HUMOR THERAPY, LAUGHING AND GIGGLING can lower blood pressure, ease stress, boost immune function and make life more manageable for cancer patients, if you believe in the Laughing Guru who practices laughter yoga.

INDIAN MEDIC DR. MADAN KATARIA, who has launched hundreds of Laughing Clubs all over the world, is profiled in the Aug. 30 New Yorker magazine. The eight-page article includes news that the use of laughter as therapeutic was tried out in the cancer wards at our local Swedish Covenant Hospital. Oprah Winfrey has promoted Dr. Kataria’s laughing exercises, and popular medics Sanjay Gupta and Mehmet Oz have given the movement legitimacy.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LAUGH. NO MEDICINE, NO MONEY NEEDED, alone or with others, just laugh. Andrew Weil, author and physician, told writer Raffi

Khatchadourian that he quickly came to believe that laughter was a “powerful intervention” against illness. Weil testified before a Senate committee hearing on health-care reform that laughter yoga could help lower American health-care costs.

LAUGHTER CLUBS, WHERE PEOPLE get together and tell jokes or just start laughing, are in 66 countries. Members insist they get help with stress and problems as they force themselves to laugh. But then it becomes natural and liberating to just open your mouth and laugh. In India alone there are 6,000 clubs. Kataria’s 1999 book, Laugh for No Reason, argues people should fake laughter and not rely on humor. And each “club” should be whatever members like, goofing around, chatting, whatever.

JUST LAUGH. Writer Norman Cousins, diagnosed with a deadly illness in 1976 and told he had a one in five hundred chance of recovery, left the hospital, checked into a hotel room, watched The Marx Brothers and Candid Camera, took huge doses of vitamin C, and said 10 minutes of belly laughing allowed him to sleep pain-free for two hours. Cousins lived many more years and wrote, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient and taught at the University of California Los Angeles medical school.

“IS IT POSSIBLE THAT LOVE, HOPE, FAITH, LAUGHTER, CONFIDENCE AND THE WILL TO LIVE HAVE THERAPEUTIC VALUE?” Cousins asked.

CAN LAUGHTER CURE? It alleviates pain, mitigates Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, improves patients who have asthma and multiple sclerosis, can benefit cancer patients, and improve survival chances, maintains Kataria. He also says laughter is a divine vehicle for empathy and compassion. Your body doesn’t know the difference between real or faked laughter — all laughing is healing.

DON’T JUST STAND THERE; START LAUGHING!

DEAR MAYOR DALEY: RECONSIDER. RUN AGAIN. We forgive you for Meigs Field and appreciate all the great things you’ve done for our town. We need you now.

THE BRENTWOOD, Calif., 1929 COTTAGE where Marilyn Monroe died, is on the market for $3.6 million. No ghosts we’ve heard about.

PAINTINGS OF BOXES FILLED WITH PEACE are sent for free all over the world by artist Franck de Las Mercedes, who is a one-man love-they-neighbor pilgrim. To date he has mailed 8,000, hoping peace will flourish.

WHO IS THE MARRIED EXECUTIVE who goes on Craigslist to find hungry young girls eager for cash and a fling? He tells us there are hundreds begging for rent money, who meet him for drinks or dinner and are pushovers. Never have so many truly beautiful women been so easy to enjoy, he confides.

BIRTHDAY BLAST FOR TINA WELLER AND RONI SIEGEL saw a slew of lovelies partying at Japonaise. In the crowd were: Tina and Roni, Mary Lasky, Patricia Max, Sherrill Bodine, Eva Jakubowski, Irene Michaels, Dusty Stemer, Natasha Isaacs and Kathy Piccone.

DINNER WITH ASTRONAUTS James Lovell and John Grunsfeld are auction highlights at the Sept. 11 Adler Planetarium Celestial Ball. Chairs are Cynthia Ballew with Elisa Bailey and Theresa Montes. Tickets are $600.

A FASHION MILESTONE is Fashion’s Night Out on Sept. 10 with most Near North retail stores offering discounts, music, modeling and cocktails. Macy’s, Saks, Neiman’s, Nordstrom’s are all geared up as are 40 Water Tower shops and the Shops of North Bridge.

RUN, DON’T WALK to the Juvenile Protective Association’s 5K Run/Walk starting at 6:15 p.m. Sept. 16 in Grant Park. Join via www.juvenile.org.

THE ILLINOIS BAR FOUNDATION honors Judge Anne Burke with a distinguished award at its gala Oct. 15 at the Four Seasons.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED ARE EXPECTED AT THE GOLD COAST fashion show luncheon Oct. 1 at the Hilton, a benefit for Children’s Memorial Hospital where seven top designers vie for the annual award. Tickets are $175 and chairs are Vicki Stauber and Kim Friesen.

TODD SCHWEBEL’S HOME is the site of the cocktail party for Facets Screen Gems gala kickoff Sept. 15. Judy and John Bross will be honored with Harry Potter film director David Yates.

