The first meeting of the Laughter Club at Bethel Park Library was so successful that Mary Mullen didn't have to bring out her rubber chicken.

The 15 people attending the Oct. 17 session of the club, which aims to teach laughter as a way to deal with stress, were so receptive that Mrs. Mullen, Bethel Park librarian and club leader, didn't have to resort to any props.

The plastic replica of a large bone, a so-called "funny bone," remained on the library meeting room table.

"Is that to bump us on the head with?" asked Michael Schurko, of Bethel Park, as he took a seat among a circle of chairs in the town library for the first session.

He was disappointed to learn there weren't going to be any jokes told, because he considered himself an amateur raconteur.

No jokes here. Just laughter -- as in learning how to do it out loud: Ha, ha, ha!

"It is very important to come together and laugh," Mrs. Mullen said. She noted that laughter makes a person's immune system more efficient, improves breathing and oxygen intake, relieves stress and improves digestion.

She also led the group in stretching, deep breathing and what she called "laughter exercises," a Santa-like chorus of "ho, ho, ho."

Members walked around the room pretending to ride roller coasters, talking on imaginary cellular phones and stirring imaginary witches' cauldrons. And at one point they even walked like penguins.

"We get silly here," Mrs. Mullen warned her audience, made up of middle-agers to senior citizens.

But there is a method to the madness.

The phenomenon called "laughter clubs" is popular throughout the world, with estimates on the number varying from 1,000 to 3,000, according to World Laughter Tour Programs in Columbus, Ohio. Clubs have been organized in Scandinavia, South America and Europe; India boasts about 500 clubs. A study by the University of Maryland's School of Medicine found that daily laughing increases the flow of blood by expanding vessels constricted by stress.

In Bethel Park, the laughter was hearty and contagious as Mrs. Mullen led the group in some of the more than 300 exercises she knows. Mrs. Mullen told the story about a nursing home that sponsored a laughter club. One resident, a paraplegic, couldn't actively participate, but wanted to be there anyway.

"He said the sounds of laughter made him feel better. So, if someone just wants to sit around and hang out, that's fine, too," Mrs. Mullen said.

"I like it. I really do," Arlene Stadler, of Dormont said. "I know I never laugh enough."

"It's pretty cool. I needed some exercise. It's just perfect," said Elaine Good, of Bethel Park.

"I think it is something that should happen every day of the week," said Roseanne Minich, of Bethel Park.

Mrs. Mullen attended two days of classes in Ohio taught by World Laughter so she could become a certified leader. She learned such things as the club philosophy, handling group dynamics and the core steps of a typical laughter club session.

She and library volunteer Mandy Carson, of Bethel Park, noted after the session that children laugh freely, much more than adults do.

"Life kind of happens," Mrs. Carson said.

"Adults have the weight of responsibility," Mrs. Mullen said.

Both were satisfied by the enthusiastic response they received from the first meeting of the new club. Last month Mrs. Mullen held an informational meeting in which she explained the program to about 20 people who thought they might be interested; most were.

At the preliminary session she demonstrated some exercises and "the laughter of some people was a little forced at first," she recalled. "But simulated laughter becomes laughter and the body will react."

For Mrs. Mullen it all started some months ago with the rubber chicken. The staff of the library was having a bad day when Mrs. Mullen went out and got a rubber chicken to provoke some laughs.

A patron suggested the library sponsor a Laughter Club. A staffer asked, "wouldn't Mary be good at this?"

To join the Laughter Club, call Bethel Park Library at 412-835-2207. There is no fee.