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We’re all guilty of nervous laughter to some extent or another. There was a really interesting article in the New York Times a couple of years ago about how laughter is often an instinctual survival mechanism. Laughter is used as a social tool that suggests deference and defuses possible conflict. It also demarcates social power structures. Now, I’m not one to argue with deeply buried instinctual survival mechanisms, but I’m kind of one to argue with deeply buried instinctual survival mechanisms. Because I hate that shit.
Let me give you an example. You are walking down the hallway of your office. You bump into some dude for Accounts Receivable. You aren’t great friends, but you’re friendly enough to make office chit-chat. He asks what you’re up to this weekend. You tell him, and then you ask him what he’s up to this weekend.
“Oh, my wife and I are going out to dinner with friends, and then Sunday we’ll probably go grocery shopping. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA.”
What is that? What is that man laughing at? These guys all sound like a bunch of lunatics. Like a bunch of Lil’ Wayneses. Oh, it is the worst.
Anyway, this video in which a local news anchorwoman can hardly contain her laughter while describing a grisly murder is basically what all nervous laughter sounds like to me:
When you nervously laugh while describing what your favorite type of burrito is, you might as well be nervously laughing while describing Hostel 2. Although, I showed this video to Lindsay and she said she would have laughed too because of the guy’s mugshot. Perfect. I work with a madwoman. Check please!
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I love how people sound when they’re trying to talk through laughter. Also, I could see myself doing the same thing as this anchor.
Maybe the accounts receivable guy laughed because it’s sad that one of the highlights of his weekend is grocery shopping.
I wonder which is worse: nervous laughter or a burst of LOLs from reading this blog. IN PUBLIC.
Maybe she’s laughing at his picture? Also, if it were me, I would totally be laughing at the idea of myself laughing at an inappropriate time.
I agree. Those eyes. I mean THOSE EYES.
bro, you need to change your profile picture NOW because my poor nerves can’t take seeing that shit all the time.
i still get the willies from even thinking about that scene…
I will once I make it out of the black lodge.
BTW, it’s a small world after all.
I know nervous laughter and that, sir, is not nervous laughter.
Remember when Mary Tyler Moore was outraged about the jokes everyone was making about Chuckles the Clown getting killed by an elephant, but then she started laughing uncontrollably at his funeral? It’s more like that.
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lose.
Your post is ironic in the best way, nutjob. What the hell brought you to this site if you found this post offensive enough to leave your rambling reply? Did you google search “dismembered wife” or something?
That’s just what happens when you are concentrating SUPER HARD on not laughing at something that suddenly it becomes so absurd that you can’t control it and then you’re laughing through a homicide description. Boom Goes the Dynamite!
Trust me I went to News School. (true fact)
Exactly. Plus, this is my favourite type of laughter. Once you are finally off air and can have a great laugh about it, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Watching people struggle through that just makes me laugh so hard.
And yeah, nervous laughter is annoying.
but the video is different, and I TOTALLY would’ve lmao if I was her.
Exactly.
We once had an anchor here pronounce “chihuahua” this way: “Cha-Hoo-A-Hoo-Ah” and the other anchors had to spend the entire rest of the newscast stifling their laughter. Thankfully it wasn’t at the top of the show. To this day everyone from the channel refers to the type of dog as a cha-hoo-a-hoo-ah.
fuck! we pissed off dan! he’s so pissed!
win.
Whoops, sorry Dan! No one knew that was your girlfriend. Have fun at dinner.
annnd win!
yeah, this is not nervous laughter. this is laughter at funny crazy eyes. this is the laughter that sitcom outtakes are made of.
nervous laughter is caused by stress and fear, and NOBODY appreciates laughter in situations that warrant stress or fear, LEAST OF ALL THE PERSON DOING THE LAUGHING. i have laughed my way through oral exams, severe airplane turbulence, an earthquake, and a mugging. it is super
to be laughing when you are really afraid, to look around and see people hating your laughing, and not be able to do anything to stop it. so, it’s not surprising that you’re not a big fan, what IS surprising is that you seem to think that you’re making some kind of judgment call, like “i don’t like butter pecan ice cream, or nervous laughter.” you don’t like it because it fucking sucks, the end.
I was all prepared to watch this clip all serious and social science analysis of nervous laughter and Dan’s girlfriend, and then the picture of the killer popped on up. And I laughed. And I felt like a bad person, but those be some craaazy eyes. And then I felt bad for the announcer (who maybe isn’t Dan’s girlfriend as he’s taking a website called Videogum pretty seriously while the announcer found a picture of a killer silly giggle inducing).
The killer had some funny eyes, but I got the impression she was laughing at the idea of finding a torso somewhere. Just an anonymous torso lying around.
Agree, and that’s what made me laugh, too. Perhaps we’ll meet again in hell, Funtast.
The guy who hates bloggers has the longest comment!
Wait, this is all misposted! It belongs on that OTHER blog, the one I read the emails but not comments for.
“Appropriate Laugh Fail!
“(epic craaaaazy eyes win?)?”
guys i dont think gabe was necessarily saying this is an example of nervous laughter, just that is what nervous laughter sounds like TO HIM. just unhinged and inappropriate. also i like to imagine the camera guy is like doing a dance or maybe tickling her or something? and that’s why she’s laughing? is that a weird thing to think about?
This guy is totally the new spaghetti cat! I would have peed.
Its about as bad as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAH2e1Cg67w
yeah, the only difference is one is from a sketch comedy show and the other isn’t.
She’s all leaning over to the weatherman during the press conference clip like “Oh Ted you shouldn’t have given me those bongrips this morning tee hee heeee”