1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the two thousand twelve Toyota Camera. 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:11,000 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind? 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:18,079 Speaker 1: From how Stuff Works dot Com? Hey, you welcome to 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: and I'm Julie Douglas. Julie, did you ever watch Monty 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,600 Speaker 1: Python Growing Up? Money Python's Flying Surfaced? Yes? How much? 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: How much? Like in what quantities? Um? Well, you know, 8 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: I would say here and there. It probably wasn't until 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: I was more of a teenager that I really sort 10 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: of dabbled in it yourself strict diet I'm imagining for 11 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: a short period of time, definitely like junior High. There 12 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: was a period in there where they were showing it 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: regularly on on the Comedy Network whatever it was called 14 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,639 Speaker 1: at the time, and and I was this totally new 15 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: thing to me, so I just ate it up. And 16 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: then then of course me and my friends got into 17 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: Money Python, the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, all that, 18 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: and just it consumed us for a while and and 19 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: definitely had a big impact on my sense of human 20 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: I think most people of my age and the earlier 21 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 1: generation as well. But but there's something about being it 22 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: just the right age, just at the right time when 23 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: all of it was on TV, and you just you 24 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: couldn't help it absorb it. Now, did you ever go 25 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: lowbrow and put a little Benny Hill in there? Um, 26 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: you know, if Benny Hill was on and you're at 27 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: that age where aspects of Benny Hill's show definitely appeal 28 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: to young male minds. But and it's ultimately I mean, 29 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: it was a little body but it was so silly, 30 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: like all those chase scenes they do kind of suck 31 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: you in a bit. But I don't I don't even 32 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: I guess they were showing that on Comedy Central as well. 33 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: But today we are talking particularly about one sketch, and 34 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: we're gonna roll out the science from this one sketch 35 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: and uh, you can probably guess what it's gonna be. 36 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: We're gonna play a quick clip from it here, and 37 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: then we'll talk about it. This man is Ernest Scribbler, 38 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: writer of jokes. In a few moments he will have 39 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: written the funniest joe in the world, and as a consequence, 40 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: he will die laughing. Kay, all right, we're talking, of course, 41 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: about the joke that kills people, the killer joke, the 42 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: joke that in this sketch is ultimately weaponized. Um they 43 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: end up having it. Anyone who hears it laughs himself 44 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: to death, and so they have to get people to 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: translate it into German. This is during World War two. 46 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: Get separate people to translate segments of the joke because 47 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:52,959 Speaker 1: no one can read the whole thing at once or 48 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: they'll die. But there too, there wasn't one instance in 49 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: this story that they had two words that were translated. Yes, 50 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: they were hospital as yes. So you have to be 51 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: careful because because the joke and its entirety will kill you. 52 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: It's so funny, and even just a little segment, like 53 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: maybe just the punch line is enough to do unit. 54 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: So they had to send in. They had to break 55 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: it up into different words, have translators translate each word, 56 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: and then reassemble it in German. And it was in 57 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: utilized on the front lines in World War two. They 58 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: would have somebody who did not understand German read the 59 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: joke aloud, and then any German imagtryment that happened to 60 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: hear it would just die laughing right there. So go 61 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: ahead and go ahead and read it for us. And 62 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: just a quick warning if you speak German watch out, 63 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: this might have harmful effects. Yeah, just I mean, maybe 64 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: even just turn it off for a moment. All right, 65 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: that's a joke. Joke. Warfare, Vinish does, Nontrika Baron does, 66 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: all the deflippers bolt. See. Now I couldn't understand it, 67 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: or I would have I would have died. Now. I 68 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: laughed at that just because I enjoyed the German nous 69 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: of it, and your and your accent was was was excellent. Yeah, 70 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: But of course anyone who actually speaks German they recognize 71 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: that those are not all real German words. This is 72 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: ultimately nonsense and gibberish. Because they couldn't. They didn't actually 73 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: have a joke at the center of this. The content 74 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: of the joke is a mcguffin. There's a lot of 75 