Laughter

No Barriers - Small Island, Big ideas is postponed till September 26th.

It's time for a good laugh! It's not been an easy year so take some time out to learn all about laughter... from what makes us laugh to whether animals laugh - or not.

Laughter is the topic of this year’s No Barriers –small Island, big ideas symposium on Great Barrier Island – an annual event that brings together our unique community to learn and debate big topics.

With leading speakers from around New Zealand, and moderated by comedian Michele A'Court, No Barriers is a high-quality Great Barrier Island festival for the brain.

Panelists are:
Alex Taylor, Senior Lecturer in psychology and leader of the Animal Minds Lab at Auckland University. Alex will answer one of the most pressing questions of the day – do animals laugh? Alex studies the minds of humans, dogs, kea and crows, using theoretical and experimental approaches to figure out if our furry friends see the funny side of life.

Barbara Plester, Senior Lecturer in Management and International Business at Auckland University. Barbara is an expert on workplace humour. Can banter and a chortle at work improve performance? Barbara will also explore kindness and cruelty in laughter.

Nick Holm, Senior Lecturer in media studies at Massey University. Nick will discuss the role humour plays in advertising, politics, popular culture and the media, and look at parody, satire, irony and comedy. Nick's twitter handle reads: “pursued a PhD in media and cultural studies. Caught it.” Make sure you catch him on September 12.

And no panel on laughter would be complete without a comedian. How do these guys go about making people laugh? What's funny and what's not? And what happens when it all goes wrong? Jeremy Elwood, award winning comedian, and regular panelist on TV3’s 7 Days and RNZ’s The Panel, will reveal all.

Moderator - Michele A’Court – renowned comedian, writer, social commentator and mum. Winner of multiple awards for comedy. You may know her from...well, everywhere really - radio, television, theatre, clubs and pubs up and down the country.

The Programme:
Breakouts exploring panelists' passions
9.30am - 10.45 Barbara Plester and Nick Holm
11.15am - 12 noon Alex Taylor
1pm - 2pm Jeremy and Michele
2.30pm - 4.30pm The Panel