Almost Happy by Brian Kaplan
“It made me laugh out loud. Each button is a succinct and hilarious insight into this thing we call life. I could not stop turning the next page, eager to spot myself, my friends and family in the tiny capsules of wisdom in this witty book.” — Neil Mullarkey, Founder of the London Comedy Store Players
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The mission of Almost Happy (Loba Publishing) is to urge the public to use reverse psychology, humor, parody, satire and improvisation to snap out of whatever ails their psyches. They will stop wasting time with unhealthy behaviors and come closer to fulfillment and happiness.
“Provocative therapy can bring about positive changes in mood and behavior,” Brian and Hephzibah Kaplan write. The London spouses, who have extensive psychology CVs, have put decades of wisdom into their book. They are also brave. They are not afraid that someone might get offended and tweet their contrived outrage.
Almost Happy is a breath of fresh air in the dominant cancel culture which has people walking on eggshells. This is an era where professional comedians are complaining how ALL their material is risky and transgressive. That includes Dr. Brian Kaplan’s idol, John Cleese from Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Fawlty Towers. Cleese has begun filming a new show criticizing this state of affairs, Cancel Me.
No wonder when the Kaplans do demonstrations of their methods before the public, they call them “Chutzpah Clinics.”
ENLIGHTENING ENTERTAINMENT
Besides impressive academic CVs, the Kaplans have a bit of show business in their background.
Brian Kaplan has done standup comedy, appeared on the BBC and written screenplays. In 2013, he worked with two improvisational comedians to help people with humor. He is the host of the podcast “Are you Feeling Funny?” His equally brilliant wife, an artist in her own right, is an art therapist and has been profiled in the Financial Times.
Almost Happy can help readers visualize and recognize their problems by offering them buttons with catchy phrases. Now everyone else can buy those buttons. The book has illustrations of 100-plus buttons in categories like bad habits, relationships, health, work and money, and identity.
Sample buttons include: Blame My Parents, Starting Tomorrow, Waiting to Inherit, Fearless Smoker, I Love Porn, Always Hungry, I Married Money, Souled Out, Can’t Talk Now, Pretty Privileged, Cash Dispenser, and Desperate for a Blowjob.
The Kaplans write, “When the unhealthy and unhelpful trait is detached from the whole of you, named and encapsulated in a tiny button, it is easier to recognize its negative influence on you.”
Doing this “stimulates us to see the funny side of our self-defeating behaviors. When we laugh at our own negative patterns of behavior, we decrease the power of those patterns over us and strengthen our resolve to change,” the authors note.
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT
Attitude is everything. “Only give the [buttons] or use them on yourself or others when you have affection in the heart and a twinkle in the eye,” the authors advise, or it could backfire.
The authors conclude, “If you are prepared to see the funny side of how you may be sabotaging your life, read on. We hope the provocative suggestions may elicit a wake-up call or perhaps jolt you into realizing change is easier than you think.”
The couple quotes Mark Twain, “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” Try and cancel that!
