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Find Your Funny
Have you heard the saying, ’Laughter is the best medicine’? Well, as is often the case with classic homilies, it turns out there is an awful lot of truth in it. Certainly, laughter has been scientifically proven to decrease stress, and we all know how bad stress is for us by now.
You see, when we laugh our brains release endorphins, the ‘feel good’ hormones, into our bloodstream, generating feelings of warmth, happiness and love, as well as increasing our ability to bond with and show tolerance, generosity, and compassion towards other people. It is also thought that endorphins may promote memory and cognitive health and play a role in supporting a healthy immune system.
So, it really is true, increasing the body’s natural endorphin levels with a good giggle on a regular basis, may be an effective way for a person to improve their overall health.
With that in mind, and in honour of World Laughter Day on May 7th, we thought we’d take a little look at some of the insights we’ve gained into what makes us laugh as a nation and share some of our current on-site favourites from our humour collections.
So, firstly, do lots of people buy humour cards? Well, yes, they do. In fact, according to recent research Humour cards are some of the most popular cards on the market, in terms of overall sales, and they are unquestionably the 1st choice for younger customers and recipients. This popularity translates to well over 100 million humour cards being sent each year in the UK. Which in turn works out as somewhere around 3 laughs shared every second via cards, not bad going hey?!
But, how do you know what type of humour will make someone laugh in the first place? Well, humour is a very personal thing of course, we all have in jokes with friends and family that can reduce us to tears but would leave an outside observer wondering what on earth we were finding so funny. However, there are some things that, broadly speaking, most of us find funny, for example, slapstick style comedy (especially when it’s unintentional), observational humour that relates to our own lives, daft things that children and pets do and witty or silly wordplay are all very popular forms of humour. British people in particular are also known for their somewhat sarcastic and often self-deprecating sense of humour – which makes for all kinds of great card options for those who are happy to poke fun at themselves in order to get a laugh from someone else!
A quick look through the best-selling funny cards on our own website also shows some clear favourites in terms of style and sense of humour, so if you’re looking for a guaranteed giggle these are definitely a great place to start:
Funny Photos
Top of everyone’s list seems to be classic funny photos, especially of animals.
Our lovely llama here for example is a top seller in both general and birthday cards. With no message on the inside all the humour here comes from the fantastic expression on the llama’s face, and perhaps from the broader context in which the card is being sent. Of course, you can up the funny as much as you like with this one by adding your own witty words to the inside and playing on the picture as much as you dare!
On the other hand, if you’re looking for something a little more specifically birthday focused, and you’re not keen on creating your own witticisms, this brilliant raccoon card is the perfect way to make a party animal laugh on their birthday!
Quirky Illustrations and Clever Quips
Also hugely popular across both our general and birthday specific card ranges are our illustrated pun based designs.
A perennial favourite, and great for celebrations or just a little cheering hello through the post, our quirky cactus design is simple, to the point (sorry) and guaranteed to make absolutely anyone smile – even if it also makes them groan just a little!
Another particularly popular birthday card from this range is the silly straws design. Based on a classic, ‘what did one subject say to the other subject?’ style gag, you might be able to see the punchline coming, but it’ll still make you smile. And judging by the popularity of this design there is obviously something relatable here – which always increases the funny factor.
Witty Words
Whilst it is often the combination of words and images that make something particularly funny, we’ve already seen that images alone have the power to make us laugh and the same is absolutely true for words!
This popular celebration card is a great example of the words needing no further embellishment to get the laugh. Direct, relatable, and a brilliant example of that self-deprecating British sense of humour that we mentioned earlier, this is a fun way to send congratulations in a light-hearted, non-mushy way and provoke laughter from the recipient at (mostly) your own expense.
Speaking of non-mushy messages, humour really is a great way to convey a heartwarming sentiment without tipping over into sentimentality. This fantastic any occasion card is another design that relies only on the words, and possibly a passing knowledge of the life-saving properties of dry shampoo, to make it funny.
Shared Weirdness (& Cats)
One of the best things about laughter is sharing it with other people, and sometimes that can get a little weird. But it’s when someone shares your weirdness that you know you’ll be friends for life and keeping each other laughing for years… which ‘probably’ explains these last two top-selling designs. Or it could just be the cats?!
So, if you fancy making someone’s birthday even brighter, or perhaps you’re looking for a way to reach out and just make someone smile during Mental Health Awareness Month, have a look at our humour cards because making someone laugh, making that connection, making that little endorphin rush happen, really can make all the difference.
