Editing Death from laughter

{{short description|Cause of death}}
{{Redirect|Die laughing}}
[[File:Chrysippus of Soli.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Chrysippus]] allegedly died of laughter after witnessing a donkey eating his figs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Inwood |first=Brad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYWpgGunBBAC |title=The Stoics Reader: Selected Writings and Testimonia |last2=Gerson |first2=Lloyd P. |date=2008-09-11 |publisher=Hackett Publishing |isbn=978-1-60384-376-8 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:La muerte de Pietro Aretino, por Anselm Feuerbach.jpg|thumb|right|220px|''Der Tod des Dichters Pietro Aretino'' (''The Death of the Poet [[Pietro Aretino]]'') by [[Anselm Feuerbach]]]]

'''Death from laughter''' is a rare form of [[death]], usually resulting from either [[cardiac arrest]] or [[asphyxia]]tion, that has itself been caused by a fit of [[laughter]]. Though uncommon, death by laughter has been recorded from the times of [[ancient Greece]] to modern times.

Usually, the phrase "dying from laughter" is used as a [[hyperbole]].

== Pathophysiology ==
Laughter is normally harmless. Typically, laughter is controlled by two systems in the brain: an involuntary system that involves the [[amygdala]] and a voluntary system that involves the [[Brodmann area 44|premotor opercular]] areas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wild |first1=Frank |title=Neural correlates of laughter and humour |journal=Brain |date=Oct 2003 |pages=2121–38 |doi=10.1093/brain/awg226 |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12902310/ |access-date=31 January 2025}}</ref> However, death may result from several [[Pathology|pathologies]] that deviate from [[benignity|benign]] laughter. [[Infarction]] of the [[pons]] and the [[medulla oblongata]] in the brain may cause the [[pseudobulbar affect]].<ref name="Gondim">{{cite journal |vauthors=Gondim FA, Parks BJ, Cruz-Flores S |title='Fou rire prodromique' as the presentation of pontine ischaemia secondary to vertebrobasilar stenosis |journal=J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry |volume=71 |issue=6 |pages=802–804 |date=December 2001 |pmid=11723208 |pmc=1737630 |doi=10.1136/jnnp.71.6.802}}</ref> [[Asphyxiation]] caused by laughter leads the body to shut down from the lack of oxygen.

Laughter can cause [[atonia]] and collapse ("gelastic [[Syncope (medicine)|syncope]]"),<ref name="pmid18493621">{{cite journal |vauthors=Reiss AL, Hoeft F, Tenforde AS, Chen W, Mobbs D, Mignot EJ |title=Anomalous hypothalamic responses to humor in cataplexy |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=e2225 |year=2008 |pmid=18493621 |pmc=2377337 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002225 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2225R |editor1-last=Greene |editor1-first=Ernest|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="pmid18538031">{{cite journal |vauthors=Nishida K, Hirota SK, Tokeshi J |title=Laugh syncope as a rare sub-type of the situational syncopes: a case report |journal=J Med Case Rep |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=197 |year=2008 |pmid=18538031 |pmc=2440757 |doi=10.1186/1752-1947-2-197 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="pmid14592259">{{cite journal |vauthors=Totah AR, Benbadis SR |title=Gelastic syncope mistaken for cataplexy |journal=Sleep Med. |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=77–78 |date=January 2002 |pmid=14592259 |doi=10.1016/S1389-9457(01)00113-7 }}</ref><ref name="pmid17976409">{{cite journal |vauthors=Lo R, Cohen TJ |title=Laughter-induced syncope: no laughing matter |journal=Am. J. Med. |volume=120 |issue=11 |pages=e5 |date=November 2007 |pmid=17976409 |doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2006.07.019|doi-access=free }}</ref> which in turn can cause trauma {{xref|(see also: [[laughter-induced syncope]], [[cataplexy]], and [[Bezold-Jarisch reflex|Bezold–Jarisch reflex]])}}. [[Gelastic seizure]]s can be due to focal [[lesion]]s to the [[hypothalamus]].<ref name="pmid18077234">{{cite journal |vauthors=Cheung CS, Parrent AG, Burneo JG |title=Gelastic seizures: not always hypothalamic hamartoma |journal=Epileptic Disord |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=453–458 |date=December 2007 |pmid=18077234 |url=http://www.john-libbey-eurotext.fr/en/revues/medecine/epd/e-docs/00/04/37/CC/article.phtml |doi=10.1684/epd.2007.0139 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Depending upon the size of the lesion, the [[emotional lability]] may be a sign of an acute condition, and not itself the cause of the fatality. Gelastic syncope has also been associated with the [[cerebellum]].<ref name="pmid17662020">{{cite journal |vauthors=Famularo G, Corsi FM, Minisola G, De Simone C, Nicotra GC |title=Cerebellar tumour presenting with pathological laughter and gelastic syncope |journal=Eur. J. Neurol. |volume=14 |issue=8 |pages=940–943 |date=August 2007 |pmid=17662020 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-1331.2007.01784.x|s2cid=10940256 }}</ref>

