When you think of professionalism, what comes to mind? Spreadsheets, KPIs… perhaps a well-timed expense report? What about silliness, playfulness, and laughter? It might not be what we traditionally associate with work, but evidence shows that humour in the workplace isn’t just nice – it’s necessary.
At Video Arts, we’ve always believed in the power of learning through laughter (we did start with John Cleese, after all). But on International Joke Day, we want to go beyond the punchlines and explore what role humour in the workplace plays – not just in learning, but in leadership, mental health, and team culture.
“Forced Fun” – Why We Shouldn’t Dismiss It
At this year’s CIPD Festival of Work, we sat in on a thought-provoking (and laugh-inducing) session with Alex Horne – comedian, creator of Taskmaster, and all-round advocate for silliness. When asked how to promote fun in the workplace, Alex reflected on his time in traditional office jobs, saying the workplaces that thrived were the ones that made time for community: social events, silly traditions, and yes, a bit of “forced fun.”
That phrase often gets a bad rep. But as Horne pointed out, it’s these moments of togetherness – the quiz nights, bake-offs, and shared inside jokes – that make work more human. The data backs him up.
Funny Means Functional
According to research covered by Harvard Business Review, humour in the workplace can boost status, improve creativity, and build stronger bonds between colleagues. Teams that laugh together tend to perform better. The book Humour, Seriously by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas even argues that humour is a “superpower” at work – one that can reduce stress, spark innovation, and increase resilience.
Humour in the workplace doesn’t mean making jokes at someone’s expense or turning the office into a stand-up club. It’s about creating space for authenticity, play, and psychological safety – key components of any high-performing team.
What Humour Does for Learning
So, what happens when we bring humour into the learning experience?
Quite a lot, actually.
Humour is a powerful cognitive tool and laughter helps learners retain information by creating emotional connections. When we laugh, we’re more engaged, more attentive, and more likely to remember what we’ve just heard or seen.
At Video Arts, this has been our approach from the start: making serious points with serious humour. Comedy lowers defences, especially around challenging or sensitive topics – think unconscious bias, mental health, or poor leadership behaviour. When people laugh, they feel more at ease, which means they’re more open to reflection and change.
It’s not just about making people chuckle – it’s about making ideas stick.
We use humour in our learning content not just to entertain, but to support effective teaching and knowledge retention. Because when people are enjoying themselves, they don’t just learn more – they want to keep learning.
What This Means for Leaders
If you’re a leader, remember: you set the tone. Playfulness from the top filters through your team. It’s not about being the office comedian – it’s about giving people permission to bring their whole selves to work, to experiment, and yes, to laugh. Our Mental Health & Wellbeing collection includes resources on building inclusive, supportive cultures – and a big part of that is recognising that wellbeing isn’t just about absence of stress. It’s about joy.
Leaders who make space for humour create workplaces that are not only more productive, but more humane.
Team Building, With a Wink
This International Joke Day, why not organise a lunchtime comedy hour, task your team with inventing the worst corporate jargon imaginable, or dig into a Video Arts classic together? Because team building doesn’t have to be awkward or over-structured – sometimes the best bonding comes from simply sharing a laugh.
In a world that can often feel overly serious, especially post-pandemic, we could all use a little more lightness. So, here’s to the jokes that fall flat, the puns that make you groan, and the teams that choose laughter, even when the inbox is overflowing. As Alex Horne might put it – go ahead, be silly. It just might be the most productive thing you do today.
Happy International Joke Day from all of us at Video Arts. 😄
