Laughing Hysterically at Innapropriate Moments

[adamaw11]

I've been wondering if this is something many other intps can relate to.

I'm usually a pretty serious person, but every now and then I'll come across something that just really sets me off laughing. This used to happen more often when I was younger but on the odd occasion it still happens. Many occasions it has been my INFP cousin saying just the right thing, or pointing out some little quirk thats just really silly, but incredibly funny, and then I'm just laughing so hard it hurts and I'm nearly suffocating.

And sometimes if I just think over these things in my mind, I can burst out laughing again.

Some occasions, I'm sure people must have thought I was on drugs or something.

Anyone have similar things that happen?

[mgb]

Yeah, I think stuff actually gets funnier when you are the only one laughing too. I get that a lot a movies. It will be some obscure joke that is absolutely hilarious and people just don't get it.

For some reason I rely heavily on Will Ferrell for a lot of those moments.

I would just consider it a heightened awareness of the world around you.

[Solo]

I laugh at the wierdest things. If a joke is said a certain way or if someone looks a certain way I can't control myself. I'm usually the only person laughing but it's ok.

I will often times think about jokes that made me laugh when I should be paying attention and just start laughing at the worst times. Adding on to jokes or putting my own personal spin on them is a great way for me to pass the time.

Have you ever been up late and just started laughing? Nothing funny happened you just start laughing. This happens to me all the time. For 20 or so minutes every thing is funny. I make a sound like boop and I'm overcome with giggles.

[booyalab]

And sometimes if I just think over these things in my mind, I can burst out laughing again.


This is so me. Often something becomes funnier after thinking about it then it was while it happened.

I used to have giggle fits when I was younger, now I try to restrain myself so I think I must look like I'm having a seizure. For some reason something becomes funnier when you try not to laugh about it.

[Ckyzxr]

I've had to learn how to NOT laugh so hard. In the recent years I found I had a condition that caused me to lose consciousness if I laughed too hard. One time I was driving on the freeway listening to a radio show when one of the guest comedians nailed it. I lost consciousness for a few seconds but managed to stay in my lane. After that I went to the doctor and they couldn't determine the cause, they also prescribed AM talk radio for relief. :P

[adamaw11]

I laugh at the wierdest things. If a joke is said a certain way or if someone looks a certain way I can't control myself. I'm usually the only person laughing but it's ok.

I will often times think about jokes that made me laugh when I should be paying attention and just start laughing at the worst times. Adding on to jokes or putting my own personal spin on them is a great way for me to pass the time.

Have you ever been up late and just started laughing? Nothing funny happened you just start laughing. This happens to me all the time. For 20 or so minutes every thing is funny. I make a sound like boop and I'm overcome with giggles.

That is sooo much like me. Although that no-reason laughter is perhaps a little more rare for me but does happen.

cool, big sense of identity with this thread now.

And yeah, in movies, sometimes I'll even find things that aren't really meant to be funny, but there will be just the right combination that I find something totally hilarious - of course no-one else will laught and they'll wonder why I am.

And the other thing, my eyes will always water if I'm really laughing properly. This seems to be more uncommon than I used to imagine.

[gypseymothlee]

Happens all the time to me. Half the time I don't even understand why I find something so funny. Then I'll remember it later when I'm at work and start laughing all over again. Thus convincing my co-workers that I'm insane.

[libertarianjim]

I can identify with a lot of this (well, not the medical condition, although I once nearly wrecked while laughing at a Jim Rome bit) but especially finding stuff funnier when other people don't get it. My cousin (also and INTP) and I have piled up tons jokes and references over the 25 years we've hung out (we're both 28). We find it hilarious to no end to reference something from junior high while talking to waitresses or strippers, while they just sit there and look at us blankly.

[sbw]

yep, me too...there is a sense of community over this one...which clearly means that we're all nuts.

Scott

[sbw]

and libjim, good name and good call--there's nothing funnier than a confused stripper.

Scott

[Arcael]

I can identify with a lot of this (well, not the medical condition, although I once nearly wrecked while laughing at a Jim Rome bit) but especially finding stuff funnier when other people don't get it. My cousin (also and INTP) and I have piled up tons jokes and references over the 25 years we've hung out (we're both 28). We find it hilarious to no end to reference something from junior high while talking to waitresses or strippers, while they just sit there and look at us blankly.
Oh my god, that sounds like my cousin (INFP) and I. We were talking to strippers and I asked her about Quantum Mechanics. What was really really funny was she understood and said isn't that a little complex for all these dumb guys?