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: fiction that they create around it, just saying that if 76 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: you hear this joke, if you understand it, it kills 77 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: you dead. But one can't help. But wonder, is it 78 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: possible to have a joke that's so funny that it 79 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: kills people? Right, It's possible. It's possible. But of course 80 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: that would be uh sort of sort of complicated underlying 81 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: conditions here right now, First of all, you would have 82 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: to have an exceedingly funny joke, like the funniest joke possible, 83 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: and how would we possibly find that. Well, in two 84 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 1: thousand two, some researchers actually looked into this and uh. 85 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: It took place at the University of Herefordshire, psychology professor 86 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 1: Richard Wiseman started a program called laugh app. The objective 87 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: find the funniest joke across all cultures, regions, demographics, countries, 88 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: the funniest joke that then can be unleashed, I guess 89 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: on on the world for global domination. Well maybe not 90 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: the global domination part, but he was interested in what 91 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: makes people tick and certainly what how senses of humor 92 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: vary among different groups as well. So they set up 93 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: a website and they spent a year collecting jokes. People 94 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: would share their favorite jokes, they're the funniest joke they 95 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: knew on this website. Other people would come in and 96 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: rate the jokes and uh and so over time the 97 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: website received forty thousand jokes and one point five million 98 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,359 Speaker 1: ratings from all over. They got some international press exposures, 99 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: so lots of people were chiming in. So of the 100 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: forty thousand jokes submitted. The winner was won by a 101 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: guy mean the name of Girpele Gosseil, which which right there, 102 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: a thirty one year old psychiatrist from Manchester, England, and 103 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: the joke went something like this. Two hunters are out 104 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't 105 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The 106 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: other guy whip side his phone and calls the emergency services. 107 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: He guess, my friend is dead. What can I do? 108 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: The operator says, calm down, I can help. First, let's 109 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: make sure he's dead. There's a silence, then a gunshot 110 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: is heard back on the phone. The guy says, okay, 111 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: now what now you see I don't know. That wasn't 112 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 1: I That wasn't my favorite. I have to say, yeah, 113 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: he doesn't. And I think that's maybe something worth noting 114 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: here is that you have such varied senses of humor 115 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: that if you find something that everyone agrees on, or 116 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: the vast majority of people agree on, it's not gonna 117 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: be good. It's like it's like hotel food. The hotel 118 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: food or food that's catered at a hotel event, it 119 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: has to be palpable by various um senses of taste, 120 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: various aversions to spices. It has to meet all these 121 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: different dietary requirements. So when you check everything off the list, 122 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: you can end up with some pretty bland fair right. Yeah, 123 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: and you're right, this is across all cultures. This was 124 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: the winning choke. But I did think it was interesting 125 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: that there are a different cultural tasting in humor. And 126 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: according to the study, people from the Republic of Ireland, 127 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: the UK, Australia and New Zealand I'll express a strong 128 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: preference for jokes involving word play, which sort of makes sense. 129 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: I mean, if you if you think, especially when I 130 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: think about Irish humor. Um, so here you want to 131 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: read that one, I'm gonna say, here's an example from 132 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: that study. Uh that that placed this doctor. I've got 133 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: a strawberry stuck up my bum. Doctor says I've got 134 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: some cream for that. Now, that one when I when 135 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: I read it and heard it again, that one made 136 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: me laugh a little more. I have to say, well 137 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: and stuck up my bomb. Right, There's just it's funny stuff. 138 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: It's a good material. Yeah. So the study figuring out 139 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: some interesting things about jokes in general, Like they found 140 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: that the perfect length of the joke is around a 141 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: hundred words. That the best animal to place uh in 142 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: a in a person's role, The best anthroomorphized animal to 143 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: feature in a joke is the duck, which which I 144 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: think is perfect. There's always the joke you can make 145 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: lots of There's lots of word play to be made 146 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 1: with the ducks bill, you know, putting it on the 147 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: ducks bill, and and ducks are always walking into bars, 148 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: you know how. Um, And they found that this was 149 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: interesting to that Germans appreciate a wide variety of humor. Yes, 150 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: and immediately thought, oh, well, I remember when Seinfeld played 151 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: in Germany and there was all of this kerfuffle because um, 152 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: it was poled. It just didn't do that well that 153 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,959 Speaker 1: the TV series Seinfeld in Germany. But so I immediately thought, oh, well, 154 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: you know, you know, let me do just a sweeping generalization. 