2006 Cost Of Laughing Index Rises Only 1/10 of 1% Rubber Chickens Hold Steady

Santa Cruz, CA — A 49 cent increase in the cover price of Mad Magazine and admission hikes at a few comedy clubs caused a microscopic rise in America's cost of laughing according to the 2006 Cost of Laughing Index.

The Index — a compilation of 16 leading humor indicators — increased by 1/10 of 1% during the past twelve months.

The Index measures the annual price change in:
- admission to comedy clubs in 10 U.S. cities
- wholesale prices of rubber chickens, Groucho glasses, and whoopee cushions
- an issue of Mad Magazine
- funny singing telegrams
- the fee for writing a TV sitcom

"It's the smallest increase in over a decade," according to Malcolm Kushner, compiler of the Index. "And that's no joke."

"It's just supply and demand," he explains. "Who needs to buy rubber chickens when the vice president is hunting pheasants? And no amount of whoopee cushions can produce a funnier sound than people arguing about Danish editorial cartoons."

After 9/11, the country wondered whether humor was dead, Kushner recalls. They needn't have worried. "Maybe now it's harder to get on a plane," he says. "But it's still easy to laugh at politicians around the world." For example? "How can Iran have a Holocaust cartoon contest when its president says the Holocaust never occurred? Who wins? The guy who turns in a blank sheet of paper?"

Additional 2006 Cost of Laughing Index statistics include:

- no increase in the fee for writing a half-hour TV sit-com
- no increase in the price of a pink gorilla telegram
- no change in the wholesale price of rubber chickens

Kushner, an attorney-turned-humor consultant, developed the Index to track how the punch line affects the bottom line. His latest creation is the Museum of Humor.com. The website has links to databases of jokes, quotes, anecdotes, one-liners and other material for speakers and writers. A special section for teachers includes links to hundreds of fun lesson plans sorted by grade and topic. Check it out at www.museumofhumor.com. It's free of charge!

Kushner also gives speeches and workshops at corporate and association meetings on how to use humor to command attention, create rapport, defuse conflict and motivate people — even if you can't tell a joke. His clients include IBM, Aetna, SONY, AT&T, Motorola, and the IRS. Learn more at www.kushnergroup.com.

When not traveling the corporate lecture circuit, Kushner is based in Santa Cruz, California. "Whether or not you think the world needs a humor consultant, it can definitely use one less attorney," he notes.

[Ed Note: The Cost of Laughing Index may be useful for April 1st humor features.]

2006 COST OF LAUGHING INDEX

2005 2006
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Rubber Chickens* $51.00 (dozen) $51.00 (dozen)

Groucho Glasses* $15.00 (dozen) $15.00 (dozen)

Whoopee Cushion* $ 5.40 (dozen) $ 5.40 (dozen)
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MAD Magazine $ 3.50 $ 3.99
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Singing Telegrams**
o pink gorilla $125.00 $125.00
o dancing chicken $125.00 $125.00
_________________________________________________________________

Teleplay for half***
hour TV sitcom $14377.00 $14377.00

* Wholesale prices from Franco-American Novelty Co., Long Island City, New York
** Available from Bellygrams, Manhattan, New York.
*** Minimum fee under Writers Guild of America Basic Agreement.

COMEDY CLUBS
Admission on Saturday night

2005 2006

Atlanta
The Punch Line $22.00 $22.00

Chicago
Second City $19.50 $24.00

Houston
Laff Stop $23.65 $24.65

Denver
Comedy Works $25.00 $35.00

Indianapolis
Crackers Comedy Club $11.00 $15.00

Los Angeles
Laugh Factory $17.00 $17.00

New York
Comic Strip $19.00 $20.00

Pittsburgh
The Funny Bone $15.00 $15.00

San Francisco
Punch Line Comedy Club $20.00 $20.00

Seattle
Comedy Underground $15.00 $15.00

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