Alone on stage, Jos Houben presents a unique soliloquy, somewhere between a philisophical treatise and an anthropological study. He explores the dynamics of laughter, illuminating its causes and effects. Nothing escapes his insight – our gestures, our expressions, our behavior - all embody comic poential. His expert eye and experience as a professional actor make him uniquely qualified to elucidate the humanity and silliness of our existence. For an hour, he dissects with precision many examples from everyday life - a baby's first steps, a man falling in a restaurant, the essence of various cheeses - revealing how ordinary and often overlooked details can make us laugh. Houben demonstrates convincingly why laughter is at the core of man's being. »The Art of Laughter« is an ingenious and very amusing »lesson« about the human comedy – the fight of our body with itself and gravity.

»If there's a more inspired contemporary physical comedian – I don't know of him.« The New Yorker

»With the subtlest of glances, or slight turn of the head, Houben has the entire audience in stitches.« The Scotsman