155 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: Perhaps they don't have the sense of humor that other 156 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: people do. But it turns out that they actually have 157 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: a more nuanced and complex sense of humor. Well that's 158 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: what they say. And Okay. On one hand, there's like 159 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: the stereotypical German that we all sort of get decided 160 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: a German is a very serious, regimented person, and maybe 161 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: they're not that inclined to humor, despite the fact that 162 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: they do have all puppet hip hop acts in Berlin. 163 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: But when I was there briefly on like a school 164 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: trip back in high school, I I distinctly remember turning 165 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,559 Speaker 1: on the German TV and even then I was I 166 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,959 Speaker 1: was expecting some you know, sort of Sprockets esque kraft Work, 167 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: e German nous, And there was a comedy on, for sure. 168 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: It was on in the lobby of this this hotel, 169 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: and it was some. It was really Binny Hill esque 170 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: and reminiscent of the the really outlandish humor that you'll 171 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: see on various Spanish television um sides. So so that 172 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: alone let me know that, yes there's some they're not 173 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: all German humors necessarily going to be that complex, uh, 174 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: And I would like to study that out. They like 175 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: a wide variety of things, so stereotypes are a little elusive, 176 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: I guess in figuring all of that out. Although to 177 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: continue to talk about stereotypes, I should mention that in 178 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: terms of cultural taste, Americans and Canadians tend to prefer 179 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: jokes that are trade on the theme of superiority, either 180 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,839 Speaker 1: you know, sort of making fun of it or elevating it. Um. 181 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: Here's an example. A Texans says where are you from? 182 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: And Harvard grad says, I come from a place where 183 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: we do not end our sentences with prepositions. And then 184 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: the Texans says, okay, where are you from? Jackass? And actually, 185 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: my I've heard my father in law tell this before 186 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: some sort of version of it, so I thought that 187 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,839 Speaker 1: was interesting. And then there's a computer generated joke that 188 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 1: actually made the cut here because the researchers wanted to 189 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: insert some computer generated jokes to see how they would do, 190 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 1: and they put five of the jokes in there. Four 191 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,319 Speaker 1: of them fell flat, but one of them was successful. 192 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: Do you know that one? Oh? Yes, yes, we have 193 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: it right here. What kind of murderer has moral fiber? 194 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: A serial killer? I love it. I gotta tell you, 195 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: I don't know what that says about my sense of humor, 196 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: but that's funny. Well, that gag scored higher than one 197 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: third of all human jokes, so I guess it's you know, 198 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: the Peter world that robots are the kind of stand 199 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: up comedians. They get up there, they're gonna they're gonna 200 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: throw stuff out there. There's just gonna fail, but when 201 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,559 Speaker 1: they hit it, you know it's going to be well. 202 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,719 Speaker 1: That kind of also harkens back to our episode on 203 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: computers and creativity and their ability to actually make something 204 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: that is novel. But anyway, there you go, here's the 205 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,559 Speaker 1: research about the funniest joke in the world. You know, 206 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: obviously no one was going to die from laughing, but this, 207 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: this term we even have dying of laughter is something 208 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: that has been with us for centuries, and you can 209 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: actually place it back in um in Taming of the 210 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: Shrew around six when Shakespeare wrote went they not quickly, 211 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: I should die with laughing, which really sort of means 212 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: if they hadn't left soon, I would have died laughing. 213 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: So it's been around for a while, this idea that 214 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,959 Speaker 1: we could laugh so hard that we could expire from it. 215 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,199 Speaker 1: And I'm going to run through a few more examples 216 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: of of supposed in some cases, in some more verified 217 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,559 Speaker 1: cases of people who've actually died quote unquote of laughter. 