{"id":420099,"date":"2026-01-18T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/420099\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T00:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T00:00:18","slug":"stressed-let-go-and-give-yourself-a-good-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/420099\/","title":{"rendered":"Stressed? Let go and give yourself a good laugh"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Cartoon: Paul Dorin<\/p>\n

CityNews cartoonist PAUL DORIN gets his laughs from the usual suspects, but in his serious role as a senior first responder some of his favourite moments are back at the fire station, \u201cwhere shared laughter creates an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their emotions, vulnerabilities and their best (and worst) jokes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

People say laughter is the best medicine.\u00a0I think I have what I\u2019d call a \u201cquirky\u201d sense of humour,\u00a0probably not surprising for a cartoonist.<\/p>\n

My brain is a crowded apartment filled with over-caffeinated doodles, each one desperate to be the next punch line. My goal is to make others laugh or at least chuckle.<\/p>\n

I love clever comedy, and I\u2019ve come to realise that humour is different for everyone. What I find funny may not be your cup of tea \u2013 and vice versa.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there\u2019s that great \u201caha\u201d moment when a reader instantly gets the cartoon, and it clicks perfectly. But I also know that not everyone who reads my cartoons is going to find them funny, and that\u2019s okay. Comedy is wonderfully subjective, and that\u2019s part of what makes creating it so interesting.<\/p>\n

So how do I get my dose of\u00a0laughter medicine?<\/p>\n

I get my laughter the same way I give it: by noticing the silly, the unexpected, the wonderfully ridiculous moments hiding in the corners of everyday life. My Uncle John had the gift too and always made me laugh.<\/p>\n

I love shows such as Have You Been Paying Attention?\u00a0and The Cheap Seats. They deliver news in a funny, light-hearted way and sometimes even spark ideas for new cartoons.<\/p>\n

Kath & Kim is another favourite. The humour was a unique blend of brilliant comedy and hilariously clever television. Observational and situational comedy works every time for me, and that show nailed it. It\u2019s famous for its sharp satire of suburbia, capturing everyday moments and would never fail to crack me up.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Seinfeld, a show about nothing, mostly the things no one would consider important but that\u2019s exactly what makes it hilarious, even decades later.\u00a0Thanks to reruns, Seinfeld is still\u00a0hilariously funny today and great for a laugh.<\/p>\n

Cartoonists who\u2019ve given me a laugh over the years and who I personally think are genuinely funny: include several editorial greats such as Paul Zanetti, Alan Moir, Warren Brown, Bill Leak (1956-2017), and Frank Benier (1919-1998).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also always enjoyed classic comic strips such as Swamp\u00a0by Gary Clark, Footrot Flats\u00a0by Murray Ball (1939-2017), and Snake Tales\u00a0by Allan Salisbury. Their styles, characters, and wit have all played a part in shaping my own sense of humour.<\/p>\n

You can always count on comedians for a good laugh, and the ones who never fail to crack me up are Carl Barron, Dave Hughes, Glenn Robbins and Nazeem Hussain. Each has a style that hits me in just the right way. Watching them is like stepping into a world where everyday situations become hilariously relatable, and they never fail to lift my spirits.<\/p>\n

\"\"CityNews cartoonist and fireman extraordinaire, Capt Paul Dorin AFSM\u2026 \u201cMy station is full of jokers and fun characters, and humour is one of the most effective ways we strengthen bonds and build camaraderie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being a first responder has shown me just how powerful humour can be in managing stress. Humour acts as a release valve for the pressure that builds during traumatic events. For many first responders, the ability to laugh isn\u2019t about ignoring what we face; it\u2019s about processing our experiences and maintaining emotional resilience.<\/p>\n

Some of my favourite moments happen back at the fire station, where shared laughter creates an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their emotions, vulnerabilities, and, of course, their best (and worst) jokes.<\/p>\n

My station is full of jokers and fun characters, and humour is one of the most effective ways we strengthen bonds and build camaraderie. I have had so many belly laughs.<\/p>\n

A new recruit mentioned to me recently that he\u2019d noticed something interesting: the way firefighters can be laughing one minute, then turn completely serious the moment the bells go off. It\u2019s true our ability to switch modes so quickly is part of the job. The laughter helps us breathe, and the seriousness helps us serve.<\/p>\n

Life is always better when you\u2019re laughing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cartoon: Paul Dorin CityNews cartoonist PAUL DORIN gets his laughs from the usual suspects, but in his serious…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137,221073],"class_list":{"0":"post-420099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-laughter"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}