The Laughter Clinic

The Laughter Clinic Intro Episode: A Comedian's Journey into Suicide Prevention

• Mark McConville • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Comedy meets science in this groundbreaking exploration of how both humor and laughter can transform mental health. Comedian and suicidologist Mark McConville takes us on a deeply personal journey that began with a profound encounter – a soldier who hadn't laughed in three years found more healing in one comedy show than years of traditional therapy.

Through the Laughter Clinic Podcast, Mark bridges his two worlds: decades of stand-up comedy experience across Australia's comedy clubs, and his academic credentials in suicide prevention. After navigating his own 15-year mental health journey (including a life-changing ADHD diagnosis that had been misdiagnosed as depression), Mark became passionate about researching the healing power of humor and laughter. This led him to pursue a master's degree in suicidology at age 45 and develop evidence-based approaches that recognize laughter isn't just complementary to healing – it's essential.

The podcast offers three distinct formats to support your mental wellbeing: solo episodes providing practical self-care strategies, "TLC Pulse" segments highlighting fascinating research (like how just four minutes of laughter positively affects the brain), and in-depth interviews with remarkable individuals sharing powerful stories. Whether you're navigating your own mental health journey, supporting someone through difficult times, or simply curious about the power of humor and laughter, this podcast delivers content that's equally informative and entertaining. Subscribe now and discover how the intersection of humour and mental health education can transform lives – perhaps even your own.

"If you or someone you know needs support, please contact one of these Australian mental health services. In an emergency, always call 000."

Lifeline Australia
Phone: 13 11 14 (24/7)
Web: lifeline.org.au

Suicide Call Back Service
Phone: 1300 659 467 (24/7)
Web: suicidecallbackservice.org.au

Beyond Blue
Phone: 1300 22 4636 (24/7)
Web: beyondblue.org.au

Kids Helpline (for people aged 5-25)
Phone: 1800 55 1800 (24/7)
Web: kidshelpline.com.au

MensLine Australia
Phone: 1300 78 99 78 (24/7)
Web: mensline.org.au

SANE Australia (complex mental health issues)
Phone: 1800 18 7263 (10am-10pm AEST, Mon-Fri)
Web: sane.org

QLife (LGBTIQ+ support)
Phone: 1800 184 527 (3pm-midnight AEST)
Web: qlife.org.au

Open Arms (Veterans & Families Counselling)
Phone: 1800 011 046 (24/7)
Web: openarms.gov.au

1800RESPECT (sexual assault, domestic violence)
Phone: 1800 737 732 (24/7)
Web: 1800respect.org.au

Headspace (youth mental health, ages 12-25)
Phone: 1800 650 890 (9am-1am AEST)
Web: headspace.org.au

13YARN (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support)
Phone: 13 92 76 (13YARN) (24/7)
Web: 13yarn.org.au

Music produced by Hayden Smith
https://www.haydensmith.com/


Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Laughter Clinic Podcast with comedian and suicidologist Mark McConville, bringing you practical, evidence-based self-care strategies, the latest research in mental health, along with conversations that inspire, educate and entertain. This is the Laughter Clinic Podcast with your host, mark McConville.

Speaker 2:

Hi there, welcome to the Laughter Clinic Podcast introduction episode. My name is Mark McConville, I'm your host, I'm a stand-up comedian and also a suicidologist, and so this introduction episode is basically I'm just going to give you a rundown as to what the Laughter Clinic's all about, the different types of episodes we're going to be doing, and what you can get out of it and what you can look forward to. So I'll give you a little bit of a background. So I created this podcast basically as a way to explore the intersection where mental health education meets the power of humour and laughter. So, whether you are a mental health professional or someone navigating your own mental health journey, or you may be supporting someone else or you're just simply curious about, you know the science and the health benefits of humor and laughter. So hopefully there's a bit of something for everybody. This podcast is for you, so let me share a bit about how it is that a stand-up comedian came to work in the field of mental health and, specifically, suicide prevention.

