08/11/2011 Blue Peter

Coming up: The science behind a laugh and why the more you do it,

the better you feel. When you do it at somebody, they copy you, it's a

weird thing but it's amazing. From Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom

will be baking a difference for Hello. Hello. How you doing? A busy

show today but it's not as busy as our showbiz pooch down here. That

is the right term for Barney theing to. Sometimes we have to remind him

that he's dog. This one's been on the front cover of magazine, hangs

out in restaurants and has even been known to stay in hotels. This

week, has been no different. Legally Blonde, the film, they

turned it into a musical. That went on tour. When the show came to

Manchester, Barney went along to say hello.

Barney is one very important dog. He's on the go from the moment he

arrives at work and doesn't stop all day.

He always likes to make sure he looks his best on TV.

Let's face it, he is the King of the studio. But it's not just

showbiz circles Barney moves in. He likes to get out and meet other

working dogs. Today, Barney is out and about in

Manchester. He's on his way to see a dog with a rather interesting job.

This is Breezy. Her handler is Hayley. Breezy is a chihuahua jack

Russell cross and how cute, even if a little noisy. She's no strange

tore the limelight because Breezy is an actor. This is Legally Blonde

the musical based on the movie starring Rhys Witherspoon. He is

one of two dogs who plays the dog in the show. Barney will join

Breezy at the opera house in Manchester to see what it's like to

be a dog on stage. First to Breezy's dressing room. It's

Hayley's job to look at her every need. So, Barney, this is breezy's

dressing room that she shares with Pringle. We have brought along her

suitcase, everything that she needs while on tour. Everything of

Breezy's has to be pink. She's a diva so she's got a pink lead that

sparkles with its bones on. We've always got to have sparkles. Her

favourite collar which is her pink one with the sparkly B on it.

She's got lots of costumes in here. Her fauf rit one is this one --

favourite one just because it glitters. We are off on stage to

meet Breezy's co-stars. I'm playing Elle. And I'm Sophie. We are lucky

enough to work with the dogs in the show and we'll show you what tricks

they can do. This is the first trick and it's complicated so watch

carefully. Bruiser. Doesn't have an engagement outfit. She was totally

freaking out. She responds to hand signals. Now it's Barney's turn to

have a go. Good boy. Where's Elle? You are meant to bark. Now! She's

totally freaking out. Now! She's trapped in the old valley mill.

Never mind. Sorry, the mill. Come on, good

boy... The cast decide to tell us about life in the theatre. Working

with the dog is so exciting and lovely for them to kind of know us

and go to venues with us. They understand that they're doing the

job and we are doing ours and we are all together there as a family.

The training process with the dogs was very specific at first when we

were in London rehearsing. We would just have sessions getting to know

the dogs and them being comfortable with us. Trick two, you have to

jump on to the bed and then into the bag. Come on, Barney, you can

do it. Nice outfit, mate! Come on, Barney. No, don't think he's quite

got the hang of this acting business, has he? The dogs are so

spoilt on tour. They get loads of treats and loads of fuss all the

time. Obviously, the dogs that are chosen to be Bruiser in the show

will have to be very special and hopefully they'll be happy and will

be able to do eight shows a week. We get tired, they must get tired.

That sounds like a lot of hard work, Barney, you just lie there, look

cute and stick to telly. You shouldn't give up your day job just

yet. But he can do some tricks. High five! Yeah! There you go. That

bag he was meant to get into. was tiny. And pink and for a

chihuahua. He's a big dog. Here we have a suitcase. You can redeem

yourself, Barney, if you go down and at least look like you are

going to get into it. Prove to the nation that you can do it, OK. Look,

Barney, come on. Let's get the drum roll. Here it is. Just chuck him in.

His head's in it. Doesn't that count? He gave it a go. He's a star

of our show. Let's move on from dogs and theatre for a moment.

are you doing?! What are you doing? Can you see how you are laughing.

It's a technique I learned at a laughter yoga workshop. Laughter is

food for your health. It's true. Watch this, it will all make sense.

Where are you off now... How much do you love to laugh? This

much? Or this much? Laughing feels great. But have you ever wondered

why? Well, I'm going behind the giggles to find out what really

happens when we laugh. OK, now it's time for the serious bit. This is

where the science comes in. We are about to go inside the human body.

