Why Humor In Skydiving Is Important

We get the same feedback at the dropzone every single day: Humor helps! Our cheerful, cheeky instructors at the Long Island Skydiving Center keep the mood light and the jumps easygoing. Our (relieved) students very often tell the world in their reviews that humor really helped calmed them down and made the experience more enjoyable. Because we’re nerds and it’s interesting, we’d love to take this opportunity to dig into the scientific reasons why that’s the case.

Humor Is Built-In

Humor is part of our human hardwiring. Since we know that chimps and other primates laugh, we know that humor has almost certainly been around even longer than recognizable humankind. Knowing that, we can extrapolate that humor is adaptive. It must have evolved with us because it helped early humans survive the many stresses of prehistoric life, like mammoths and saber-toothed tigers and figuring out a secure way to tie on your loincloth. Modern human babies figure out how to laugh before they figure out how to speak. Without humor, it’s doubtful we’d even be human in the way we understand ourselves to be.

Humor is Serious Stuff

With the knowledge that humor is right down in our genes, it’s surprising there isn’t a lot more research into the subject. Luckily, there’s a humor-focused scientific institute – the International Society for Humor Studies – that gets right into the nuts and bolts of hilarity. They’ve been diligently churning out work on the subject since the late 80’s (and, understandably, fighting for respectability, because the mental image of walking into an office full of humor scientists is already funny).

Among many other hilarious discoveries, the ISHS has discovered that humor in general – and especially laughter – doles out a long list of mental and physical benefits, all of which conspire to make a giggly skydive a better skydive.

The Benefits of Humor Help Us Skydive

Any skydiver will tell you that laughter makes any jump a little sweeter. The list of reasons for that is as long as our collective arm, but the first and foremost is that humor under pressure shows confidence and awareness. It helps us check in with each other. If a fellow sport skydiver has lost their sense of humor, it’s a bad sign of which we take very un-funny notice.

It’s not just for sport skydivers, either. Humor is absolutely clutch on a first-time tandem skydive! Studies have shown that laughter increases circulation, lung capacity and muscle power (especially those around the all-important belly area). Hearty applications of ha-ha-has help alleviate physical discomfort, mental strain, stressful psychological patterns and negative thinking. You can see where we’re going with this – skydiving is way fun, but it’s also way stressful to do for the first time, and humor helps our beloved students get out of their heads and into the best frame of mind to fully enjoy their jump.

So – whaddaya say? Are you ready to take a listen to our witty tandem skydiving instructors’ stand-up routine as you fly up to altitude over beautiful Long Island? They’ve perfected their schtick to give you the very best skydiving in New York. No joke!

Book your tandem skydive today – and remember to pack – along with snacks and good shoes – your sense of humor!