Speaker 2:

So for over two decades I have worked as a professional stand-up comedian across Australia doing gigs in, you know, outback pubs, inner city, night, inner city comedy clubs, cruise ships, corporate gigs, you name it, you know. So I started doing stand-up back in 1998. So I've done a lot of gigs over the years. However, it was a random encounter with two audience members at a gig that I did back in 2012 that changed the entire course of my life and I had no idea at the time how important this meeting was going to be. Now I have told this story countless times, as I it's how I opened my laughter clinic presentation a live presentation. So I apologize if you've already heard me say this story, but for those that are new to my work in the laughter clinic, it's a pretty interesting story. So I was doing a gig on a cruise ship back in 2012, and what a gig they are. You know I've had a late night show to do.

Speaker 2:

I come out at 11 o'clock at night to do a one hour show in a thousand seat theater and it's the best. It's absolutely so much fun. And then after the gig, I'm just sitting there watching people filing out of the theater, you know, and uh, and I see this couple kind of come off to the side and heading over towards me. You know, probably you know mid to late 30s pretty fit looking and you know it's nothing strange for people to want to come up to you after a gig, I'll be honest. And. But then I noticed the lady's crying and I'm like what's going on here? And she comes up to me and I'll never forget this moment. She wrapped her arms around me and she said I don't know how I can possibly thank you, because I have not seen my husband laugh out loud for three years. And I'm just like, how is that even possible, three years?

Speaker 2:

So I talked to this couple for hours into the middle of the night, I think. We chatted for nearly five hours and it turned out that the guy was an ex-soldier who three years previously, was in Afghanistan. So remember, this is 2012, so 2009. He was over there conducting a patrol, kicked open the door, was booby trapped, blew him up, and so here's this guy standing in front of me going mate, you've done more for me in one night than three years of counseling and post-traumatic stress management and all of that jazz, because you just made me laugh for an hour. You know, I will say it was a cracking show, I've got to tell you. But his wife was pissed off at the fact that she said why isn't that? For the last three years the people looking after my husband's rehabilitation and mental health at no point had kind of stopped to say you know, mate, you're still able to laugh, you still find things funny, you still got your sense of humor. And I just want to say at this point that in no way am I discounting the importance of post-traumatic stress management protocols and all of that sort of stuff, because you know now I do a lot of work with first responders and veterans and people suffering from PTSD, so I've seen firsthand how important that type of work is in relation to their post-traumatic growth. But for this guy, going to a comedy show changed his life, probably changed the life of his wife and her eyes. I'd given her husband back and who knows what else changed in their life.

Speaker 2:

And so, you know, I got off the ship and I couldn't stop thinking about this couple. And then I really started to take notice that, you know, it wasn't just me. People are not only approaching me but other comedians after shows, having audience members coming up to them saying how much they needed a laugh during all of the shit that they're going through. And so, you know, I really started to think, you know what, maybe there is more to being a comedian than just simply doing gigs? You know there really is. So I started to do a little bit of my own research into that old saying laughter is the best medicine, which we now know dates back over 3000 years. I found out and you know, I started to look at the effects of laughter on, you know, obviously, depression with this guy and PTSD and stress and anxiety, and that led me to the rates of, you know, depression in society and then the rates of suicide and attempted suicide and I was like, wow, this is actually an incredible problem in our society that I just happen to work in an industry that can have a positive impact, you know, given the effect that we'd had on this couple at a gig, you know.

Speaker 2:

So and this came at a time for me where I was on the back end of my own lived experience with depression. You know, for 15 years I'd pretty much done the standard kind of treatment protocols, on and off different antidepressants and, you know, different psychologists and all of that sort of stuff. And I've got to tell you it wasn't until 2010 when I randomly moved from Brisbane to the Gold Coast in South East Queensland. I just found a new doctor and it just so happens that this doctor was the right fit for me and she knew the right psychologist, right psychiatrist. And then, after that, they said well, you know what, mate, we actually don't think that you've got depression as such. We don't think you should probably be on all these antidepressants. We think you've got undiagnosed ADD or ADHD.

Speaker 2:

And so this is back in 2010, and so I did the tests, ticked a lot of boxes, and so I changed all my treatment protocols and a lot of lifestyle changes and I was a good patient. You know, I was very treatment compliant. I did everything that was asked of me and over a two year period, I really turned my life around. Patient, you know, I was very treatment compliant. I did everything that was asked of me and over a two-year period, I really turned my life around. And you know, by the end of 2012, you know, I was smacking it out of the ballpark. Everything was going great, word was good, gigs were smashing. You know, everything was on fire.