My human body to be precise. We are going to find out what happens to

us when we laugh. Consultant ear nose and throat surgeon Iain is

about to give me an endoscopy, it involves putting the scope up my

nose. It's to examine problems with voice or swallowing. Today we are

using it to see what a laugh looks at inside. Not something you should

try at home. Looks hairy. That will be my nostril hair. The

camera is going down my throat into my larin ex, also known as the

voice box. It contains muscles which vie brait to make sounds like

talking, singing and laughing. -- vibrate. The lower the note, the

more vibration. This might look like an alien, but it's my vocal

cords in action. As you can see on the monitor, if you give us a

laugh... That's pretty amazing. can see when you are laughing that

the cords are opening and closing like they're clapping for each

other and that gives you the rhythmic laughing sound that we

know. There you have it from, not from the horse's mouth but from

inside MY mouth. That is what happens when you laugh. So why is

laughing good for us? The theory is the act of laughing releases

natural chemicals endorphins. Endorphins are a kind of happy

hormone produced in the brain by a gland. They're released into the

blood stream where they help your body cope with pain or stress, so

endorphins make you feel good. As well as laughing, all kinds of

things can get the endorphins flowing, everything from exercise

to roller coaster rides and extreme thrills. These happy hormones sound

amazing. Wouldn't it be great if you could have some whatever you

wanted. Apparently, you can! Cathy runs laughter yoga workshops

for children. She believes you can exercise your laugh whenever you

want and even fake laughing counts. What We do some special laughing

exercises designed to get people laughing, to create endorphins, get

more oxygen in their body and to exercise their muscles. I'm going

to help Cathy run her next laughter class, but first, she's going to

show me 2 ropes -- me the ropes. The laughing hand shake.

THEY LAUGH Now, something that isn't really

there. But it's still funny. And finally, my favourite, the

motorbike. Third time. Still nothing. But the fourth time is

going to work. Wooooo... And you're off! I've got my techniques and now

it's time to test them out on a real laughter class. Let me get one

volunteer for this. You are the smiliest person ever, you can go

first. We are going to shake hands. OK. OK. Uh-oh. That's more like it!

OK, give me your other hand. Remember, even pretend laughing

gets the endorphins going because it uses the same mullsles and has

the same physical effect on the body. I have got the funniest thing

I've never seen so many happy hormones! If you laugh and do it at

somebody, they copy you, it's a weird but amazing thing. What's

really strange about this is that it's exhausting. This next one, we

are going to have a bit of fun, ride our bikes around the hall,

carefully hofbg because we don't have helmets. When it starts, it's

going to go ha-ha -- carefully of course. The motorbikes are a hit.

But I think my endorphins need a rest. One of the wheels fell off.

So I think it's fair to say we've learned that laughter can make us

feel good. But can it help us when we are not feeling well?

Well, I've come to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital where they are

convinced it can. Children here are enkrgeed to laugh,

it's those endorphins again! -- encouraged to laugh. The hospital

has its own laughing specialists, but not the medical kind. Meet Dr

Faffy. Hello! Hello. Julie is a clown doctor and for one day only

she has an Assistant. Call me Dr Fluffy. We are in business. Let's

do it. Dr Faffy is one of a team of clown doctors who visit the wards

three times a week, 156 times a year. You are officially a clown.

Hello... You happy with that so far? Brilliant, OK. We can try that

again. The theory goes, make 'em laugh and the endorphins will kick

in, a kind of natural medicine. Abracadabra... Of course you can

press my nose. There you have it. Is laughter the best medicine? I

think so. Did you have some fun today? Yes. Are you going to look

after Eric for us? Yes. It's working, keep going! That's it,

nearly there. That made me laugh. You being

chased out. Did the camera down the nose hurt? No, not at all, it

tickled. It was fascinating, like a Doctor Who bad guy. Hope you

weren't eating your tea while that was on. It was gross but

fascinating. Yes. Take a look here. These are what's known as mascots,

which you will find at most sporting events. If you go to the

football or the rugby, you have probably seen these guys in action

and know how funny they can be. Ronnie the rhino. They come in all

shapes and sizes, the mascots, but it's not just at football and rugby,

big events have them, especially the Olympics. The first Olympic

mascot was introduced in 1968, a skier called Schuss. For London

2012, we have two brand-new mascots and they are with us in the studio

now. It's Wenlock and mannedville. I can't call them he or she pause

we just call them it, they are not specific animal but they have lots

of cool features. If you have a look at Wenlock's eye, that

actually doubles as a camera, so as Wenlock goes around the country, it

can record the experiences and things it sees. Also on the top of

his head is a taxi light there, based on a London taxi and you can

see the three bumps on its head actually symbolising the stadium

roof and the podiums, bronze, silver and gold.

On Wenlock's wrist he has friendship bands, the colours of

the Olympic rings, so he's a colourful character. Mannedville,

some designs there which tell you all about the Olympics and the

events. There's a personal best timer on the wrist there and that

ensures that he's always smashing his personal best, which is cool.

The head represents the three Crescents from the Paralympics logo

on the top. On the right hip, there's the logo there with bursts

of energy radiating from it. The outer skin is a blue colour,

reflecting mannedville's determination. You can see the

mascots at the London 2012 Olympics. The next big sporting event is the

2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. At the moment, they don't have a

mascot and so, they want you to get in touch and design it for them. Go

and get a pen and paper. If you are not sure how to design a

mascot, you are in luck. Watch this. We are familiar with mascots at

sporting events. What makes a great mascot? Here is a man whose job it

is to design and make them every day.

