HEADING: RX LAUGHTER TO USE HUMOR TO CURE

Sherry Dunay Hilber, former primetime comedy executive at both ABC (Roseanne, Home Improvement, Coach) and CBS (Cybill, Ink, Style & Substance) has created a unique five-year nonprofit project sponsored by the UCLA School of Medicine called Rx Laughter. The Guild is lending it’s support to the project. Hilber got $75,000 Initial funding from Comedy Central.

The project is using funny TV shows and classic films to see how they can be used to decrease anxiety, prevent and heal illness, reduce severe and often chronic pain in young people (7-17 years old). A separate, unprecedented, aspect of the project will be funny Health Education Videos done from the kids POV – and produced by them – which will help ease their feelings of fear.

Watch for more information about this groundbreaking project in future issues of Member News. Also note that the project Web site, “RxLaughter.org. will be up and running soon.