218 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: But real quick, we should we should touch base on 219 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: just just a reminder about laughter and physiology. We recently 220 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,080 Speaker 1: did an episode titled what did we call? That episode? 221 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,679 Speaker 1: The healing power of laughter. That's what it was. Yes, 222 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: So we we talked about how a good hearty laugh 223 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: can help you out. It can heal you, it can 224 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: it gets your your heart beating. It's a full body experience. 225 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: I mean basically when we laugh, we have changes occurring 226 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: and all different parts of the body, even the arms, 227 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: the legs, obviously, the trunk, muscles. I mean we have 228 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: to term bell you laugh for a reason because you're 229 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: laughing so hard. You're just you're shaking like a bowl 230 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: full of jelly. Right. Respiratory system is up is upset um. 231 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: In some cases you're actually crying um. You're you may 232 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: be struggling for breath. Your face becomes moist and red. 233 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: I mean you you you're having a full body episode. 234 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: And if you did not know what laughter is, if 235 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: you've grown up in a mystical land where there was 236 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: no humor and you saw all somebody laughing, you might 237 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,200 Speaker 1: think it was some sort of a seizure. It's true. 238 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: And actually the speaking of seizure, I mean just kind 239 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,240 Speaker 1: of go over how it's working in your brain. Your 240 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: brain's pre mort or cortical region is activated. And this 241 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: is important because this is the part of the brain 242 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: that stands up ready to react to sound. Then the 243 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: left side of your cerebral cortex interprets the content and 244 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: the structure of the piece of humor, and then the 245 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: right side of the cortex performs the analysis, enabling you 246 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: to get the joke. And then an electrical wave pulses 247 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: through your cerebral cortex about four tenths of a second later, 248 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: and you laugh if the wave takes a negative charge. 249 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,599 Speaker 1: So already right there, you can see that there's a 250 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: very complex set of motions going on in your brain 251 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: and your body. And if you were to tell me, hey, 252 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: the government's working on a weapon that does just this 253 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: list of things to the human body, I'd be like, WHOA, 254 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: I'm not even sure if that's a non lethal weapon 255 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: that sounds potentially dangerous and a little that might be 256 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: outlawed by some sort of international convention, but it can 257 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 1: conceivably just be a real well told joke. And it's 258 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: true because we know that laughing sometimes will lead to 259 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: blacking out, and this is usually related to overbreathing, and 260 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,439 Speaker 1: it's usually not too dangerous, but there are times when 261 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: you've got underlying conditions where it could actually become quite dangerous. Yes, 262 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: and we'll we'll get into that in a minute. But first, 263 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: people who have died or are said to have died 264 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: by laughter. I'm not going to run through all of them. 265 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: You can easily find a list of these accounts online, 266 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: but I'm gonna touch on a few of them here. 267 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: One important one, at least in the lore of dying 268 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: by laughter is Chrysippus. Chrystippus was amongst the most influential 269 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: philosophers of the Hellenistic period, and it had a huge 270 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: role on the development of stoicism, which is excellent because 271 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: you used tend to think of a stoic individual is 272 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: not necessarily being a person who's gonna engage in a 273 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: lot of laughter, much less a lethal dosage of laughter, 274 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: right is. It turns out there are two different stories 275 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: about it. How he died, and he died at the 276 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: age of seventy three, and and that was in two 277 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: two and six BC. Okay, that's a pretty advanced age 278 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: at that time. Yeah, of course, you know he's living. 