Hi, I'm Simon, the creative director here at Frenzy, this is my

office. This is where the design process starts. With a simple piece

of paper and a pencil sketch. We take the sketch, turn it into

artwork which I do on the computer. When we have decided what it will

look like at a small scale, we take it through to the pattern-making

and sewing department where we put it together full size. We make the

patterns for the costumes here and put them all together. After we've

put the patterns together and sown the costume, the next stage is to

think about the head. Remember the clay cat, what we do is, we scan

that into the computer and scale that up and we use this computer

and some software to cut out the shapes that we use to make the head.

So now you have seen the stages about how we put a costume together,

I can show you the finished product. There's lots of things to consider

when designing a costume. It has to look fantastic, larger than life,

very, very bright, really, really nice engaging eyes, quite often

really big eyes makes something look really friendly. Another thing

is consider is the colours you use. Sometimes too many colours can look

too busy and make sure your mascot has a great big smile.

What a cool job to be the mascot and the designer. I was once at a

football match and the nose got pulled off a fox. What's not good.

How did he smell - terrible. Everyone's turned the tellies off.

If Glasgow have been given the unique chance to design their

mascot for them. The winner will see their design turned into a

reality and will be invited to the opening ceremony in Glasgow in July

20 1 and those events are spectacular. You will even get to

take three members of your friends or family. There are some rules to

this. The first is, don't stick to stereotypes, so probably not best

to send in a picture of the Loch Ness monster or somebody lie

playing the bagpipes. Some things You have to create it yourself,

don't use a computer. You have to use the official colours, red,

yellow, green or blue, you don't need to use all of them, but one of

the colours has to be in there. Once you are happy, just get in

Just because it's post, you don't have to go all BBC News reader!

That's my proper BBC voice that, sorry. You have until 2nd December

to get your designs in. Get it sent over to us. Let's talk celebrity

and baking. Loads of people have helped us out with the appeal.

Alesha Dixon, Aaron Craze last week and Gary Lineker. When we found out

a cast of harry Potter wanted to help us, how could we resist.

a nice man as well. Frbgts wave that at the telly, see what happens.

I'm Matthew Lewis and today I'll show you how to make something

simple for the Blue Peter bake sale. You can customise these any way you

want. Today, we are making want. Today, we are making

chocolate chip cookies like this. Before you start, get an adult to

pre-heat the oven to about 190 or gas mark 5 and then we need the

ingredients. 250g plain flour, half a teaspoon of soda, half a teaspoon

of salt, 170g unsalted butter, 200g soft dark brown sugar, then 100g

caster sugar, one table spoon of vanilla extract, two eggs a most

importantly, 325 grammes of chocolate chips. Let's mix. In the

first bowl, the flour goes in. Then the bicarbonate of soda. Plonk that

in as well. Then the salt. Sieve that through into the bowl. In this

bowl, we are going to take the butter. It's easier if you chop it

up into cubes like this. We are going to knock all that into the

bowl like so. Keep that all in there. Once that's in, we are going

to add the brown sugar here. Pour that in as well. Then, finally, you

take the caster sugar, plonk all that in and you want to mix it all

up until it goes nice and creamy. Then you can add the eggs and the

vanilla extract. Then beat the eggs in until it all gets mixed together.

So when your ingredients are mixed together, grab a Greaseed baking

tray like so. You are going to grab a small golf ball sized amount and

scrunch it up into a ball and place it on to the tray. Now, the

important thing is to not flatten the ball because once it's in the

oven, it's going to flatten out into the cookie shape that we want.

Because of that, it means that you only want to stick about two or

three to a tray. Just like so. Finally, once you've got to this

stage, you need to get an adult to put them in the oven for you for

about 15 minutes, then you will have some perfect cookies. After

ten or 15 minutes, they should look something like this. If you want

your bake sail to stand out from the crowd, you are going to need to

personalise the cookies. While they're warm, you could add some

sweets, chocolates or something, so they end up like this. It really is

that simple. Hopefully these cookies will be big sellers at the

bake sale. So go on, Bake A bake sale. So go on, Bake A

Difference for Children In Need! What a nice man. He came into the

studio once so thank you for the recipe. If you want to try that at

home, you are in luck, because all the details are on the Blue Peter

website. Speaking of cookies... Yeah... Cookie. Got one? No, but an

impressive picture of cookie, one of the Blue Peter cats. This was

sent in by Anna, in East Sussex. What a phenomenal job, real talent

there, so thank you for that. one has been sent in by Grace. This

is Barney with his tongue sticking out. He does this a lot. What a

brilliant shot. He's even looking over his shoulder to look out for

his next treat. This one is different. Colourful and arty from

Portia in Hertfordshire and it's the eye of a tiger looking through

a few leaves there. Thank you. one uses recycling and has been

drawn by Hannah who is 11. She's drew an outline but filled it in

with bits of paper. Well worthy of a Blue Peter badge. You have got to