David Murdock Column: On laughs of all shapes and sizes
Yesterday, someone said something that had the whole group of people I was with absolutely belly-laughing. Once the guy got started, he kept going, improvising something somehow funnier with each phrase that slipped out of his mouth. It was absolutely infectious. It was absolutely wonderful. I haven’t laughed like that in … well, I don’t know how long.
Don’t get me wrong — I laugh. A lot. Most of my laughter these days is “quiet.” A smile. Some sound. However, yesterday was great because I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t contain guffaws, really. Big, uncontrollable laughs. So much so that I realized I’d covered my eyes with my hand, looking down and shaking my head.
It’s nearly impossible to explain humor, so I won’t even try. The whole thing was absolutely spontaneous, and the “moment” is long gone. I admit that it might not be as funny if one wasn’t there in that moment, sharing it with the group.
That’s one thing about those big belly-laughs ― they’re best experience in large groups where part of the humor is how everyone else is reacting. Laughter feeds on laughter.
At some point, one is laughing not so much because something was funny but because everyone else is laughing. Mostly, those moments are experienced either in movies or at a comedy club – or someplace like those two.
That’s only to be expected. Watching movies or comedians is literally watching professionals at work ― people who have, through “training” and experience, figured out how to make other people laugh.
My experience yesterday was, I think, the best kind of belly-laugh. It came out of nowhere, in a situation where it wasn’t expected, and had a social function. It was cleansing and cured the room of nervousness. That’s as far as I’m willing to go to diagnose it.
However, I will go a little further in classifying laughs. As I’ve said, yesterday’s sort of spontaneous and uncontrolled laughter is rare for me those days, but I do laugh a lot. There are all sorts of things in my life that spark laughs of all sizes and shapes.
There’s that group laugh, then there is the person-to-person laugh. Obviously involving only two people, that sort of laugh often depends upon some personal history. That’s the “inside joke.” Two people are joking about something that once happened to them, something they both recognize, but that other people wouldn’t find humorous because they lack the shared experience. That shared experience is nearly impossible to convey ― as the saying goes, “You had to be there.”
Another variety of the “You had to be there” laugh is the personal laugh. I’m one of those people who laughs when alone. It’s weird for many folks, but I actually make vocalizations sometime when I’m by myself and find something humorous. Rarely are those laughs “big,” but sometimes they are.
Mostly, I laugh big when I’m by myself when I have what I call a “realization” laugh — in other words, I often laugh really big when I realize something. Usually, that’s when I just realized how ridiculous I’m being. I’m literally “laughing at myself.”
Those experiences often provoke the biggest laughs. And, they happen quite often since I often realize how ridiculous I’m being. That type of laugh is the ultimate in the realm of inside joke — no one else except me would get it.
One thing I’ve learned about laughter over the years is “Never research laughter.” Never, ever become curious about what makes something funny and then try to figure it out scientifically. Nothing deflates a funny moment so much as trying to explain it. Nevertheless, scholars attempt to define laughter. If one has to explain a joke, is it really all that funny? I’ll leave that question right there and go on.
The type of laughter that happens most often to me is laughing with delight. It’s one thing for something comic to induce laughter, but it’s another thing entirely when one is so overwhelmed with the absolute beauty and joy of the world that the only response is laughter. Come to think of it, that type of laughter might be the ultimate inside joke.
However, that laughter is often misinterpreted. I’ve often laughed with delight at someone – while I was with them – and had to explain why I was laughing. No, I’m not laughing at you or with you but because of the utter joy you bring. That laughter is usually quite gentle, though.
That brings me back full circle to yesterday’s belly laugh. What the guy was saying was hilarious, but what really got me going was the fact that he’s just one of those people that it’s simply great to know, and his story illustrated his personality perfectly. It was a joy to hear him tell that absolutely hilarious story of his life. I felt better for his telling of it. I think we all did — that’s why we couldn’t stop laughing. It was just great.
One of my great blessings is that I know many such people.
One final thing — there is the “gift that keeps on giving” laugh. Several times in the last 24 hours, I’ve remembered that wonderful laugh my friend gave … and started laughing again.
David Murdock is an English instructor at Gadsden State Community College. He can be contacted at murdockcolumn@yahoo.com. The opinions expressed are his own.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: David Murdock on sharing a big belly laugh with a group of friends