== Notable cases ==
<!-- Do NOT add instances that are unsourced or from popular culture. This is only for NOTABLE cases. -->

* [[Zeuxis (painter)|Zeuxis]], a 5th-century BC Greek painter, is said to have died laughing at the humorous way in which he painted an old woman.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Spectacular Self: Jean-Etienne Liotard's Self-Portrait Laughing|journal=North Street Review |last=Bark |first=Julianna |date=2007–2008 }}</ref>
* [[Chrysippus]], also known as "the man who died from laughing at his joke", an influential 3rd-century BC Greek [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosopher, reportedly died of laughter after he saw a [[donkey]] eating his fermented [[common fig|figs]]; he told a slave to give the donkey undiluted wine to wash them down, and then, "having laughed too much, he died" ([[Diogenes Laërtius]] 7.185).<ref name="Chrysippus">{{cite book |first=Diogenes |last=Laërtius |title=Lives, Teachings and Sayings of the Eminent Philosophers, with an English translation by R. D. Hicks (1964–1965) |publisher=Harvard University Press/W. Heinemann |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts/London}}</ref>
* In 1410, King [[Martin of Aragon]] is said to have died from a combination of [[indigestion]] and uncontrollable laughter.{{Better source needed|date=January 2024}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patronage and Piety: Montserrat and the Royal House of Medieval Catalonia-Aragon |first=Paul N. |last=Morris |url=http://www.cc.jyu.fi/mirator/pdf/Morris.pdf |date=October 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060304124353/http://www.cc.jyu.fi/mirator/pdf/Morris.pdf |archive-date=2006-03-04 |page=8}}</ref>
* In 1556, [[Pietro Aretino]] "is said to have died of suffocation from laughing too much".<ref>Waterfield, Gordon, ed. ''First Footsteps in East Africa'', (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1966) p. 59 footnote.</ref>
* In 1660, [[Thomas Urquhart]], the [[Scottish people|Scottish]] aristocrat, [[polymath]], and first translator of [[François Rabelais]]' writings into English, is said to have died laughing upon hearing that [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] had taken the throne.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rabelais in English Literature |last=Brown |first=Huntington |isbn=0-7146-2051-3 |publisher=Routledge |page=126 |year=1968}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The History of Scottish Poetry |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofscotish00irvi |publisher=Edmonston & Douglas |year=1861 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofscotish00irvi/page/539 539], footnote 4}}</ref>
* On October 14, 1920, 56-year-old Arthur Cobcroft, a dog trainer from Loftus Street, Leichhardt, Australia, was reading a five-year-old newspaper and was amused at the prices for some commodities in 1915 as compared to 1920. He made a remark to his wife regarding this and burst into laughter, and in the midst of it, he collapsed and died. A doctor surnamed Nixon was called in, and stated that the death was due to heart failure, brought by excessive laughter.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4577221 |title=Laughter causes death |newspaper=The Argus |date=October 18, 1920}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/57926179 |title=Died of Laughter |newspaper=The Register |location=Adelaide |date=October 18, 1920}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/157027609 |title=Death Follows Laughter |newspaper=Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative |date=October 21, 1920}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/123983055 |title=Died Laughing |newspaper=The Sydney Stock and Station Journal |date=October 22, 1920}}</ref>
* During the night of October 30, 1965 in [[Manila]], [[Philippines]], a 24-year-old carpenter who was well-known for making his companions laugh was telling jokes to his friends. The joke, which the carpenter's friends told police, was so funny that it caused the carpenter to fall in an uncontrollable fit of laughter from which he then fainted; he was brought to the hospital, but died before he could be given medical help.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/DocReader.aspx?bib=093718_04&pesq=%22morreu%20o%20contador%20de%20piadas%22&pasta=ano%20196 |title=Morreu o contador de piadas |trans-title=Joke teller dies |language=pt |newspaper=Diario de Noticias |date=October 30, 1965}}</ref>{{dead link|date=April 2025}}<ref>[https://gleaner.newspaperarchive.com/kingston-gleaner/1965-10-31/page-3/ Kingston Gleaner, Sunday, October 1965, p. 3] {{subscription required}}.