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Help! I'm Laughing and I Can't Get Up: Fall-down Funny Stories to Fill Your Heart and Lift Your Spirits
Discover seven reasons why people laugh, plus seven body benefits of laughter. Reveals the four humor personalities...and which category you fit in. Helps readers realize that God gave us a funny bone...we just need to find out how to use it.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
244 people want to read
About the author
Liz Curtis Higgs
75 books1,418 followersFormer Bad Girl, grateful for the grace God offers. Happy wife of Bill, one of the Good Guys. Proud mom of two grown-up kids with tender hearts. Lame housekeeper. Marginal cook. Pitiful gardener. Stuff I love? Encouraging my sisters in Christ—across the page, from the platform, online, in person. Unpacking Scripture. Traveling wherever God leads. Listening to His heart. Leaning into His embrace.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 2, 2019
I chose this humorous book to read while recovering from the flu, just in case there's anything to the concept that laughter is the best medicine.
I would rate it between a 4 and a 5. I would recommend it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'm unlikely to read it again. Reading a joke book isn't the same when you already know all the punch lines. It would be like re-reading a mystery already knowing whodunit.
In between her funny stories, Liz Curtis Higgs gave out the results of her humor survey, of which she had 500 responses. As a scientist, I have to think that the results are skewed, that people who are more likely to respond to a comedian's survey are also more likely to be fond of humor in general. Or perhaps, the other way around, that people who are paying attention to a comedian are doing so because they're more likely to realize that they haven't laughed lately. We need Barna or Pew Research or something for a wider sample size.
But, Higgs got me curious, when she said that in this survey, people said that they laugh an average of 8.57 times a day, because I know I can go several days without laughing at all, although I like to laugh and even have a dedicated humor collection in our guest room.
Because I was curious, I decided to count the number of times that this book made me laugh out loud, which, actually, is a feat in itself, because I am much more likely to smile at a joke than laugh, even just inwardly. I heard myself chuckle 23 times, all today, on a day that, honestly, I feel pretty crummy. 23 times may be a record for a book, but I don't know, because I've never counted before.
It's hard for me to review this book because I don't want to give away any punchlines... but, yes, that's why we didn't try driving in Scotland, but rode buses and boats.
I can't wait to give this book to my mom and her sister, because I know they'll enjoy laughing and reading it together. Their side of the family was always known for its funny stories and tall tales.
I preferred the first three sections of the book, with their funny stories, to the fourth section, with its humor personality types, or the fifth section about humor in more difficult situations, although I did find laugh-out-loud moments in those sections, too.
People who love those endless internet quizzes about finding out what kind of personality you are would love that fourth section about humor personalities. For me, personally, I may have traits in other categories, but I'm probably - no, definitely - a cloudy humor personality.
Liz Curtis Higgs quoted Judeth Tingley, psychologist, as saying that women are less likely to laugh when men are around, are more likely to withhold laughter in their presence, because they have "a high need for approval, and have low risk-taking propensity." I think that finally explains something to me. I don't withhold laughter when men are around, because frankly, I don't care what they think (not if it's just what they think of my sense of humor). But that might explain why men, in general, who don't know me very well, seem to be so surprised when I laugh. They're not used to women laughing as much when they're around.
I had a different theory on it, which also might be true. I have a "cloudy" personality, which means that I am serious most of the time, and so people tend to think of me as serious, and it surprises them when I'm not.
Higgs also quoted Kuhn as "believing that men enjoy humor more when their wives are laughing." That, I believe to be true, or at least in our marriage. My husband just seems happier when we're laughing together or he sees me laughing. His eyes crinkle up, and he told me once that he needs to know when I'm happy. Sometimes, I forget to tell him, but sometimes, he just sees it.
One attribute of mine that doesn't fit the cloudy personality is that I don't care about what other people think whenever I'm laughing. I am sensitive not to laugh and hurt their feelings, but if something funny, not-personal-to-them happens, I don't care whether or not they think it's strange that I'm laughing. I'm OK being different.
"Cloudies are saving their laughs for a rainy day." Hmm, like me with this book and the flu.
"Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks." - Henri Bergson. I thought that quote was interesting, because I just said, in my review of "A Man Called Ove" that one of my goals for old age (not now) is not to become bitter with life.
On Cloudy humor: "Most definitely, it's cerebral humor. Clever wordplays, puns, and humorous material that makes you think, causes you to pause, or draws on references from literature and the arts." Just like the Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend," that I read not all that long ago. As Dicken's work of satire, it had just that sort of humor in it.
"Fifteen big laughs a day is what experts tell us is our minimum daily adult requirement for laughter." But Higgs doesn't tell us what experts, what study, and how it was determined what a need was. It seems high to me, but maybe not. She said early on not to take her book too accurately, and so I'm wondering if this falls into that category.
Speaking of accurately, her mathematical numbers don't add up into the percents of people with each kind of laugh. Yes, I know that it takes a cloudy personality to even notice that.
