I Don't See The Humor

Humpphhh:

Researcher Dr Lesley Harbidge of Glamorgan University said: "The Lifetime of Laughter Scale shows that there really is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to laughter.

"We laugh twice as much in our teens as we do in our fifties. And our findings suggest that it's all downhill from 52.”

The study found that while an infant can laugh aloud as many as 300 times every day, life rapidly becomes far less fun.

As Harry Enfield’s Kevin and Perry so deftly depicted, things soon change. While teenagers are the age group most likely to laugh at other people’s misfortunes, they laugh on average just six times a day.

Things get even bleaker in what should be the relatively carefree twenties, when we laugh four times a day.

This rises to five times a day throughout the thirties, when having children is cited as a major factor in restoring a sense of humour.

By the time we reach 50, Brits are laughing just three times a day, while the average 60-year-old manages a hearty guffaw just 2.5 times in the same period.

To add insult to injury, the study suggests that the art of joke telling is on the wane.

It found that most Brits are only able to tell two jokes but more than 600 of the 2,000 questioned cannot remember telling a joke in the last twelve months.

...The study, commissioned for TV station Dave, found that those over the age of 50 were more likely to complain and spend time worrying than their younger counterparts.

It found that they have written an average of 2.9 letters of complaint in the last year alone, rising to 3.5 for the over sixties, compared to just 1.8 by those in their twenties. Those aged over 50 are also far more likely to have experienced a dispute with a neighbour.

The age group also spends the longest time – an average of one hour and 41 minutes – worrying every day, with money pinpointed as the biggest concern closely followed by health.