Visitors Laugh Away Troubles at the HaHaHouse Museum

01A new museum of laughter in Croatia is offering to help people deal with the negativity of modern life.

02Visitors to the HaHa House in the Croatian capital Zagreb walk into a little cloud of white smoke when they step inside.

03Its purpose is to blow away their worries before they climb into a giant washing machine.

04Then they move down a twisting slide into a space filled with little white balls where their trip to a happier place starts.

05Forty-three-year-old Andrea Golubich is the museum's creator.

06Golubich said she got the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

07At that time, many people were feeling down, depressed, and alone.

08I realized that I had a mission, to heal people with laughter.

09The idea came straight from the heart, Golubich told the French news agency AFP.

10She had ideas for many of the museum elements in one day.

11That's how the HaHa House began.

12Golubich said a picture of her when she was a seven-year-old inspired her.

13I was constantly joking as a kid, she added.

14Visitors press a button to be disinfected from negativity as soon as they step inside the museum, which has eight interactive zones or areas.

15One has rubber chickens singing cheerfully.

16They sing songs like ABBA's Dancing Queen.

17There is a karaoke room with distorted voices and a sumo arena for wrestling in puffed-up clothes.

18There is also some serious history of humor from ancient to modern times told through theater, film, or the Internet.

19The museum also explains different kinds of humor.

20These include wordplay, slapstick, dark humor, and satire.

21Golubich said the HaHa House is popular with everyone, from small children to older people.

22Adults say it is a good excuse to act like a child.

23All those who still feel a bit of childish joy and embrace their inner child will recharge themselves, she said.

24Retiree Bruno Dadic told AFP he was pleased by his visit, as there is never enough humor in life.

25Laughter is a medicine for the soul, he said.

26Alexander Sukha celebrated his fifth birthday with a visit.

27Visiting with his mother, the little boy said he liked lying on the bed of nails since they tickled him.

28Singer Zorika Bucic, from the coastal town of Split, said the museum was just right for our times.

29Entering here is like entering childhood, being relieved of all problems, she said.

30Bucic added that if you could come to the museum often, you would not need to visit a psychologist.

31Psychologist Peter Kraljevich told AFP that laughter is a kind of weapon which gives people strength to face their problems.

32He said that if doctors could advise their patients to have three hours of laughter a day, people would feel much better.

33I'm John Russell.