Why do we tell jokes about doctors and hospitals? Why do patients often initiate humor with healthcare workers? Howard Carter—a literary scholar, a long-time hospital volunteer, and currently a massage therapist in a hospital—presents and analyzes humor inside and outside of the hospital. He argues that rituals of comedy affirm our humanity, aid healing, and should routinely be part of medical care.

Carter discusses a wide range of comedy: the work of a hospital clown, ER humor that ranges from the playful to the harsh, humor that breaks taboo, humorous uses of imagery, character, and story, Freudian attacks, as well as jokes about sex, aging, and death. Humor, he finds, helps us deal with difficult subjects, creates social bonds, and affirms positive values.

Because humor frees our imaginations and gives us pleasure, it provides a humane context for maintaining health when we are well and for healing when we are sick.

Albert Howard Carter III, PhD, is adjunct professor, Social Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His books include Our Human Hearts: A Medical and Cultural Journey; Rising from the Flames: The Experience of the Severely Burned, and First Cut: A Season in the Human Anatomy Lab.