Laughing it off

When life gives you lemons, all you can do is laugh?

That’s how Bree Burgess Rosen countered the “nightmare” process of getting an outdoor deck approved by the design review board in Laguna Beach.

Rosen’s creative mind did not let the crisis go to waste. Before long, the wacky but wonderful Lagunatics had been born, a show that made fun of the issues that define discourse in the town.

Show organizer and founder Bree Burgess Rosen greets members of the audience during a rehearsal for Lagunatics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“I started just thinking about all the quirky, crazy stuff in Laguna Beach, and I had lived here at that point for four years, and the weirdness was abundantly obvious to me,” said Rosen, the founding artistic director of No Square Theatre. “That’s how it started. The first two were benefits for Laguna Shanti, and we did it on the Monday closest to World AIDS Day because we did it on the dark nights when the show wasn’t in production at the Laguna Playhouse. ”

The first rule of comedy is that if you’re going to get offended, then you ought not come to the show. With its insider subject matter, Lagunatics can push the local audience to the edge.

Rosen, who insists the roast-of-the-coast musical has never been meanspirited, recalls a couple of occasions where attendees stormed out — the crowd guffawing, apparently fooled into thinking it was part of the act.

Cast member Chris Fine rehearses his part for “Drought” in the Laguna Beach community parody show Lagunatics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

In celebrating its 30th anniversary, Lagunatics will be a blast from the past, the numbers representing a selection of the top song-and-dance parodies to hit the stage during the group’s three decades. The nine scheduled shows will have 7:30 p.m. curtains, Friday through Sunday, from March 10 to 26 at the Forum Theater on the grounds of the Festival of Arts.

Topics to be tackled include a fire-preventing goat herd, undergrounding utility lines, parking and, of course, the town’s love-hate relationship with its visitors.

“We have a higher turnout for elections, well above average,” Rosen said. “People here are very passionate about their opinions, and to get them in the theater laughing at the same time at the issues is good for the town. … We had a number one year where we had the City Council, who was in deep disagreement on a few issues that year, we had them in matching pajamas and a bed together.”

Cast member Susan Geiser rehearses a part for the Laguna Beach community parody show Lagunatics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Council members will play a part again. Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf went through rehearsal on Wednesday, at times with a car costume around her waist. A frequent viewer of the show, this will be Kempf’s first appearance as part of the cast.

“Most people that go to Lagunatics are aware of the issues around the topics they cover,” Kempf said. “It’s a little, funny twist on things that are happening within the community. It can be absurd after the fact. … Maybe at the time, it seems like a serious thing, but it’s funny after the fact.”

Prepare to see some outrageous outfits. Not only will there be dancing goats, but choir robe-wearing parking meters and toilet paper headdresses. Electrifying telephone poles are also among the favorites of Brigitte Harper, the costume designer for the show.

Cast member Ella Wyatt, wearing a tissue paper hat, shares a laugh during a rehearsal for Lagunatics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“That you can get away with stuff that normally you can’t,” Harper said of what makes Lagunatics standout. “It’s all in the name of fun, but there’s a little punchline underneath. … We try to bring awareness to what’s going on in town with a lot of humor and with free speech.”

Ella Wyatt recently took over as artistic director of No Square Theatre in January. When she first moved to Orange County, she worked at a music management company in South Laguna. She has kept up with the talk of the town, enough to be involved in the songwriting process.

“I follow the headlines, and I help Bree write songs,” said Wyatt, set to perform in her 11th Lagunatics. “There’s a couple in this year’s show that I wrote. “When we did the COVID year, that was pretty universal for everybody.”

City Councilman Mark Orgill, left, unfurls a cape as he rehearses a scene for the Laguna Beach community parody show Lagunatics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Chris Fine, making his Lagunatics debut, said there are moments he wants to be taken seriously in acting, but the opportunity to make fun of himself and fellow cast members on stage also had its appeal.

“The general [answer to] why I got into [acting] and why I want to continue doing it is because it was fun when I started,” Fine said. “I will never not do a show that is fun, or sounds like fun, because that’s the love of it is you want to be up there having fun.

“I started doing plays, but musicals, it gives you that singing and dancing that you don’t get in a straight play, where you can just let go and have a lot of fun, and you’re sweating. Singing is food for the soul, and that’s what we get to do on stage and share that with the audience.”

Cast members rehearse a scene from “One-Day Vacation” for the Laguna Beach community parody show Lagunatics.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.

Is it possible to die from laughter

March 5 Education

The fragility of the human body forces us to maintain a balance between fun and seriousness.

You can listen to the short version of the article. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.

