Death from laughter
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (February 2012) |
Recorded cases of death from laughing date back to ancient Greece.
Pathophysiology
Death may result from several pathologies that deviate from benign laughter. Infarction of the pons and medulla oblongata in the brain may cause pathological laughter.[1]
Laughter can cause atonia and collapse ("gelastic syncope"),[2][3][4][5] which in turn can cause trauma. See also laughter-induced syncope, cataplexy, and Bezold-Jarisch reflex. Gelastic seizures can be due to focal lesions to the hypothalamus.[6] 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.[7]
Historical deaths attributed to laughter
- In the third century B.C., Chrysippus, the Greek stoic philosopher, died of laughter after giving his donkey wine, then seeing it attempt to feed on figs.[8]
- In 1410, King Martin of Aragon died from a combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughter.[9]
- In 1556, Pietro Aretino "is said to have died of suffocation from laughing too much."[10]
- In 1660, Thomas Urquhart, the Scottish aristocrat, polymath and first translator of Rabelais into English, is said to have died laughing upon hearing that Charles II had taken the throne.[11][12]
Modern deaths attributed to laughter
- On 24 March 1975, Alex Mitchell, from King's Lynn, England, died laughing while watching the "Kung Fu Kapers" episode of The Goodies, featuring a kilt-clad Scotsman with his bagpipes battling a master of Lancastrian martial art "Ecky Thump", who was armed with a black pudding. After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter, Mitchell finally 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.[13][14][15][16][17]
- In 1989, Ole Bentzen, a Danish audiologist, died laughing while watching A Fish Called Wanda. His heart was estimated to have beaten at between 250 and 500 beats per minute, before he succumbed to cardiac arrest.[18]
- In 2003, Damnoen Saen-um, a Thai ice cream salesman, is reported to have died while laughing in his sleep at the age of 52. His wife was unable to wake him, and he stopped breathing after two minutes of continuous laughter. He is believed to have died of either heart failure or asphyxiation.[13]
Fictional deaths attributed to laughter
- J. P. Cubish from Daffy Duck's Quackbusters.
- The "Killer Joke" sketch by Monty Python.
- The Toon Patrol in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
- In one of the Give Yourself Goosebumps books by R. L. Stine, it is possible to get an ending where chimpanzees tickle your feet until you die of laughter.
- In The Princess Bride Vizzini died laughing after ingesting Iocane powder, thinking he had outsmarted Westley; however, this was due to the poisonous powder itself, and not laughter.
- Kenny McCormick, a character on South Park, suffers said fate in the fifth-season episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die".
- The Dentist, Orin Scrivello, in the musical Little Shop of Horrors dies in the song "It's Just the Gas" from wearing a mask that gives himself laughing gas, rather than the patient.
- Ana in the play, The Clean House, by Sarah Ruhl.
- Jerry's friend, Fulton, in the Seinfeld episode entitled "The Stand-In".
- In the Batman comic books, the villain "The Joker" often kills his victims using a poison that causes them to laugh to death and to be left with a constant, sinister grin after dying.
- At the end of the film Mary Poppins, Mr. Dawes, Sr. (Dick Van Dyke) is said to have literally died laughing after being told a joke: "I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith." "Really? What's the name of his other leg?"
See also
- Kuru (disease), also known as "laughing sickness"
- Laughing gas
- Paradoxical laughter
- Tickle torture
References
- ^ Gondim, FA (December 2001). ""Fou rire prodromique" as the presentation of pontine ischaemia secondary to vertebrobasilar stenosis". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 71 (6): 802–804. doi:10.1136/jnnp.71.6.802. PMC 1737630. PMID 11723208.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Reiss AL, Hoeft F, Tenforde AS, Chen W, Mobbs D, Mignot EJ (2008). "Anomalous hypothalamic responses to humor in cataplexy". PLoS ONE. 3 (5): e2225. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002225. PMC 2377337. PMID 18493621.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Nishida K, Hirota SK, Tokeshi J (2008). "Laugh syncope as a rare sub-type of the situational syncopes: a case report". J Med Case Reports. 2 (1): 197. doi:10.1186/1752-1947-2-197. PMC 2440757. PMID 18538031.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Totah AR, Benbadis SR (2002). "Gelastic syncope mistaken for cataplexy". Sleep Med. 3 (1): 77–8. doi:10.1016/S1389-9457(01)00113-7. PMID 14592259.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Lo R, Cohen TJ (2007). "Laughter-induced syncope: no laughing matter". Am. J. Med. 120 (11): e5. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2006.07.019. PMID 17976409.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Cheung CS, Parrent AG, Burneo JG (2007). "Gelastic seizures: not always hypothalamic hamartoma". Epileptic Disord. 9 (4): 453–8. doi:10.1684/epd.2007.0139. PMID 18077234.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Famularo G, Corsi FM, Minisola G, De Simone C, Nicotra GC (2007). "Cerebellar tumour presenting with pathological laughter and gelastic syncope". Eur. J. Neurol. 14 (8): 940–3. doi:10.1111/j.1468-1331.2007.01784.x. PMID 17662020.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Peter Bowler and Jonathan Green. What a Way to Go,. ISBN 0-7537-0581-8.
- ^ Paul N. Morris, Patronage and Piety Montserrat and the Royal House of Medieval Catalonia-Aragon, October 2000
- ^ Waterfield, Gordon, ed. First Footsteps in East Africa, (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1966) pg. 59 footnote.
- ^ Brown, Huntington (1968). Rabelais in English Literature. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0-7146-2051-3.
- ^ The History of Scottish Poetry. Edmonston & Douglas. 1861. p. 539.
- ^ a b "The Last Laugh's on Him". Urban Legends Reference Pages. 2007-01-19. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- ^ The Complete Goodies — Robert Ross, B T Batsford, London, 2000.
- ^ Man Dies Laughing at The Goodies, "Daily Mail", London (29 March 1975)
- ^ A Goodies Way to Go — Laughing, "Eastern Daily Press", Norwich (29 March 1975)
- ^ Slapstick! The Illustrated Story of Knockabout Comedy — Tony Staveacre, Angus & Robinson 1987
- ^ 9 People Who Died Laughing - Death - Book of Lists - Canongate Home (version archived by the Internet Archive)