279 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: He's like a philosopher. To be a specialized philosopher in 280 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: any age, it kind of implies that maybe you have 281 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: you know, not not to not philosophers, but you're not 282 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: gonna get crushed by a falling rock. Generally, you're not 283 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: gonna be doing a lot of hard labors where you're Yeah. 284 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: So anyway, one story is that Christmas just drank a 285 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: lot of wine at a feast, grew dizzy and died. Okay, 286 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: that's possible. But then there's another story that after an ass, 287 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: you know, a donkey, had eaten up his figs, he 288 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: cried out to an old woman, Now give the ass 289 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: a drink of pure wine to wash down the figs, 290 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: and then he laughed so heartily that he died. So um, 291 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 1: I just love that. From this period, it seems like 292 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: people are getting their pets in the farm animals drunk 293 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: a lot. Yes, you're thinking, of course of our friend, 294 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: uh Tico, Yeah, well actually who was later on? It's 295 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: still I kind of think that this is an absence 296 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: of any parlor games. You go ahead and get the 297 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: animal off the farm and start having it chugged something. Well, 298 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: it comes back to the duck, right. The whole reason 299 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: they asked the question, what's the most hilarious animal to 300 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: have doing human things and engaging in a human joke. 301 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: The duck is certainly the funniest, but there are other 302 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: funny creatures to how to do human things, and one 303 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: of them is the donkey. A donkey doing anything non 304 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: donkey is pretty hilarious. Likewise, the monkey, uh Like, it's 305 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,440 Speaker 1: interesting if you look, go to a museum. Go to 306 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: a big museum next time, be on the lookout for 307 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: this particular motif, a monkey riding a horse. It's it's 308 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: generated laughter since time out of mind, since we've actually 309 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: ridden horses. Like, the idea that a monkey could do 310 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: it is just somehow instantly hilarious. You can read into 311 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: that way you will. Perhaps it's the the idea that 312 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: a monkey riding a horses is threatening. What if they 313 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: ride they'll be like Planet of the Apes, right, Or 314 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: maybe it's just the fact that we look down on 315 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: the monkey as something less than us, and the idea 316 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: that the monkey could do what we do is that 317 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: laughter zone for us. Well, it's like whenever I want 318 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: to make my daughter laugh, I'll just say like, hey, 319 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: do you think that car ahead of us? Do you 320 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,120 Speaker 1: think that a cat's driving it? And then she'll start 321 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: laughing outside But it's wearing a bow tie, and it's 322 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: just because of up to Annie even more. Yeah, yeah, 323 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: the layers of ridiculousness, goats, cats, poppy, I mean, all 324 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 1: fair game for for laughter by by far anyway. So Chrysippus, 325 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: who knows there are two stories there. Certainly if he 326 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: was seventy three, I could imagine it's possible that he 327 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: died by laughter. It's you might have had, you know, again, 328 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: an underlying heart condition. There another guy of note from 329 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: the old world, well not as old world. We have 330 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: a man by the name of Martin of Aragon. Martin 331 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: was the King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia, Corsica and Count 332 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:49,160 Speaker 1: of Barcelona from and king of Sicily from fourteen o nine, 333 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: and he died in fourteen ten. Okay, so what happened here? 334 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: The accounts say that he died due to a kind 335 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: of a mixture of serious indigestion and laughter. Now he 336 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: was only fifty six. And I think one possibility here 337 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: is that I was reading a little bit about heart attacks. 338 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: And you do have this situation where someone someone has only, say, 339 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: seen a heart attack on television. What do they think 340 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:17,680 Speaker 1: of They think of Fred Sandford having the big one, 341 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 1: these Hollywood heart attacks. But in reality you can sometimes 342 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: have a heart attack, experience a heart attack, and you 343 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: might conceivably pass it off as innigestion because it's not 344 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: this Hollywood Fred Sanford stumbling around the room kind of situation. 345 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: So it seems to me, and I'm no, you know, 346 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: I'm not weighing in as an expert here, but it 347 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: seems to me it's it's likely that he may have 348 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: had a heart attack while laughing, and that's what killed. 349 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: Are you wearing that lab coat and saying that at 350 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: the same time, I totally believe you. That's why you 351 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,639 Speaker 1: need to look expert. Yeah, um, yeah, it's very very possible. 352 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: And again this this is a sort of theme we 353 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: see when we look at more modern cases of and 354 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,360 Speaker 1: who know. Again, anytime you're looking at a two possible 355 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: ways of person died, like ultimately, like, no one wants 356 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: to die laughing, but you gotta admit it sounds like 357 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: a good way to go. Like, if you got to 358 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: go out some way in it's little stressful, it might 359 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: as well be dying laughing. Yeah, there are many many 360 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: other ways that I wouldn't want to go out. So 361 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,560 Speaker 1: you could see that where certainly centuries or millennia after 362 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: someone has died, the story might get shifted into a 363 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: happy year. Oh he was a stoic, but he died laughing. 