- A new Red Nose Day survey into the UK’s sense of humour has been released today
- A huge 84 per cent of people from Belfast said that humour was important to them during lockdown
- Witty jokes came out on top as Belfast’s favourite form of humour (54 per cent), followed by children saying inappropriate things by mistake (45 per cent) and sarcasm (27 per cent)
- 82 per cent of people from Belfast rated themselves as having a good sense of humour while a fifth (20 per cent) believe their partner is the funniest person they know
- Red Nose Day 2021 – Friday 19th March
- Find out how you can get involved at comicrelief.com/funnyispower
A huge 84 per cent of people from Belfast have said that they relied on humour to help them get through lockdown, according to a new survey commissioned by Comic Relief for Red Nose Day.
Red Nose Day aims to unite the nation by spreading joy and humour to homes across the UK, while raising money to help people struggling now more than ever.
The survey shows that humour has the power to get people through some of the toughest of times. 81 per cent of people from Belfast agreed that ‘laughter is the best medicine’ with 77 per cent also stating that laughter is important to them in their day-to-day lives.
When it comes to the types of humour enjoyed by Belfastians, witty jokes came out on top as the capital’s favourite form of humour (54 per cent) followed closely by children saying inappropriate things by mistake (45 per cent). Whilst it may be referred to as the lowest form of wit, sarcasm came third (27 per cent).
82 per cent of people from Belfast also rated themselves as having a good sense of humour, while a fifth (20 per cent) believe their partner is the funniest person that they know.
And when it comes to laughing, the typical Belfastian laughs nine times a day and likes to make others giggle on six occasions daily. However, almost a quarter of people from Belfast (21 per cent) admitted that they had belly laughed within the last week.
Red Nose Day hopes to change this and bring a little more joy to homes across the country through its Share a Smile campaign. Laughter can offer some temporary release from problems and so by encouraging people to put their favourite joke in their window, people power can get the nations laughing right across the UK, one home at a time. The downloadable poster is available from the Comic Relief website now.
Comic Relief’s study of 2,000 UK adults also found that Liverpudlians have the best sense of humour in the country. The birthplace of John Bishop, Ken Dodd and Kenny Everett took the top spot in the charity’s poll to reveal the UK’s sense of humour capital.
London, which has given us the likes of Rob Beckett, Jo Brand and Michael McIntyre, came second. But the north of England and beyond largely dominated the top five with Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Rounding off the top 10 cities were Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff, coming in sixth through to 10th respectively.
Comic Relief co-founder, Lenny Henry, said: “We all need cheering up, so this year Red Nose Day will be a bit different. Of course we want to raise as much money as possible for people who really need it in the UK and around the world. But we also want to make you smile and bring you some laughter over the coming weeks!”
As COVID-19 continues to impact people all over the world, it has never felt more important to raise smiles and money for those who are struggling more than ever. For 35 years, Comic Relief has shown how laugher can make a difference, raising over £1.6bn to help change millions of lives, all thanks to the enormous generosity and kindness of the British public.
Comic Relief is supporting more than 250 organisations working across the UK, including Jigsaw Community counselling, who have been working with teachers in north Belfast throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, offering them a listening service to build resilience and improve mental health.
To find out how to get involved visit www.comicrelief.com/funnyispower