Science has repeatedly proven that laughter has a beneficial effect on health. It improves immunity, and reduces stress, and promotes the production of endorphins. It also reduces the likelihood of cardiovascular disease and even helps to lose calories a little.

At first glance, it is a complete benefit for the body. However, laughter, like any other useful thing, has some minor side effects. In particular, you can die from it inadvertently.

Yes, there are times when the phrase “I was laughed to death!” ceases to be hyperbole.

Very strong and prolonged laughter can lead to injuries to internal organs, in particular to the heart. You laugh like crazy, the pulse jumps to indecent values, and the heart begins to work intermittently. All this can be accompanied by coughing, urination and defecation.

The result is the so-called gelastic syncope, which can end in death. Scientists believe that this is a special case of cataplexy, a sudden weakness against the backdrop of strong emotions. This disease occurs in about 1 in 2,000 people. In a special risk zone are people with obesity or a problem heart.

In addition, too much laughter can lead to infarction of the pons or medulla oblongata. Or cause an exacerbation of a disease of the brain, cerebellum, heart and other organs already present in a person.

Sometimes laughter is not a cause but a symptom.

For example, the deadly prion disease kuru, which leads to degeneration of brain tissue, is often accompanied by uncontrollable laughter in its early stages. Because of this, it is sometimes called "laughing death" in literature.

The disease is common among New Guineans, the Fore tribe, who carry it by eating the brains of other infected people. Now, however, the tribe has been weaned from cannibalism, but there are still cases of kuru, because the incubation period for this disease reaches 50 years.

What to do in order not to die of laughter? Well, it’s not necessary to walk gloomy, it’s also harmful. And write comedy films as weapons of mass destruction is not worth it.

It is enough to monitor the health of the heart and blood vessels and go in for sports. And also do not overwork at the same time, do not overeat and avoid obesity. Well, be careful during the feasts, if you suddenly find yourself visiting the natives of New Guinea.

Read also 🧐

• Is it true that intense interval training can kill you
• Is it possible to die of fear
• 10 foods that can be dangerous for humans

People who died of laughter

March 20, 2018

Russian Seven

We constantly hear that laughter prolongs life. But is this true in all cases? Doctors say that intense and prolonged laughter is not always good for health, and sometimes even life-threatening.

Photo: Russian Seven Russian Seven

Why can you die from laughter?

Video of the day

According to experts, the process of laughter can put a lot of stress on the cardiovascular system. Therefore, theoretically, laughter can lead to asphyxia, brain aneurysm, stroke, or cardiac arrest. With caution, people who suffer from heart disease should laugh. History knows at least a few episodes when laughter caused a fatal outcome. Here are the names of people who are considered to have died of laughter.

Zeukis

This was the name of an artist who lived in Greece in the 5th century BC. One day, the customer asked to paint his portrait of an elderly woman in the guise of the goddess Aphrodite. The request, which he considered absurd, made Zeukis laugh so much that he laughed for half an hour, after which he died.

King Martin I

In 1410, this Aragonese monarch, after a hearty meal, asked his jester Bor to tell some funny story. He immediately told the story of a young deer caught on a tree branch with its tail ... The king laughed so that he had asphyxia, which led to death.

Pietro Aretino

This Italian Renaissance writer loved to laugh. Once, at a feast, he heard some obscene witticism. She made him laugh so much that from laughter he could not stand on his feet, fell and crushed his skull.

Thomas Urquhart

In 1660, this English aristocrat learned of the coming to power of King Charles II. This news made Urquhart laugh non-stop, which led to his untimely death.

Indiana Farmer

This American farmer, whose name history has not preserved, one day in 1893 laughed at a friend's joke. He laughed for about an hour and could not stop until his heart stopped.

Damnoen Saen-Ama

This Thai man once started laughing in his sleep. The wife tried to wake her husband, but could not. After a few minutes, Damnoen stopped breathing. Doctors recorded death from heart failure.

Alex Mitchell

In 1975, this British bricklayer was watching his favorite show, The Good Men, on TV. He laughed so hard that his heart gave out. Oddly enough, later Mitchell's widow sent a letter to the editor of the TV program, in which she thanked the authors of the project for making her husband's end so happy.

• 
  How to become honest with yourself
• 
  Questions psychologists ask their patients
• 
  Dsm 5 mood disorder list
• 
  Time urgency definition
• 
  Asperger romantic relationship
• 
  Narcissists and friendship
• 
  Stress causing fever
• 
  Why he ghosted me
• 
  Best books marriage counseling
• 
  Brain fog anxiety symptom
• 
  Quizzes on mental health