I love it :P

[sbw]

the constant (and constantly amusing) cross-referencing seems to happen w/ the smarter amongst my longtime friends (who vary by type, but this especially occurs w/ one of my friends who is a really balanced (in terms of T/F) INFJ), as well as with my 17-year-old INTP brother.

Scott

[cosmic06]

Often times, I'll be the last one to stop laughing in a group if something is funny to me. Also, I have the loudest laugh of most of my friends, but I only use it around them.

I also tend to laugh at situations others wouldn't normally laugh at. Sometimes I'll just start laughing by myself in a classroom and hope no one is watching 'caused I'd probably look like a weirdo. Haha.

[Dunearhp]

I get the eye watering thing, is it really uncommon?
I smirk in public when I remember/think of something funny. Probably half a dozen times a day.
I've laughed at teachers in classrooms when they made silly mistakes that nobody else picked up on. I am sure that some of them had pictures of me on dartboards.
I also laugh at the posts on this board that both correct and contain spelling mistakes simultaneously.

Yes, I am easily amused.

[int]

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=manly_suicide

Everytime I'm supposed to be serious lately I think of this article and laugh inappropriately. Don't click this link until you are at work, in a meeting, and giving a presentation. And remember that noone will understand.

[jimkopelli]

Dude, that's evil. Love the article, though. Beans! lotsa beans, lotsa beans, lotsa beans...

My family has an ongoing game... we try to see who we can get to shoot whatever they're drinking out of their nose.
Lately, though... I've been hanging out with a group that has innuendo wars. Someone will say something... we'll all look at them for a few seconds... and someone else will say something... and we'll all burst out laughing. This works really well at 3 in the morning.

[Niflheimian]

I think I've talked about this briefly in my "inappropriate laughter" thread (you may even get a laugh out of it). Generally I don't like showing much emotion, but I have little control over laughter. If something is intended to be funny, I usually don't find it so; I often laugh at that which is not supposed to provoke a reaction. And when I start laughing, it's difficult to stop. I constantly replay the situation or the joke.
Take this photo, for example, of Anna Nicole. It took days for the giggling to subside:

[sleepynobowling]

i get the uncontrollable laughing where im not able to move air, but icant stop laughing either and im like signaling that i cant breathe, while busting up and it just makes me laugh more...damn im a tard
and it usually happens to some random thing thats not that funny anyways.

[Tranzors]

how do you die from your own vomit? I hope it's rare.

[null-tE]

laughing seemily randomly while no outside stimulus occurs happens to me all the time too ! Once i start laughing at some memory or thought, and I notice other people gazing at me awkwardly(sp?) it just become more funny:)

[jimkopelli]

how do you die from your own vomit? I hope it's rare.
Drowning and choking. It happens if you can't clear your airway... can't roll over, not enough strenght to expel it... that sort of thing.

[athman]

Its a classic rock & roll way to die. Bonn Scott, the original lead singer from AC/DC got so drunk he choked on his own vomit. There's also great scene from the movie The Commitments where they talk about musicians who have died from choking on their own vomit. :eek:

[prometheusdestroyed]

I'm not great at sharing in laughter. Sometimes I'll be with someone and we'll be joking about and they'll get to the falling about stage and I have to fake it.

But something private I can just think about - someone's facial expression that tickled me, like a surprised look or a peeved look or something and then I get a really good laugh.

I hate it if that happens in public because you can't really explain what's so funny

[Boo]

I can relate to this. The high school drama kids used to call it "lumber" for reasons I never found out. The best part is the look on people's faces when you're laughing uncontrollably for no apparent reason. That hesitant smile and confused look is more than enough reason to keep on laughing.

[Durroch]

Sometimes I dry retch if I laugh too hard, which is not very often and usually with no-one around at something that no-one would understasnd... Eh.

[blue_eye]

Like yeah those times that you think of something and start laughing that's cool 'cuz no one knows why you're laughing.

[Shakesbeer]

Seems an appropriate thread to share this.

I was at a funeral today. We arrived early and were sitting quietly for about 20 minutes before the service started. At some point in the middle of this I noticed someone looking very sad. It occurred to me that I had no idea what I looked like, so I made an effort to look a bit sad. I then got thinking about how most people didn't need to make that effort as it came naturally to them. But then I started thinking "wouldn't it be funny if everyone who looks upset was actually just trying to look upset to fit in?".

So, everytime I saw a sad face, and you get a few in a funeral, I suddenly erupt into a large smile and only just manage to keep the laughter in....this happened for the whole of the next 3 hour service/after service luncheon.

