Have you heard the one about the doctor who handed out tickets to a comedy gig?
And with so much economic gloom in what feels like a long, hard winter, it is hardly surprising that some of us could do with a few laughs to cheer us up.
Even so, we think Labour MP Dr Simon Opher is taking the mirth a bit far with his suggestion that GPs should prescribe tickets for stand-up comedy acts for patients who are feeling a bit down in the dumps.
Even more hilarious is that the Government is taking him up on his diagnosis, and is to fund trials for the idea.
Dr Opher, a former GP, raises a valid concern about doctors being too quick to prescribe anti-depressants when they are feeling low. But we find it hard to believe that genuine mental illness can really be cured by a comedy gig, and it is hard not to wonder whether surgeries will simply be overwhelmed by people turning up in the hope of a freebie.
At a time when the NHS needs every penny it can get, this sounds like something of a wasteful gimmick.