AUTHOR/SOCIALITE SUGAR RAUTBORD attended billionaire George Soros’ 80th birthday party.

THE GORGEOUS SIOBHAN ENGLE, WIFE OF ENTREPRENEUR Clyde Engle, celebrated her birthday Sept. 1.

ELEVEN VIP HUNKY MALES modeled clothes for Syd Jerome at a Maxim’s tea recently. They were: MATT LEE, ARNY GRANAT, DR. CHARLES MILLER, BASIL KROMELOW, STANLEY PAUL, JOHN FENWICK, LARRY KEEFE, SAM SAMUELSON, RICK KOGAN, HOWARD SIMS and MICHAEL GORDON.

JEWELRY DESIGNER AND NATIVE CHICAGOAN LOREE RODKIN is one of the victims of a skin care specialist-to-the-stars who is now out on bail, arrested for allegedly making unauthorized charges to credit cards. Others filing complaints were Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway, Melanie Griffin and Liv Tyler. Maria Perez of the exclusive Beverly Hills Chez Gabriela Studio is said to have totaled $280,000 in false bills. Perez gets as much as $6,000 a facial. Rodkin was billed an extra $68,000, she discovered.

THE MILLIONS OF FANS of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo must wait until Dec. 21, 2011, to see Rooney Mara in the title role. Never heard of Rooney? She was in Youth in Revolt, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and on TV in ER and Law & Order SVU. She’s 25, a brunette, and born into the Giants founder Tim Mara clan.

PUT DOWN THAT TWINKIE! GREAT, REAL FOOD IS PROMISED for the Sept. 24-26 Chicago Gourmet celebration of food and wine in Millennium Park. Three hundred wineries, 100 chefs, 65 beers and spirits will make the scene as well as tastings, celebrity book-signings and wine seminars.

HIP HOP ARTIST COMMON received the Deloris Jordan Award at the Black Harvest International Festival of Film and Video at the Siskel Film Center.

Deloris is the proud mom of basketball legend Michael Jordan.

RISING STAR AWARDS on Sept. 16 at the Hotel Sax will see the Fashion Group Foundation saluting apparel, beauty, interiors, jewelry, retail and cutting edge people nominated for innovation and creativity. They include: KATE BOGGIANO, MARISA SWYSTUN WOMENSWEAR, SHERNETT SWABY, SUJATA GAZDER, BRIMFIELD, CHALK, ROSLYN, SOFIA, TZEN, JULES, JESS LC, SUSAN ELIZABETH DESIGNS.

HIS FAN CLUB asked us to wish Joel Nemirow a happy Virgo birthday. Others celebrating are Charlie Sheen, 45, our fave on Two and a Half Men, and Beyoncé, 29, a talent for all seasons.

HAIRSTYLIST JOHN LANZENDORF brought a zillion of his closest clients to party at Leslie Hindman’s and preview her upcoming auction treasures.

ALD. JOE MOORE held an exploratory luncheon at the Ethiopian Diamond II, on North Broadway, to discuss expansion and further growth for the neighborhood. ... THE 60-YEAR-OLD ST. ANDREW’S INN, under the leadership of owner Julius Lamar, has undertaken a dramatic renewal.

SINGLE GOURMET DINING CLUB, founded by Carol Erickson, is marking its 25th year of fellowship and fun eating out. Call 773-772-3535 for details.

FASHIONISTAS are searching for the most exciting hats to wear to the Sept. 16 Parkways Foundation’s Garden Party luncheon in Grant Park, honoring top volunteer Laura Barnett Sawchyn. It is a fashion parade with our town’s high-profile philanthropists eager to keep their best-dressed status. Whose chapeau will be the biggest, the most colorful, the most ridiculous? This luncheon is supported by JO ANN NATHAN, DONA SCOTT, DENISE GINASCOL, ELIZABETH FERGUSON, ALICE SABL, JOAN CLIFFORD, SUSAN HEISTER, MRS. PETER JOHN, JANET OWEN, DIANE KELLEY, LIZ STIFFEL, MRS. ROGER NELSON, MRS. JOHN HIGGINS, GAIL HODGES, CAROL PRINS, NANCY LOEWENBERG, ROBIN BERGER, MARILYN BARTTER, LENORE CAMERON, JAN EMMERT, ETHEL GOFEN, DEBRA GONZALEZ, KAREN HOWELL, MRS. BRUCE JOHNSON, CLAUDIA LEUBBERS, GIA McDERMOTT, KAREN PETERS and LINDA SARANOW.

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY YEARS OLD, but she doesn’t look it, is the Palmer House hotel. On Sept. 15, Potter Palmer IV with Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Pat Quinn and Bill Kurtis, will show off this grand ole gal’s landmark status plaque. There will be cake and champagne.

“WOMEN WANT LOVE TO BE A NOVEL, men a short story.” — Daphne du Maurier

CONTACT: annbgerber@gmail.com or 847-677-2232