So, that's most of my distant relatives alienated in one swoop. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[md5fungi]

An INTP friend, an INTJ friend, and I have somehow developed a very collective humor among us. We react with explosive laughter when certain things happen that other people wouldn't laugh at. A good example is movie trailers: We laugh at pathetic attempts at drama, overly cliche dialogue, etc. The strange thing is no one else in the theatre is laughing...

My uncontrollable laughter mostly strikes when I find something completely absurd that other people think is "normal." I found myself nearly suffocating when I was watching Minority Report and I heard the line, "Sir, everyone wants you to sign this hat!"

Also, I realize this thread is very old, but I blame Shakesbeer on the commencement of necroposting.

[Kalyrn]

When I was in Elementary school there was this one guy who could always get me to laugh at the things he said or did. Although I was always the only one laughing. Good times.

[Rrrach]

I never knew this had anything to do with being INTP but I can definitely relate. My entire family and my friends think I'm crazy and I'll go through a couple of hours when every second thing makes me laugh like that. I don't think I ever just laugh, it's either nothing or all out laughing with tears running down my face. I share my humour with very few people.

[dtachh]

yeahhh at some of the worst times, i just cant stop thinking about how funny and weird the whole situation is. i mean, there's been times where friends are about to fist fight over something so stupid ill just start cracking up beyond all belief and everyones like "wtf" and im just like "this is all so fucking stupidd ahahahhahahaha"

its pretty good though cause it tends to mellow out shitty situations.

[gardnerj]

Yo am I the only one who finds it ignorant when people demand to know what is so funny?

[Kazan]

Yes. I do have uncontrollable laughter sometimes, but usually between 2 and 6 am after working all night on school stuff (aka, on INTPc, wikipedia,
the internet encyclopedia of philosophy (which is humankind's greatest creation), webcomics 90% of the time).

Ha. I used parenthises inside of parenthises...cue my uncontrollable laughter.

[bass_n_treble]

I used to work at a coffeeshop that was simply out of control with unusual customers and wisecracking bosses (everyone was a character, in a Joe Schmoe relocated-Brooklynite way) to the point where I would occasionally have uncontrollable laughing fits about something ridiculous a coworker said to a customer even days after he'd said it. This is all while I'm about to bring food out. As you know, laughter tends to make your extremities weaken. Not exactly easy.

Our delivery guy was a 40 something year old former mental patient who either took too much acid or had a nervous breakdown--he once blew his entire paycheck plus money from deliveries (that belonged to the store) on a fish tank. Yeah... he didn't own any pets. The manager was a recovering alcholic who schmoozed every table in such a way that you began to realize he was actually making fun of you to your face (ENTJ) but he did it in such a way that you laughed with him, the owner of the place was a former stock broker who would regularly curse out loud, pick on his waitstaff (ISTJ) and watch Jeopardy while he was supposed to be cooking or ringing a customer up, one of my coworkers was a brilliantly listless physics student who would make up a new game to keep his brain occupied everyday (INTP) and would constantly use increasingly ambiguous humor to enhance his awkwardness--he also was known for putting 5 Steely Dan CDs on the 5-disc changer after the boss left much to the chagrin of customers, another coworker was a young alpha male who thought he was a gangster (ESTP) and would be the most sarcastic asshole you could ask for to customers, also while stoned for a good portion of his shift.

This job actually helped me to become somewhat present-tense fluent in Spanish :grin:

Anyways, I really miss working there, it was hilarious. The place went out of business--big surprise.

[hardkar]

Had one of those moments when I saw lake Michigan on a map and realised it looked like a penis.

[gardnerj]

Had one of those moments when I saw lake Michigan on a map and realised it looked like a penis.

ahem Florida's been pissin' on cuba for a while now.

[hardkar]

ahem Florida's been pissin' on cuba for a while now.It's not the same. :mellow:

[ThatGirl]

Does anyone else do this?

What was the moment?

[bass_n_treble]

Behold, n00b (http://forums.intpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1276)

[ThatGirl]

Behold, n00b (http://forums.intpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=1276)

Wow, 2004?

Threads don't die here. Good to know.

Feel free to merge.





*We should probably keep my title though. It is better.

[Pantycrickets]

I was at my cousin's conformation and they got a cardinal to preform the ceremony. When he came out with the ladle to put holy water on us I couldent hold in the giggles, I giggled on and off for the rest of the service. My mother was angry with me for not showing respect to someone so high up in the church, but I couldent help myself.
This is basically what he looked like:
http://i25.tinypic.com/24muaea.jpg
I thought about asking him where he got his bling, but didnt.