The last couple of sections, about humor in difficult situations, cancer, deaths, and so forth, was innocently done, without undermining grief or the seriousness of the situations, but it just felt a little flat to me. One of the things I remember most about my dad in his last cancer was his sense of humor, of him laughing so much that his hospital bed bounced, of him laughing together with my mom over "Our Mutual Friend," or with me over some of the kids' antics. So, I know that humor in such situations can be real, and not a denial of truth, because, there were tears also. But still ... eh ... that part in the book just felt flat. It was better done in "Why are the Casseroles Always Tuna?" or "Laughter from Heaven."
Favorite quote:
"Yes, brother, let me have joy from you." - Philemon 20
I would rate it between a 4 and a 5. I would recommend it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'm unlikely to read it again. Reading a joke book isn't the same when you already know all the punch lines. It would be like re-reading a mystery already knowing whodunit.
In between her funny stories, Liz Curtis Higgs gave out the results of her humor survey, of which she had 500 responses. As a scientist, I have to think that the results are skewed, that people who are more likely to respond to a comedian's survey are also more likely to be fond of humor in general. Or perhaps, the other way around, that people who are paying attention to a comedian are doing so because they're more likely to realize that they haven't laughed lately. We need Barna or Pew Research or something for a wider sample size.
But, Higgs got me curious, when she said that in this survey, people said that they laugh an average of 8.57 times a day, because I know I can go several days without laughing at all, although I like to laugh and even have a dedicated humor collection in our guest room.
Because I was curious, I decided to count the number of times that this book made me laugh out loud, which, actually, is a feat in itself, because I am much more likely to smile at a joke than laugh, even just inwardly. I heard myself chuckle 23 times, all today, on a day that, honestly, I feel pretty crummy. 23 times may be a record for a book, but I don't know, because I've never counted before.
It's hard for me to review this book because I don't want to give away any punchlines... but, yes, that's why we didn't try driving in Scotland, but rode buses and boats.
I can't wait to give this book to my mom and her sister, because I know they'll enjoy laughing and reading it together. Their side of the family was always known for its funny stories and tall tales.
I preferred the first three sections of the book, with their funny stories, to the fourth section, with its humor personality types, or the fifth section about humor in more difficult situations, although I did find laugh-out-loud moments in those sections, too.
People who love those endless internet quizzes about finding out what kind of personality you are would love that fourth section about humor personalities. For me, personally, I may have traits in other categories, but I'm probably - no, definitely - a cloudy humor personality.
Liz Curtis Higgs quoted Judeth Tingley, psychologist, as saying that women are less likely to laugh when men are around, are more likely to withhold laughter in their presence, because they have "a high need for approval, and have low risk-taking propensity." I think that finally explains something to me. I don't withhold laughter when men are around, because frankly, I don't care what they think (not if it's just what they think of my sense of humor). But that might explain why men, in general, who don't know me very well, seem to be so surprised when I laugh. They're not used to women laughing as much when they're around.
I had a different theory on it, which also might be true. I have a "cloudy" personality, which means that I am serious most of the time, and so people tend to think of me as serious, and it surprises them when I'm not.
Higgs also quoted Kuhn as "believing that men enjoy humor more when their wives are laughing." That, I believe to be true, or at least in our marriage. My husband just seems happier when we're laughing together or he sees me laughing. His eyes crinkle up, and he told me once that he needs to know when I'm happy. Sometimes, I forget to tell him, but sometimes, he just sees it.
One attribute of mine that doesn't fit the cloudy personality is that I don't care about what other people think whenever I'm laughing. I am sensitive not to laugh and hurt their feelings, but if something funny, not-personal-to-them happens, I don't care whether or not they think it's strange that I'm laughing. I'm OK being different.
"Cloudies are saving their laughs for a rainy day." Hmm, like me with this book and the flu.
"Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks." - Henri Bergson. I thought that quote was interesting, because I just said, in my review of "A Man Called Ove" that one of my goals for old age (not now) is not to become bitter with life.
On Cloudy humor: "Most definitely, it's cerebral humor. Clever wordplays, puns, and humorous material that makes you think, causes you to pause, or draws on references from literature and the arts." Just like the Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend," that I read not all that long ago. As Dicken's work of satire, it had just that sort of humor in it.
"Fifteen big laughs a day is what experts tell us is our minimum daily adult requirement for laughter." But Higgs doesn't tell us what experts, what study, and how it was determined what a need was. It seems high to me, but maybe not. She said early on not to take her book too accurately, and so I'm wondering if this falls into that category.
Speaking of accurately, her mathematical numbers don't add up into the percents of people with each kind of laugh. Yes, I know that it takes a cloudy personality to even notice that.
The last couple of sections, about humor in difficult situations, cancer, deaths, and so forth, was innocently done, without undermining grief or the seriousness of the situations, but it just felt a little flat to me. One of the things I remember most about my dad in his last cancer was his sense of humor, of him laughing so much that his hospital bed bounced, of him laughing together with my mom over "Our Mutual Friend," or with me over some of the kids' antics. So, I know that humor in such situations can be real, and not a denial of truth, because, there were tears also. But still ... eh ... that part in the book just felt flat. It was better done in "Why are the Casseroles Always Tuna?" or "Laughter from Heaven."
