The Art of Humor: Why Sending a Funny Card Means More Than You Think

I recently made a career jump; 25 years in the NHS squished into a little shoe box of memories and stored in a metaphorical closet, boing, straight into the publishing industry (greetings card to be precise), via quite an uncomfortable sail half way round the world that in no way resembled a mid-life crisis. For the most part I’m really much happier, but what I occasionally miss, and it tends to be taken for granted when you work in healthcare, is the sense that I’m doing something important. Biomedical scientist is the type of profession that parents can use in a marriage negotiation. And the training gives you skills that would be useful in a hostage situation, in my case especially if the gunman had a mole that had changed colour and increased in size recently. Then I might be super handy.

So, the question I find myself asking today is this:

“Do greetings cards really matter?”

And the answer on a cosmic scale, is categorically no, of course they don’t. But in a smaller sense, when thinking about friendships, shared cups of tea or reinforcing romantic connection, they probably matter more than you might think. So, let’s set aside the vast and infinite cosmos, for the time being.

If you’re wanting proof, the clever peeps at the Greater Good Science Centre have, as their name would predict, scienced the shit out of this, and you can take a look at all the wisdom here but in the spirit of TL;DR (too long; didn’t read for those of us born before 2015) the summary basically says if you’re a giver, an indulger of others, a practitioner of small acts of kindness, your mental and physical health will be better.

Other studies into the psychological and emotional benefits of sending a card have been explored as part of Thinking of You week (more on that here... You can learn more about frontal lobes and limbic systems because the science of card giving and generosity is sexy AF... (It actually is – altruistic behaviours, for example, giving a specially selected, quirky card, generates brain activity similar to that of eating chocolate or having sex. Move over Netflix and Chill, greetings cards are the new mid-week aphrodisiac!)

Add a side-helping of funny into that mix and you get the card giving equivalent of Stonehenge, a smorgasbord of ley lines and vibes of fine excellence. Humour and lightness create a much-needed respite for body and soul from daily stresses, a vacation from the shitshow rodeo… and although laughter clearly isn’t the best medicine when it comes to diabetes or Ebola, it can decrease depression and anxiety, and help us build stronger relationships with our co-workers and partners. Now I’m not saying a hilarious card will save you from your toxic work environment. The science says that*.

So, in an attempt to influence global health, cos you can take the girl out of the NHS but you can’t take the crusader out of the girl (ooooh, tell me more…) here are my top 10 personal Pynk picks - comic cards to satisfy that altruistic itch, no matter the occasion:

 

#10: New Baby Card… Sleep deprivation makes it even more likely that they’ll find your choice of card hilarious https://pynk.net/products/did-it-new-baby

#9: Cute and Rude Just Because Card… A sweary worm chat that will light a fire under their gorgeous little tushy! https://pynk.net/products/worm

#8: Funniest Mother’s Day Card… https://pynk.net/products/cups where else will you find a mother’s day card that so perfectly captures the motherhood vibe?

#7: LGBTQ+ Card offering… https://pynk.net/products/awesome-sloth this quirky, beautiful slightly rude (is fuck even a swear anymore?) card is a reminder that awesomeness comes in ALL forms. Even sloth.

#6: Menopause Mood Card… maybe not a stationery staple for the meno-madness but still the best sentiment to accompany HRT I have ever found in card form https://pynk.net/products/inner-peace

#5: Funniest random Valentine Card… https://pynk.net/products/your-face-makes-my-bum-tingle Enough said.

#4: Quirky Father’s Day Card… Fun father’s day card to remind him that you are the reason he is an awesome dad https://pynk.net/products/without-me

#3: Best Funny Rude Birthday Card… https://pynk.net/products/you-were-born

#2: Congratulations Card… this one is one of the best cards ever, my favourite sweary card. https://pynk.net/products/awesome God, I love the English language.

#1: Funny Friendship Card… not for any particular occasion, but just a beautiful, hilarious, clever witty card. There aren’t enough superlatives for Zeppelinmoon’s inspired artwork, but this brilliant card tops the lot for me https://pynk.net/products/dickproof

 

*Importantly, the science does not say that.