These people are followers of the teachings of an Indian guru who claims that one can get rid of all problems easily and effortlessly — through laughter. And the current world situation, with all its troubles, does a fine job as a recruiter. Laughter may seem like the soundtrack to descriptions of Hieronymus Bosch’s terrifying world, but club clients are not in scales or feathers, but in trousers and socks.
To learn the techniques of “lion laughter” or “soul-giggling contest”, each of them pays three euros. But the money, they say, is well worth it. “It’s great, you know, it’s something that changed my life: I sort of rediscovered my laugh,” says one man. A female visitor agrees: all these impending wars, all this terrorism only add to our stress. “There are plenty of unpleasant things around, and this kind of therapy is very good for that, so everyone should try it and smile a little more,” she says.
The threat of war with Iraq, the enduring fear of terrorism, the awful tension in French-American relations — all this helps bring more and more visitors to the club. This is confirmed by Jocelyne Le Mont, a nurse who opened one such establishment a few months ago and cannot cope with the stream of applicants. “The world is very unhappy,” she believes. “People who call me say: I don’t love, I am sad. I want to love, I want to forget about my problems. I want to see you and try.”
The session ends when all participants of the ceremony lie down on the floor and begin “laughter meditation”. It liberates the spirit, allows, according to a regular club visitor Anne Morizano, to see the world in positive colors and to distract from the omnipresent fear. “When you feel more self-confidence, you can deal with your fear, and laughter is a way to feel more confident,” says Anne, “and the more you laugh, the more you calm down and relax your body and mind, become more open, and stop being afraid.”