known for winning \u2018Britain\u2019s got talent\u2019 is a comedian who has cerebral palsy and cannot talk.<\/p>\n

Whilst Lee\u2019s book is hilariously funny, it also provokes the reader to think much more deeply about disability.<\/p>\n

Part of the beauty of this book is that it describes many situations that we can all relate to \u2013 be they about friendships, dating or being taken to university by parents and then being left there. In addition, the humour and warmth of Lee\u2019s observations has little to rival it.<\/p>\n

Throughout the book are irritating questions that he has been asked many times. These include: \u201cAre you as clever as Stephen Hawking?\u201d, \u201cAre you drunk?\u201d and \u201cSo what\u2019s it like? You know \u2026being disabled?\u201d.<\/p>\n

Indeed, many of the situations that Lee describes, are ones that able-bodied people will not have experienced \u2013 having carers to help one in tasks such as getting dressed and using an electronic \u2018talker\u2019 with a choice of voices to aid communication (Lee has adopted the voice known as \u2018UK adult male Graham\u2019).<\/p>\n

Lee recounts the times he has been introduced at comedy events with the wrong name \u2013 being called \u2018Lost voice boy\u2019, \u2018No voice man\u2019 And even more unfortunately \u2018Lee Rigby\u2019 \u2013 not a great introduction to the start of a comedy routine.<\/p>\n

Whether we are having a great day, or one that is not so good, Lee Ridley\u2019s book will bring joy to many people and aid us in thinking about the story that we tell ourselves and others about our own lives.<\/p>\n

To take a quote from elsewhere, \u201ca life without a tale is like a sea without salt\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s book is available in all good bookshops.<\/p>\n

To arrange a free 30-minute consultation to discuss how BWRT\u00ae<\/a>, hypnotherapy<\/a> or counselling<\/a> can help you to change your life for the better, contact Jonathan at The Body Matters on 01702 714968.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whilst Lee\u2019s book is hilariously funny, it also provokes the reader to think much more deeply about disability.<\/p>\n

Read more <\/em><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mindfulness"],"yoast_head":"\nLaughter as Medicine - The Body Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Whilst Lee\u2019s book is hilariously funny, it also provokes the reader to think much more deeply about disability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2019\/07\/laughter-as-medicine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Laughter as Medicine - The Body Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whilst Lee\u2019s book is hilariously funny, it also provokes the reader to think much more deeply about disability.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/2019\/07\/laughter-as-medicine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Body Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-04T15:28:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-08T14:06:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blue-hanger.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2835\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1545\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan Gibbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jonathan Gibbs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jonathan Gibbs\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/94071d65fc97f06ba64390732397802b\"},\"headline\":\"Laughter as Medicine\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-04T15:28:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-08T14:06:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":371,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/blue-hanger.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Mindfulness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.thebodymatters.co.uk\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/laughter-as-medicine\\\/\",\"name\":\"Laughter as Medicine - 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