Speaker 2:

And that's when I met this couple, you know, on the cruise ship, and I felt strong enough and mentally in a place where I thought you know what I reckon I can. I feel like I can actually do something here. I feel like I can really make a contribution to the mental health and suicide prevention in particular. So all of this eventually led to I had a business mentor at the time. He helped me get involved with Griffith University and so, in 2015, went to university for the first time in my life, at the age of 45.

Speaker 2:

I completed a graduate certificate, so they recognised prior learning for what was nearly 17 years at the time of being a comedian, which is, I thought, amazing, fantastic, because they believed in what I wanted to do. You know, research into humor and laughter for suicide prevention was pretty unique. So, yeah, 2015, I started university. I completed a graduate certificate in suicide prevention studies and then went on to get a master's degree in suicidology. And I have to say that the support that I received in relationships that I built at Griffith University were so pivotal in my life. You know, there is no way in the world I could have got through that degree without their support. And then, when I graduated, they actually appointed me as an adjunct lecturer at the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, which is what we fondly call ACERAP, based at Griffith University. So and this is a position I still hold. So, yeah, that's how that kind of all came about.

Speaker 2:

And what I discovered through my academic research and real world experience you know, at gigs and stuff was that humor and laughter aren't just complementary to healing. These things are. This is a necessity, this is essential, you know. And I really started to lean into and deep dive into the profound differences between the physical benefits of laughter and the psychological benefits of using your sense of humor as a coping mechanism. Right and so that, my friends, is how I came to combine my comedy career with my academic learnings in the field of mental health and, specifically, suicide prevention to build my laughter clinic keynote presentations and workshops after clinic keynote presentations and workshops. And so now I travel around Australia delivering these very unique events to everyone, from small community groups and men's sheds right up to big mining companies.

Speaker 2:

So, and the feedback I receive from the audiences over the last what 10 years I've been doing this have been, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and, dare I say, for some people it has been life-changing and, to be honest and that's not an understatement, some people have really, I want to say it's actually been quite humbling the very personal stories that people have shared with me over the years as to what they've been going through and how the work that I've been doing has helped them, and so I've got to say that I am very grateful for each and every one of those stories and each and every one of those people that has shared their stuff with me. And so it's come to have me realise three very important things that I know for certain now. And firstly, I can only speak to so many people when I do this type of work live. When I do my laughter clinics live and the workshops live, there's only so many people that I can get to. And secondly and I say this to other comedians all the time that you never know who is in your audience and what they are going through. You know, unless they specifically come up and share it with you, you don't know what impact you're having on these people and what they've been dealing with with their life. So and that comes also for me when I'm doing my Love to Clinic mental health, suicide prevention presentations, you know I never know 100% who's going through what in the audience, but I just know that what I'm doing is good and I just need to keep doing it. But the last thing that I know for certain personally is, you know, if me going to the trouble of putting this podcast together and building these episodes and and getting this content out there to a wider audience other than what I can talk to live, if me doing all this helps just one person, you know who may be listening they've heard something that they relate to, or you know they hear something that they know that they can use to help a friend or a family member or whoever. It's been worth it. It has been 100% worth all of the effort and mucking around. You know, because these things don't build themselves. These podcasts and all that sort of stuff. There's a lot of work goes into behind the scenes. It's really given me and I gotta tell you it's given me a new appreciation for people that do podcasts. You know deciding that I want to start this up, so, but yeah, if anything that I share helps someone, well then it's all been worth it.

Speaker 2:

So what will the Laughter Clinic podcast be? So I'm going to bring you all of this information and insights through three different types of episodes, okay, so firstly, there's going to be a solo episode where I explore specific mental health topics and share practical self-care strategies. These episodes are focused on evidence-based tools and techniques that you can apply immediately to enhance your well-being. And in my launch episodes you know the suite of episodes that I'm putting together for the initial launch I've put a couple up. That one is called Social Health. What Is it and why it's Important, which I think is very timely and also going on from that is community. So I would suggest you listen to social health first and then community. So community is about fostering a sense of belonging, and these are both topics that don't often get the attention that they deserve. So there'll be the solo type of episodes and then, secondly, you'll experience.

