"Perhaps we have to learn to laugh too, at us, at them, " said Christoph Muecher, head of the commission for marketing at Germany's cultural arm, the Goethe Institute.

BBC: Rolling out the old cliches

Jim Stolze, a writer and researcher involved with the project, says the Internet has become our "new global campfire, " the place where we gather to argue, laugh, talk, learn, love, turn strangers into friends, and to get a sense of belonging.

CNN: Can happiness be found online?

If you want to have maximum small business success, learn how to run a tight ship while encouraging your people to laugh and find joy in their work.

FORBES: How do you define success and happiness?

Comedy is a great tool for that because if you laugh with people you start to understand that you share more with them than you thought did initially and you learn about them as well.

CNN: Why mixed-race comic was 'born a crime'