Favorite quote:
"Yes, brother, let me have joy from you." - Philemon 20
July 15, 2022
Why do we laugh? Liz gives us seven different reasons why we do so. She also explains that different personalities react to humour in different ways. Best of all, humour is good for us physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. This book is full of amusing ancedotes and witty wisecracks. It is full of good, clean humour and I laughed until I cried. It's hilarious! I wish I could meet the author in person.
March 7, 2017
Liz Curtis Higgs began her writing career as a humorist, so over the course of traveling and speaking with women and corresponding with them, Higgs has collected a lot of stories. In this book, Higgs takes funny stories from over five hundred people and shared some of her funniest stories.
The stories are categorized in several sections. The first section is as action of stories telling how we can find humor in all parts of our lives.
The second section involves seven types of laughter. The stories are arranged from things such as the polite laugh to the frustrated laugh to just feeling amused at something. There are stories of all types sprinkled throughout the chapters.
The third section of the book involves different aspects of your life that you can find humor in. These include marriage, children, friendship, work and yourself.
The fourth section is one about the weather signs of humor. She classifies us into several personality types and discusses how those types handle humor. This was my favorite portion of the book because it helped me to better understand how I could find a completely different type of humor funny from the other people I love.
The fifth section is on humor and your health. It talks about how humor affects your body, how it heals, how it's a stress reliever and how humor aids forgiveness.
The final section is one worshipping God with your humor and on honoring God with the gifts that he gave you instead of wishing for other gifts.
This book had a lot of humor. Many of the stories are dated, and some of the stories are the kind of humor that younger people won't appreciate. I read this book in snippets of a page or two here and there over a couple of months, and enjoyed being able to read it in a lingering fashion. it was a book I considered putting down several times because I only considered it just okay, but I always found myself picking it back up a few days later.
The stories are categorized in several sections. The first section is as action of stories telling how we can find humor in all parts of our lives.
The second section involves seven types of laughter. The stories are arranged from things such as the polite laugh to the frustrated laugh to just feeling amused at something. There are stories of all types sprinkled throughout the chapters.
The third section of the book involves different aspects of your life that you can find humor in. These include marriage, children, friendship, work and yourself.
The fourth section is one about the weather signs of humor. She classifies us into several personality types and discusses how those types handle humor. This was my favorite portion of the book because it helped me to better understand how I could find a completely different type of humor funny from the other people I love.
The fifth section is on humor and your health. It talks about how humor affects your body, how it heals, how it's a stress reliever and how humor aids forgiveness.
The final section is one worshipping God with your humor and on honoring God with the gifts that he gave you instead of wishing for other gifts.
This book had a lot of humor. Many of the stories are dated, and some of the stories are the kind of humor that younger people won't appreciate. I read this book in snippets of a page or two here and there over a couple of months, and enjoyed being able to read it in a lingering fashion. it was a book I considered putting down several times because I only considered it just okay, but I always found myself picking it back up a few days later.
November 17, 2017
It's not as funny as I'd hoped for, but I did giggle a couple of times.
April 19, 2018
really good and brighten my out look on life .
July 21, 2019
Yes, this was funny at times, but the stories ran from one to the other so it was hard to discern one from the other. May have been funnier if separated.
January 12, 2024
One giggle. No laughs.
Boring 😴
Boring 😴
May 19, 2017
Very funny book, with true life experiences. As some comedians have said you can't make up funnier stuff than true life events. Our book club read this book February 2014. I recommend this book for all people especially women >40. Younger than 40 probably won't appreciate the events to come in their lives or see them as humorous. My "Opinion".
July 26, 2011
It was good, clean humor! True stories from life! I enjoyed it quite a bit. About 1/3 of the book is about the different humor types...sunny, cloudy, stormy, and foggy. The way they laugh, and the humor they enjoy corresponds with what type they are.
April 1, 2012
Liz Curtis Higgs makes you enjoy a trip in a small car in Scotland. Her view of her travels is one of her funniest looks a life in the wrong lane. This is thoroughly enjoyable and the best book to read when in need of a laugh!
August 1, 2016
It is a good book. It has some funny things and different humor. Though some things weren't so funny as much as just being there. It does have clean jokes but there are a few things that probably aren't so clean when you really think about them.
January 31, 2008
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! It was so funny - I would recommend this to any one.
Read
March 20, 2008248.4
August 22, 2008
The jokes are hiralious
Read
March 17, 2010Great for some really deep down belly laughs.
Read
January 19, 2011This is a good beach read... not highly recomended for anywhere where you have to be quiet (i.e. libraries, airplanes,ect.) a funny feel good book with stories that most anyone can relate to.
October 29, 2011
Probably one of the most hilarious story/joke books.
December 27, 2014
I guesd I'm cloudy most of it didn't tickle my funny bone.
December 22, 2014
One of Liz Curtis Higgs older books I had recently heard about. Need a giggle or two .. you'll find it here.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews