WARWICK — Imagine a comedy club in a school or a library, and you’ve got “Laugh & Learn,” an educational show for all ages that explains while it entertains.
The educational comedy group is coming to Warwick on Friday at 2 p.m. to perform at the Warwick Free Public Library. The program is supported in part by a grant from the Warwick Cultural Council.
Dave Maloof, a teacher, comedian, writer, musician and founder of MusicPlusComedy, will talk about how and why we laugh, and the health benefits of laughter. He started Laugh & Learn shows about a year ago, and said the idea was born from merging his decades of experience as a teacher and stand-up comedian.
“Kids tend to need more interaction than adults,” Maloof explained.
While he does his best to explain the science of why laughter is good for our health in ways that children can comprehend, he does ask audiences to be patient because, as he sings in one of his comedy songs, “I Never Was Good at Science.” Maloof will explain the ways comedy and laughter benefit physical and psychological health, and the ways the two are connected.
“You just need to find a way to laugh,” Maloof said. “It helps a person feel better emotionally and physically.”
Maloof referenced Norman Cousins’ 1979 book “Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient: Reflections on Healing and Regeneration,” in which the author discusses how a patient worked with their doctor to design a treatment plan that included reading funny stories and watching movies by the Marx Brothers — a family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949.
“He healed from a potentially fatal illness, and lived for another 20 years or so,” Maloof said of the patient.
Other parts of the show will see Maloof explain how jokes and comedic songs are written. His performance will include original comedy songs — such as “I Had a Dream That I Went to School” and “My Wife Is In Love With the Dog” — as well as some original jokes.
Maloof aims to empower audience members, and remind them to make time to laugh.
“I hope the audience learns not to treat laughter and comedy as something that’s frivolous or extra,” Maloof said, “but as something that is — to an extent — vital.”
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.