364 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: It's just a great story, you know, which brings us 365 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 1: to more modern times. There have been a few instances, 366 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:30,439 Speaker 1: but the most interesting one, the one that has been 367 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,880 Speaker 1: more closely studied certainly has become part of comedy lore, 368 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: has to do with the older show called The Goodies, 369 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: which I was not familiar with this. Were you familiar 370 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,800 Speaker 1: with the Goodies? No? But just the entire situation and 371 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: what this person was laughing at I couldn't help yeah, 372 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: but be tickled by. I mean, it's unfortunate for the 373 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: person who passed away from laughter at this. But we're 374 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 1: talking about this good the Goodies, which is a TV show, 375 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,680 Speaker 1: and uh, we're talking about nineteen right, fifty year old 376 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: brick player Alex Mitchell in England. He actually kicked the 377 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,160 Speaker 1: bucket while roaring with laughter at one of these shows Goodies. 378 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: And do you want to describe this? Oh the sketches, 379 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: because okay, so The Goodies is basically three dudes, um 380 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: one or more of them went to college with the 381 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: guys in Monty Python, so they kind of shared a 382 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: similar love of the absurd, and it's certainly absurd to watch. Again. 383 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 1: I've never seen any of this and I don't have 384 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 1: any nostalgia for it. So if you're a big fan 385 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: of the goodies out there right in, I'd love to 386 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 1: hear your take on it. But this particular sketch that 387 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: arguably killed Alex Mitchell was a kung Fu caper sketch. Uh. 388 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: And this is a nineteen seventy five kung fu is 389 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: big and everyone's excited about it and doing songs and whatnot. 390 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: In this surreal sketch, you have a man from Lancashire 391 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: battling via kung fu Scottish bagpipers. There's a man in 392 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: black face as an American boxer. There's a mime like 393 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: a French mine. There's an Australian with a boomerang. So 394 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,159 Speaker 1: it's like a battle like a kung Fu battle of 395 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,919 Speaker 1: weird kind of distasteful stereotypes. I mean, well, isn't there 396 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: there's putting involved? Right? This is I think the pudding 397 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: is what I was like, what what is going on? 398 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: The Lancashire mode of martial arts and this is called 399 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: ikey thump and it involves palting opponents with black pudding. Okay, 400 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:30,040 Speaker 1: so the white stripes, which I can only assume there's 401 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: some sort of correlation here. There's some sort of nutty 402 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: white stripes. Okay, So yeah, this guy is watching this. Yeah, 403 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: and you know, unfortunately, after twenty five minutes of laughing, 404 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: he actually, according to his wife, gave a tremendous belly 405 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: laugh and then keeled over. Yes, um, yeah, what a 406 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: way to go. And it wasn't just that he was 407 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: laughing so very hard that he expired, you know, from 408 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 1: a heart attack. It was actually that he had an 409 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: unusual inheritable heart rhythm disorder called long QT syndrome. Yeah 410 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,440 Speaker 1: Qt like the gas station, yes, quick trip. And this 411 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: actually again keep showing up again and again that there's 412 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: some sort of underlying heart condition. And I did want 413 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: to mention the Danish audiologist. Have you heard about this guy? 414 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: He died laughing in nine while watching a fish called Wanda. 415 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: That now that I can I can get because there's 416 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: some death and again the python element, I know, see 417 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 1: it is dangerous. Right. When the film was shown in 418 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: theaters in Denmark, Ole Benson, the audiologist, laughed himself to 419 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: death during this scene where Ken gets chips stuck up 420 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: his nose or rather, um, I can't remember the Auto character, Yeah, 421 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: Kevin Klein's character. I think it is Auto sticks French 422 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,439 Speaker 1: fries also called chips right up his nose. So Benson 423 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: is watching this, His heart rate went between two hundred 424 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: and fifty five hundred beats per minute, and he eventually 425 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: succumbed to cardiac arrest, and his family theorizes that the 426 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: scene reminded him of a thing only dinner a few 427 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 1: years earlier, when Old put a piece of cauliflower up 428 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: his and everyone uh in his family's noses as a 429 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: joke and made a bet with them on who could 430 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,239 Speaker 1: eat up their carrots without cauliflower falling out. So they 431 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,360 Speaker 1: think that the scene with Ken and the chips really 432 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: sort of insited this crazy laughter because he was remembering 433 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: his own scene. Yeah, it's very sad, I gotta say, 434 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: But Fish Called Wanted is a very very funny movie. Yeah, 435 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 1: but in this case Mitchell QT syndrome. Cardiac arrests triggered 436 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: by exertion, adrenaline, or a strong emotional response didn't always 437 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: shut down the person entirely. Sometimes the heart resets itself 438 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: after five or six beats. But they figured that this 439 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,119 Speaker 1: was what was the heart of it when they diagnosed 440 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: his daughter with it, and it's an hereditary condition. So 441 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,399 Speaker 1: the doctors at that point said, well, this, this is 442 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,719 Speaker 1: clearly the leading candidate for how this goody sketch did 443 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: him in. And you know, we were talking about it 444 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: being a good way to die, as good as any 445 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 1: of them are, and certainly his his wife, his his widow, 446 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,920 Speaker 1: she continues to have a rather positive viewing of this, 447 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 1: Like she actually wrote the guys in the Goodies and said, hey, my, my, 448 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: my husband. He was always a huge fan and he 449 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: died laughing at your show. And you know this is 450 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,920 Speaker 1: before we became a very litigious society. I have to 451 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: say this nineteen I don't know that if the same 452 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: thing would happen today. There's another person too that we 453 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: have an example of this is the ice cream truck 454 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: driver in Thailand. He actually died in his sleep, laughing, 455 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: and his wife said that she tried to wake him up, 456 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,440 Speaker 1: but he kept laughing, and then autopsy suggested that he 457 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: might have had a heart attack. So not only dying 458 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: in your sleep, but you're dying while you're you know, 459 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: presumably having a really funny dream. Yes, and then we 460 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: also should mention laughter induced asthma. This is not really 461 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: a strong candidate for killing anyone. Laughter induced asthma. More 462 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 1: than half of people with asthma report that their symptoms 463 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: are brought on by laughter. This according to a two 464 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: thousand five from n YU Medical Center in New York. 465 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: Asthma that's triggered by laughter usually doesn't seem to cause 466 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: serious asthma flare ups compared to other types of asthma. 467 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: But the study did suggest that laughter induced asthma maybe 468 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,199 Speaker 1: a sign that your asthma isn't as well controlled as 469 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,000 Speaker 1: it could be. So it's more of a more of 470 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: a warning sign that you you need to adjust your 471 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: management of your asthma than anything else. Before we get 472 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 1: into pathological laughter, I want to mention one more thing 473 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: that can contribute to not lethal laughter, but certainly an 474 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: issue where laughter shuts down the body and interesting ways, 475 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: and that is a cataplexy. This involves a sudden loss 476 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: of voluntary muscle tone that may be triggered by strong emotions. 477 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: That's often a symptom of narcolepsy, which is a chronic 478 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,600 Speaker 1: disorder of the central nervous system characterized by the brains 479 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: and ability to control your your sleep wake cycles. It 480 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,400 Speaker 1: can occur spontaneously, but is often triggered by against sudden 481 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: strong emotions such as fear, anger, stress, excitement, or humor. 482 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: So laughter is reportedly the most common cause of this. 483 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: And if this is ring any bells for anyone out there, 484 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,479 Speaker 1: there was an episode of This American Life a few 485 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: years back about a neuroscientist by the name of Matt 486 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:11,639 Speaker 1: Frecking who suffers from cataplexy attacks when he's happy. So 487 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 1: it was a real one of these really down er, 488 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,119 Speaker 1: somber episodes of This American Life because he's a happily 489 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:22,199 Speaker 1: married man but he has to limit his joy because 490 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: his body shuts down when he experiences too much happiness 491 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: in his life. That's just awful, it is. It's a 492 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: great episode. So look that one up. Just look up 493 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: Matt threking F R E K I N G and 494 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: This American Life and you'll find that episode. Well, I mean, 495 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: you know, because we're all seeking joy and happiness all 496 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: the time, right to think that you'd have to actually 497 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: tamp that down. Yeah, it's like he's uh, you know, 498 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,440 