It Is to Laugh: A Book of Games and Stunts

In the raw aftermath of the Great War, when a wounded nation ached for joy and connection, Edna Geister arrived with a revolutionary proposition: that laughter itself could be medicine. A theater veteran and educator, Geister understood what psychologists were only beginning to articulate, that play binds us, that silliness dissolves social barriers, that a well-timed game can transform strangers into friends. This book is her practical manual for that transformation. Inside, readers find mixers designed to break the ice at stiff gatherings, stunts requiring nothing but nerve and a partner, and games calibrated for rooms full of people who have forgotten how to be spontaneous. Written in 1924, it captures a cultural moment when recreation was still viewed as genuine healing, not mere entertainment. Geister's voice throughout is that of a wise showwoman sharing secrets: how to read a room, how to shift energy, how to make everyone feel included in the fun. Whether approached as historical artifact, inspiration for modern party-planning, or a window into an era that believed deeply in the communal power of mirth, this book endures because the human hunger it addresses has never faded.