We’ve all heard the saying that “laughter is the best medicine.” The UK’s National Health Service is now looking for evidence to back up that claim. Trials are underway to see if comedy on prescription can help improve mental health and reduce NHS costs by being an alternative to anti-depressant drugs.

Craic Health, a UK tech company, has secured grant funding for a “social prescribing scheme” which aims to help people who are lonely, isolated and vulnerable through comedy-focused interventions such as standup shows and workshops. Their project has been backed by Labour MP Dr. Simon Opher, a practicing doctor who has been critical of what he sees as a “pandemic of over-prescription.”

“Comedy and laughter have powerful effects: they bring people together, create positive connections, and make life more enjoyable,” Dr. Opher, who has long been an advocate for “social prescription” i.e. non-medical community-based support to improve health and well-being, told the UK Parliament. “I’ve particularly specialised in using the arts to make people better so that could be poetry, visual arts or sometimes even drama, and I’ve also used things like gardening, I’ve prescribed allotments to people and that sort of thing. But this is the first time that we’ve tried comedy and that’s what’s exciting about this.”

The trial is currently underway in Westminster, and includes events such as a comedy walking tour of Soho, standup shows and workshops. Craic Health cites plenty of research about the health benefit of laughter on its website, saying that “research shows that comedy an laughter have powerful effects: they bring people together, create positive connections, and make life more enjoyable.”

A total of 8.7 million people in England took antidepressants last year, according to the NHS. If the trials are successful, standup comedy could emerge as a viable alternative to medication, which often comes with serious side-effects.