STAND by for a fresh new laugh-a-line theatre experience from South Africa’s ‘Master of Mirth!, Aaron McIlroy (Abbamaniacs, The Loser, The Ranga), at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban from May 19 to June 5.

In Comedy Masterclass Aaron delves into the science that underpins the world’s oldest coping mechanism, a Sense of Humour.

Co-written by Aaron and Patrick Kenny, and directed by Kenny, Comedy Masterclass is a surreal, comedic rollercoaster ride into the world of laughter, where the rules are subjective and what one person finds funny another may cringe at!

Why do we find things funny? Aaron attempts to answer the question saying: “Something is funny because it captures a moment, it contains an element of truth as seen from a new angle, it is something that we have always known and yet are hearing it out loud for the first time. I think that our need to feel intelligent comes into play a lot in finding things funny…

“Maybe humour is actually the overwhelming joy at feeling intelligent. Say somebody tries to put on their shoes standing up and falls over. They look like a complete idiot, we feel intelligent because we are not the one falling over.. So, we laugh – maybe out of relief that it’s not us – this time!

“Another person makes a clever comment and only a few people get it. If we get the joke we recognise the person as being clever and feel clever ourselves because we understood the concept so, we laugh, again.”

So is humour partly to do with self-congratulation at being intelligent? “Probably a huge part of it!  In any event, as ‘Laughter is the best medicine’, come and enjoy your dose. Because, let’s face it, there has never been a time when we needed it more.”

Produced by MacBob Productions, performances of Comedy Masterclass are at 7.30 pm from Tuesday to Saturday and at 6 pm on Sunday. Tickets are R120 to R145 at Computicket. For block booking discounts, call Ailsa Windsor on 0832502690 or email ailswyn@mweb.co.za.