[HoneyCyclical]

I can't help but laugh every time I see the name "Pantycrickets". Yay.
And did you actually draw that?

[stuck]

At Pulp Fiction, in colorado springs, when it was out in theaters. When Travolta leans over the seat and blows the kid's brains out. I exploded with laughter in the theater, only one in a 3/4 full theater.

I laughed through Obsessed (beyonce's fatal attraction), too.

[ThatGirl]

I was at my cousin's conformation and they got a cardinal to preform the ceremony. When he came out with the ladle to put holy water on us I couldent hold in the giggles, I giggled on and off for the rest of the service. My mother was angry with me for not showing respect to someone so high up in the church, but I couldent help myself.
This is basically what he looked like:
http://i25.tinypic.com/24muaea.jpg
I thought about asking him where he got his bling, but didnt.

Lol!

I was raised Catholic. Once during a class they showed a film about Jesus' life.

At the point where they were looking for Jesus to resurrect Lazarus (or who ever that guy was) one of the characters yelled "Jesus!" At which point Jesus rode up on his donkey and replies with a calm "Yes?"

I thought this was hilarious because you never hear anyone respond to "Jesus!" like that. I laughed the entire class, receiving dirty looks from the Priest the entire time.


I also laughed hysterically after sex once.

[teleforce]

i couldn't stop laughing when i found out my favorite teacher in high school had been murdered. i was nervous.

[ThatGirl]

At Pulp Fiction, in colorado springs, when it was out in theaters. When Travolta leans over the seat and blows the kid's brains out. I exploded with laughter in the theater, only one in a 3/4 full theater.

I laughed through Obsessed (beyonce's fatal attraction), too.

When the dog was run over by the semi in "Michael."

They inserted a *thud*

[Pantycrickets]

I can't help but laugh every time I see the name "Pantycrickets". Yay.
And did you actually draw that?

Yes I did. That is exactly what he looked like, ladeling water everywhere and mumbling things in Latin. It was great.

[stuck]

i couldn't stop laughing when i found out my favorite teacher in high school had been murdered. i was nervous.

Wow. There's a bit in Faulkner's "The Sound and The Fury" where a character does that. I didn't realize that actually happens.

Is it from not wanting to show emotion?

[teleforce]

Wow. There's a bit in Faulkner's "The Sound and The Fury" where a character does that. I didn't realize that actually happens.

Is it from not wanting to show emotion?

it was shock and disbelief, really strong... and i was alone when i found out, so i don't think it was not wanting to show emotion. i don't know what it was. it was like my brain shivering and passing through my body in the form of laughs.

[lpethe]

i also find the strangest things hilarious when im tired, once spent over half an hour helplessly giggling about the word "tribbles". ...it IS a funny word...

once won a bf because i was the only one in a large group of people who laughed out loud at his impromptu necrophilia joke. to be fair, they all would have laughed at it, too, if it wasn't for the mortician right there they were all trying to impress.

many particularly violent deaths make me laugh, i have no idea why. i just find them funny from a distance. the more shocking and sudden they are, the funnier. laughed all through hannibal. its worse when i catch the news and hear a description of a nasty or unusual death, then laugh exclaiming, "oh man, isn't that messed up!? Ha!!" Then my love looks at me with this shocked expression and i realize its just too soon.

the most inappropriate laughs are when i really don't want to. like if someone falls or hurts themselves and im actually concerned i have a hard time suppressing the giggles. even though i dont think its funny, im snickering between words when asking if they are ok.

or if i know i made a mistake/accident and have to fess up. i remember once i was closing down/cleaning the bar at an old work, and accidentally snagged the cord of a lamp causing it to fall and shatter on the floor. turns out it was the manager's lamp he brought from home. an old one he got from his grandmother and really liked. i felt bad, and had to go to his office to break the news. it took me over 20mns to stop laughing about it, and even when i went in, it was difficult not to smile.

[gardnerj]

many particularly violent deaths make me laugh, i have no idea why. i just find them funny from a distance. the more shocking and sudden they are, the funnier.


Ha, oh man, someone yesterday was telling me about how a woman was scuba diving and she came up too soon. And apparently the exhalation goes back into your skin, so you have to come up slow. So they put her in a machine on the boat that was (de)pressurized somehow. Someone accidentally opened the door before she was done. Roffle. She exploded.

