Laughter is a social
structure, something that connects humans with one another in a
profound way. People are about thirty percent more likely to laugh
in a social setting that warrants it than when alone with humorous
media. In other words, you are more likely to laugh with friends
while watching a comedy together than when you are watching the same
show by yourself. About 90 percent of our laughter is related to
jokes or humor.
Belly Laughter - Belly laughter is considered the most honest
type of laughter and it the type where the whole body shakes and you
gasp for air. Men are more likely to grunt or snort at something
they find funny, while women let loose with giggles and chuckles.
Canned Laughter - Canned laughter is another term for "laugh
track." It is real laughter taken completely out of one context and
placed in another, such as from a real studio audience to a filmed
movie. Canned laughter over a soundtrack to programming increases
the chance of an audience finding humor in the material.
Contagious Laughter - Imagine you are out for dinner with a
group of friends and someone tells a joke and gets one person
laughing, which gets a second person laughing, and so on. Contagious
laughter raises the possibility that humans have laugh detectors.
People are made to respond with laughter on hearing laughter itself,
much like the mystery of spreading a yawn. If it spreads too far, it
is called mass hysteria.
Cruel Laughter - Cruel laughter has been around for a
long time. In the late Middle Ages, for instance, there's record of
residents buying a condemned criminal from a different town just so
they could enjoy quartering him themselves. Slapstick comedy often
induces cruel laughter.
Etiquette Laughter - People rely on laughter to get along
with others, so whether we are with a boss or friends, we tend to
laugh at things they say or do, to be polite. Laughter could have
developed in our ancestors before full speech, so the sound is
merely a way to communicate and show agreement.
Nervous Laughter - During times of anxiety, we often laugh in
a subconscious attempt to calm down. However, nervous laughter
usually just heightens the awkwardness of the situation.
Pigeon Laughter - Pigeon laughter, which is often practiced
in laughter therapy or laughter yoga, involves laughing without
opening your mouth. By keeping your lips sealed, the laughter
produces a humming sound, much like the noises a pigeon makes.
Silent Laughter - Silent laughter can have real benefits,
because it involves the same type of deep breathing that comes with
belly laughter. One woman who worked as a clown in a children's
hospital explained that teaching sick children the art of silent
laughter enabled them to go back to sleep after waking up from a bad
dream. This type of laughter is also practiced in laughter yoga and
laughter therapy, where it is often called joker's laughter.
Stress-relieving Laughter - Stress is an important
reasons to find something humorous and laughter is a sure cure for
stress. Stress builds tension in the human body, and that tension
has to go somewhere. Stress-relieving laughter can take many forms,
but it is usually found in an outburst, much like belly laughing.
Snorting Laughter - About twenty five percent of women and
thirty three percent of men laugh through the nose. This is the kind
where you might blow milk out your nose when surprised with a
humorous situation. A person might either blow air out or suck it in
through the nose when laughing. A well told joke often induces
me to experience a few different types of laughter in one bout.