<!--If you have access, please use {{cite news}} and cite the headline if there is one--> "Manila, Oct. 30 - A 24-year-old carpenter died laughing here last night, the police reported. They said the man was telling his friends a joke which was so funny that he could not stop laughing. He laughed until he collapsed. Friends rushed him to a hospital but he was dead." ''[[The Gleaner|Kingston Gleaner]]'' (October 31, 1965)</ref> The book ''The Big Book of Boy Stuff'' by Bart King recounts the incident in anecdotal form, where the carpenter was instead told the joke by his friends rather than himself, and "laughed until he cried, collapsed, and then died".<ref>{{Cite book |last=King |first=Bart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnMgw2o4JIMC&dq=%2224-year-old+carpenter%22&pg=PA159 |title=The Big Book of Boy Stuff |date=2004-07-15 |publisher=Gibbs Smith |isbn=978-1-4236-1118-9 |page=159 |language=en |quote=More recently, a 24-year-old carpenter in the Philippines was told a joke by a friend. The carpenter thought the joke was so funny, he laughed until he cried, collapsed, and then died.}}</ref>
* On March 24, 1975, Alex Mitchell, from [[King's Lynn]], England, died laughing while watching the "[[Kung Fu Kapers]]" episode of ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]''. After 25 minutes of continuous laughter, Mitchell slumped on the sofa and died from [[heart failure]]. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments of life so pleasant.<ref name="snopes">{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/laughing.asp |title=The Last Laugh's on Him |work=Snopes |date=2007-01-19 |access-date=2007-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Complete Goodies |first=Robert |last=Ross |publisher=B. T. Batsford |location=London |year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Goodies Way to Go – Laughing |newspaper=Eastern Daily Press |location=Norwich |date=29 March 1975}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Slapstick! The Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy |first=Tony |last=Staveacre |publisher=Angus & Robinson |year=1987}}</ref> Diagnosis of his granddaughter in 2012 of having the inheritable [[long QT syndrome]] (a heart rhythm abnormality) suggests that Mitchell may have died of a cardiac arrest caused by the same condition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Man who died laughing at Goodies had Long QT syndrome |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9344957/Man-who-died-laughing-at-Goodies-had-Long-QT-syndrome.html |first=Anita |last=Singh |date=21 Jun 2012 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=2 April 2015}}</ref>
* In 1989, during the initial run of the film ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'', a 71-year-old Danish audiologist named Ole Bentzen reportedly laughed himself to death.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thoughtcatalog.com/jim-goad/2015/03/10-people-who-literally-died-from-laughter/|title=10 People Who Literally Died From Laughter|website=Thought Catalog|first=Jim|last=Goad|date=17 March 2015|access-date=2 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=King|first=Darryn|date=2018-07-12|title='Just a Concoction of Nonsense': The Oral History of A Fish Called Wanda|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/07/the-oral-history-of-a-fish-called-wanda|access-date=2021-10-04|website=Vanity Fair Blogs|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-24-ca-479-story.html |title=Movies |date=May 24, 1989 |first=Claudia |last=Puig |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=April 9, 2025}}</ref>
* On August 19, 2003, Damnoen Saen-um, 52, an ice cream truck driver in [[Mueang Phuket district]], [[Thailand]], died laughing while asleep. The cause of death was unclear as he was in good health, but doctors said it was likely heart failure.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-08-22 |title=Thai man dies laughing |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/thai-man-dies-laughing-20030822-gdh9y3.html |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-08-21 |title=Man laughs to death in sleep |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/man-laughs-to-death-in-sleep-2560397.php |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=SFGATE |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thai Man Dies While Laughing in Sleep (NDC) |url=https://rec.music.gdead.narkive.com/4XaoTyzJ/thai-man-dies-while-laughing-in-sleep-ndc |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=rec.music.gdead.narkive.com}}</ref>