[lpethe]

Ha, oh man, someone yesterday was telling me about how a woman was scuba diving and she came up too soon. And apparently the exhalation goes back into your skin, so you have to come up slow. So they put her in a machine on the boat that was (de)pressurized somehow. Someone accidentally opened the door before she was done. Roffle. She exploded.

oh lord! thats so hilarious, i dont even care if its true. thank you. (still laughing trying to imagine what kind of noise it made)

[wrathfuldeity]

I think we intps laugh when there is some anxiety or anxiousness involved because we aren't that empathic or have that empathy thing going....so instead of feelings of empathy we don't know what to feel, but intellectually know it should be empathy; which makes it all the more funny...so we die laughing. We also have the ability to perceive (p function) the bizarre paradox (t function) in situations; which can be tragic and funny at the same time though due to our undeveloped (f function) it comes out funny.

[Unapplied Knowledge]

Most horror films, unless they're really, really good, do this to me. I can't really even watch the things at the theater; I laugh my ass off at all of the scenes that are supposed to be silly but are really just inherently ridiculous, and everyone looks at me like I'm some sort of nut (though I find it appropriate that I'm scarier than the 'scary' movie is).

[depp]

I laugh at mentally disabled people. I can't help it, I wish I could but I can't. I think my laughing is terrible, but I just can't handle it, I laugh hysterically. Last week when I tried to talk to my psych about an incident years ago involving mentally disabled people, I spent 3 minutes laughing until i cried and could get the words out. I wish I could control my laughing, it's so inappropriate. F***d up.

[Vaera]

At Pulp Fiction, in colorado springs, when it was out in theaters. When Travolta leans over the seat and blows the kid's brains out. I exploded with laughter in the theater, only one in a 3/4 full theater.

One of my all-time favorites. That scene never gets old, nor the burst of laughter it causes.

[Ill eagle]

It's fun to laugh when you're forbidden to laugh; to laugh at the most preciously wrong moments, is the only way to laugh, especially if your humors strictly inappropiate to begin with.

[Rashes]

I think we intps laugh when there is some anxiety or anxiousness involved because we aren't that empathic or have that empathy thing going....so instead of feelings of empathy we don't know what to feel, but intellectually know it should be empathy; which makes it all the more funny...so we die laughing. We also have the ability to perceive (p function) the bizarre paradox (t function) in situations; which can be tragic and funny at the same time though due to our undeveloped (f function) it comes out funny.

Which reminds me..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_from_laughter - made me laugh. Especially the first one :happpy:

[zserf]

I will laugh at random connections I make. Or I'll imagine a situation, and laugh at it. Or, it'll be an awkward situation, and I'll laugh at the fact that it's awkward. Basically, I laugh at everything. Just today, my brother asked me what I was smiling about, and I hadn't even realized I was smiling.

[kali]

I laugh hysterically at appropriate moments. I suppose that means overall inappropriateness. You see, laughing hysterically at inappropriate moments just cancels out to be normal.

[Guzziman]

Great pommy comedy show, Coupling, has a skit that hits the nail right on the head.
http://fliiby.com/file/314069/xu1xad40kz.html

[hitomirou]

I did this quite a number of times and it did offend quite a number of people :(

[pac-man187]

I will laugh at points leading up to the joke.

[Whiskeyjack]

I've done this on many occassions, but one particular incident comes to mind. This was many years ago during a Psych class I was taking.

They showed us a video of a live brain surgery. This is where the patient is fully conscious, with the top of his skull sawed off, and the doctors probe around with an electrode of some sort to determine which areas of the brain are safe to cut. They ask the patient to start counting as they probe around:

"1....2....3....4....DAAAAUHRRRGGG" I can't really do it justice in writing, but if you imagine the sound a camel would make if it were being sodomized, that would be pretty close.

I could not stop laughing. Everyone in the class was pretty appalled, and they actually had to stop the video. I made an attempt at an apology but only ended up making myself laugh further when I said something along the lines of "well, I guess I wouldn't make a good brain surgeon." After that I just had to excuse myself from the class.

[gardnerj]

"1....2....3....4....DAAAAUHRRRGGG" I can't really do it justice in writing, but if you imagine the sound a camel would make if it were being sodomized, that would be pretty close.


OMG i just loled

[porcupine]

I have a bad habit of thinking of things that I think are hilarious and laughing at them until I cry, leaving everyone else looking at me awkwardly. I was watching Ricky Gervais' Politics a while ago and I laughed for at least half an hour after watching it.