It was time for a humor tune-up.

"First we're going to rub our diaphragm," said humor therapist Ruth Hamilton, founder of the Carolina Health and Humor Association (HA HA). "Now let's roll our hips. Now let's laugh for no reason at all."

As the more than 30 people gathered in the lobby of the N.C. Children's Hospital broke out in guffaws, giggles and belly laughs, the UNC Hospitals' Laugh Mobile began its first day on the job.

The laugh session was a dedication ceremony for the Laugh Mobile, a rolling cart filled with audio tapes, videos, books and toys for patients of any age.

"It's a symbol of hope and happiness that brings humor bedside to patients and their families," Hamilton said.

The UNC Laugh Mobile, developed by Carolina HA HA and the Program on Integrative Medicine at UNC's School of Medicine, mirrors the Duke Humor Project and Laugh Mobile for cancer and heart patients at Duke Medical Center.

That's where Chapel Hill resident Barbara McFadyen and her late husband, C. Douglas McFadyen, first saw the Laugh Mobile when Doug McFadyen was receiving cancer treatments.

"The only thing that brought us joy and laughter was when the Laugh Mobile came by," Barbara McFadyen said.

Doug McFadyen died in 1989, but Barbara McFadyen said she never forgot the help that the Laugh Mobile brought to the two of them. She recently donated the funds for a Laugh Mobile to make the rounds of UNC Hospitals.

"Doug was a jester, jokester and punster himself," McFadyen said. "He saw the humor in life and strove to lighten people's hearts and bring laughter to them, so I know he would have liked to bring this Laugh Mobile to patients here."

Volunteers with the Duke Humor Project and Laugh Mobile were on hand to help Hamilton with "humor tune-ups" and cheer up patients who came down from their rooms.

"We're not here to entertain," said Martin Brossman, Laugh Mobile volunteer of the year in 2000 at Duke. "We're there to use joy and humor to create an environment that supports them in getting through what they need to."

Brossman said it was sometimes difficult for patients to find humor in situations where they were facing terminal illnesses and death. He said that one woman ordered him out of her room just as soon as he walked in, but that he didn't mind.

"I might be one of a few people she can say 'go' to in her stay," Brossman said. "We have to honor that. So what may look like not working on our part may be the most valuable thing for them."

But for patients who do seek the diversion, volunteers teach them jokes, give out stickers for them to share with doctors and nurses, and make balloon animals. Volunteer Bob Whyte, "Dr. Jazz," plays songs on his banjo.

"We're trying to bring out the humor in patients and their families, not be the center of attention," Hamilton said. "We match our humor to the patients. Not everyone has to laugh."

But 5-year-old Sakiah Hunt did. Sakiah, who visits the hospital regularly with her mom, Bonita, to receive chemotherapy treatments, stared wide-eyed at the toys on the Laugh Mobile and the funny get-ups of volunteers.

"I liked the funny parts," Sakiah said. "The funny songs."

"They have lots of stuff that she likes," Bonita Hunt said, noting the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, Etch-a-Sketch and Big Bird doll on the Laugh Mobile. "It's entertaining."

And that's the goal.