Speaker 2:

I'll be putting out the TLC Pulse episodes, and these are like an unused type of episodes where I will share five carefully curated insights from around the world in the field of mental health, suicide prevention and the study of humor and laughter research. So in the first TLC Pulse, for example, the episode that's going to be up there, you'll find fascinating research from Japan that's showing how just four minutes of laughter positively affects the brain, along with important developments like comedy being socially prescribed by doctors in the UK. I've got to tell you that is an absolutely cracking story, that one, and so putting out these episodes, the TLC Pulse, with the top five things that have caught my attention, will help us both stay current and up to date in what's happening in these important fields. So I'll find the content and I'll just sift through it and I'll curate what the top five things I think worthy of sharing are, and I'll do that for you. And thirdly, podcasts are all about interviews, right, and so you're going to hear in-depth conversations with some remarkable individuals who have powerful stories and insights and information to share, and I've got to tell you I've got a really amazing lineup of guests that are on my hit list of people that I want to talk to, people that you know. You may never have heard of these people. They're not famous, but like well, some of them might be in the field of mental health and suicide prevention. You know a few comedians, but each one is going to offer something different, and so these are going to be really fun engaging chats.

Speaker 2:

The fourth the first one, the first long form chat episode is my chat with Craig Coombs. Now, craig has an inspiring philosophy to make the rest of your life the best of your life. In 2012, this guy was given 18 months to live and you know we had our conversation what I think about three or four weeks ago now August of 2025. And it's an amazing story. Craig offers profound insights into the healing power of humor and laughter and the importance of friendship and finding purpose through adversity. So it's a really nice one to kick us off.

Speaker 2:

So they're the three formats the solo episodes, the TLC pulse, which is going to be five news items, and the long form interviews. So all of this content is delivered with one goal in mind right To make mental health education accessible, evidence-based and enjoyable. And so why did I choose to do these three formats? Well, for a couple of reasons, basically. First, the field of suicide prevention is incredibly complex. It really is, and so if I can share with you information and education from a variety of different sources and a variety of different mediums, well then, that to me is good. You know that to me is helpful, it really is. And mental health isn't one dimensional, and so neither should be the way. That to me is good. You know that to me is helpful, it really is. And mental health isn't one dimensional, and so neither should be the way that we learn about it. Basically, so, because you know, sometimes you just need a quick, practical strategy you can implement.

Speaker 2:

Today you're going through something, and other times you may want to hear about what's been happening in the world, latest research and developments in the field of mental health and suicide prevention, and human laughter stuff. So and and then there's going to be other times where hearing from someone else's, hearing someone else's journey, provides you with the perspective and inspiration that you need. You know. So, by subscribing to the Laughter Clinic podcast, you'll receive this variety of content designed to support different aspects of your mental wellbeing journey. You know some episodes will be brief, you know, for a short commute or whatever, and then others will be, you know, a deep dive into some really meaningful conversations when you have got more time to engage and listen. So hopefully there'll be a bit of something for everyone there.

Speaker 2:

But what unites all of these episodes, my friends, is my commitment to combining evidence-based information with accessible, engaging and entertaining delivery, because I believe that, you know, even the most serious of conversations about mental health can be approached with compassion, insight and yes, when relevant humour. So I invite you to join me and become part of the Laughter Clinic community If you're interested in more information about the work that I do. You can visit the website, which is the laughtercliniccomau, and you can learn more about the work and connect with additional resources. You can follow us on social media to join the conversation and, if you find value in what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast and share it with others who might benefit from any of this material. Your feedback will help shape future episodes, so don't hesitate to get in touch and, you know, let me know about topics you'd like explored or questions that you'd like answered. You know I'll do my best to engage with you as much as I can.

Speaker 2:

Before I close this introduction, I want to remind you of something very important that the information contained in these podcast episodes is really it's designed for educational, entertainment purposes. It is not intended, nor should it ever, replace advice received from a physician or a mental health professional. In the show notes, I'll provide some resources for places for you to reach out should you need some support, and these will be Australian based resources, because that's where I live and that's where we're producing this from. So, my friends, thank you so much for your time and listening to the introduction episode. In a wrap-up, I just you know, please be kind to yourself and be kind to those around you, because that's what really matters. And so my name's Mark McConville. This is the Laughter Clinic Podcast. Thanks for listening, cheers.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening. The information contained in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not intended, nor should it ever, replace advice received from a physician or mental health professional. Want more info? Visit thelaughtercliniccomau. If you enjoyed the episode, please share and subscribe. Thanks again for listening to a laughter clinic podcast with your host, mark McConville.