==In fiction==
* "The Three Infernal Jokes", short story in ''[[The Last Book of Wonder]]'' (1916) by [[Lord Dunsany]], about three jokes "which shall make all who hear them simply die of laughter".
* "[[The Funniest Joke in the World]]", episode of British sketch comedy ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', which revolves around a joke so funny that anybody who hears it promptly laughs themselves to death.
* In the 1988 [[fantasy comedy]] film ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'', the [[weasel]]s of the Toon Patrol literally die laughing. Judge Doom mentions earlier in the film that this happened to their [[hyena]] cousins.
* "[[The Stand In (Seinfeld)|The Stand In]]", episode of American comedy ''[[Seinfeld]]'', which features [[Jerry Seinfeld (character)|Jerry Seinfeld]] telling a joke to a hospital patient who then suddenly dies from laughter.
* ''[[Infinite Jest]]'' (1996), a novel by [[David Foster Wallace]] in which the meta-narrative includes a film so entertaining that those who see it lose all interest in anything else, and die.
*''[[The Clean House]]'', a play where dying of laughter is a reoccurring theme.
*[[Scott Tenorman Must Die|"Scott Tenorman Must Die"]], episode of [[South Park|''South Park'']], which features [[Kenny McCormick]] dying from laughing at a humiliating video of [[Eric Cartman]].
*On the television series ''[[1000 Ways to Die]]'', a semi-fictionalized case, based on some of these actual deaths, was dramatized as "way to die" number 302, "Funny Boned", in the season 1 finale "I See Dead People (and They're Cracking Me Up)"; the fictional incident, claimed to take place on January 18/19, 1997, follows a pub patron named Chuck, who enjoys telling and hearing jokes, hearing one particular one so funny he simply could not stop laughing after hearing it, even after leaving the pub and returning the following day; by this time, he had been laughing for over 36 straight hours, and it proved such a strain on his heart that he dropped dead in the pub of a [[heart attack]].

== See also ==
* [[Kuru (disease)|Kuru]], also known as "laughing sickness"
* [[Nitrous oxide]], also known as "laughing gas"
* [[Laughter-induced syncope]]
* [[List of unusual deaths]]
* [[Paradoxical laughter]]
* [[Sardonicism]]
* [[Tickle torture]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-last-laughs-on-him/ "Have People Died Laughing?"] ''Snopes.com.'' 2004.

{{Death}}

[[Category:Causes of death|Laughter]]
[[Category:Laughter]]
[[Category:Deaths from laughter| ]]