The students in the lecture hall at UCLA's Franz Hall were asked to pair off and face each other. With their eyes closed and holding hands, they were told to think about someone who causes them a lot of stress.

As some students' hands began to sweat and others tensed, they were instructed to picture themselves walking up to that person.

"Get as close to that person as you can without touching them," the instructor said. He paused a moment. "And now, on the count of two, drop a cream pie down their shorts."

As the students broke out in laughter, their sweaty palms dried, their grips relaxed and nervousness disappeared. Instructor Bob Basso explained that the point of the exercise was to show that there is a correlation between a person's physical and mental state.

Laughter Over Stress

"Your thinking can change bodily functions," Basso said. "If you are laughing, you cannot be stressed out."

How to find and use humor in everyday life is the focus of this UCLA Extension course, which is the first class in a new sequential curriculum for professional training in the art, craft and therapy of comedy.

The introductory class, called Funny Bone, is an eight-week course that costs $195 and meets Tuesday nights from 7 to 10 p.m. through March 14.

Two other courses, Performing Stand-Up Comedy ($350) and Improvisational Comedy Workshop ($350), are also offered. Additional courses are being developed and will be offered this fall.

UCLA Extension is the continuing education arm of the university. It receives no state tax money and is supported by student enrollment fees.

A university curriculum in comedy may be unusual, but Basso said it may be the way of the future as more people turn to comedy for relief.

"UCLA Extension has always been on the cutting edge of every new trend," he said.

Comedian Steve Allen, a recent guest speaker in the class, said that in a magazine article he wrote in the 1950s, he observed that there were about 50 American comedians in show business. Today, he said, there are about 2,000.

"The reason for that particular mushroom growth in the professionally funny population is that this is the first generation in history that has been brainwashed with comedy literally from the cradle," Allen said. "In the old days, 50 years ago, you could hear Jack Benny on the radio or see Bob Hope in a funny movie.