Speaker 1: in a way, it's like enforced Buddhism in a kind 499 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: of interested manner, you know about trying to steer yourself 500 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: clear of extremes. But yeah, it's that's rough, all right. Um, 501 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: you had mentioned pathological laughter. Now, this, according to the 502 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: Mayo Clinic, is laughter that can stem from a variety 503 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 1: of neurological disorders, and it can make it extremely difficult, 504 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,959 Speaker 1: sometimes impossible for individuals to control their laughter, even if 505 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: they see no humor in a situation. And in some cases, 506 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: this pathological laughing can switch to pathological crying and the 507 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: person cannot do anything about it. And that's that's the 508 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: thing about this is again there's the context maybe completely 509 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,400 Speaker 1: like you could be in a job interview and begin 510 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,680 Speaker 1: this pathological laughing or crying. It seems to occur most 511 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:37,159 Speaker 1: frequently among people with something called amniotrophic lateral sclerosis, and 512 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: this is a disease of cerebral and spinal nerve cells. 513 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: And then almost half of these patients have these PLC symptoms, 514 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:49,159 Speaker 1: So they're not exactly sure what is the mechanism that 515 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: is creating this sort of disorder, but uh, you know, 516 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: they're looking more into it. Yeah, PLC pathological laughter and crying, 517 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: and that the take come here is that it's a 518 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: disturbance of feeling rather than a disturbance of emotions. So 519 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: it's not that you know, so if you know anyone 520 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,520 Speaker 1: or encounter anyone that has this, it's not that they're 521 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,680 Speaker 1: setting there thinking, oh my god, funerals are hilarious. No, 522 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: it's this that like they're feeling the authentic emotions, are 523 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: feeling what they should feel in the scenario, and what 524 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: comes out that's where the disconnect happens. Now, there is 525 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: this idea that, um, it could be a serotonin imbalance, 526 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: and they think that because researchers have had some positive 527 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: results with antidepressants like the selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors. 528 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: So again they're still looking into this, but um, they 529 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: don't know a whole lot yet. In a lot of 530 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: these conditions to it comes down to lesions and tumors 531 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: that are disinhibiting laughter and crying centers of the brain. 532 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: They're basically altering the neural network necessary for what we 533 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:51,320 Speaker 1: think of is normal responses situations. Yeah, I remember one 534 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: article that you had sent me that it was about 535 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: a two year old who had a lesion and at 536 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: the time the mother didn't know it. She just like 537 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: even the two year old was laughing hysterically out of context, 538 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,200 Speaker 1: and they finally figured out. Now I believe they operated 539 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: and the child was okay. But yeah, I can definitely 540 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:11,080 Speaker 1: disturb what seems to be your personality. Yeah, there's a 541 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 1: really interesting YouTube video that I'll definitely embed on the 542 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: blog post accompanying this website. The number of you may 543 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: have seen, there's a Dutch interview and on the YouTube 544 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: you can you can click a little tab that will 545 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: actually bring up subtitles for it, so it's not just 546 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: people in another language, you know, doing a thing. But 547 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: there was a dutchman by the name of hoog Boss 548 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,800 Speaker 1: and the whole thing is an interview with him and 549 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: his wife, and the whole time he's laughing hysterically. Um, 550 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: and this being the first time you see him, Like 551 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,920 Speaker 1: you you know, we've talked about how laughter is contagious, 552 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: so you see this man just laughing his head off, 553 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: and you're like, this guy's hilarious, he's fun. He's look 554 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: at him. He's clutching like an Ernie doll at one point. 555 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: But his wife is sitting there the whole time just 556 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: is done with She is over it. She has the 557 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: most sour look on her face. And you're right at 558 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: the beginning, you're like, oh, man, he's he's great, he's warm, 559 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: he's funny. Why he's your husband, and he's laughing all 560 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 1: the time, But so what? And then a couple of 561 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: minutes into it, you realize how frustrating it must be 562 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: for her because he laughs all the time. His response 563 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 1: to everything is laughter, except when he hears the national 564 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: anthem and then yeah, when he hears Holland's national national anthem. 565 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: But now this is what I don't think they actually 566 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: got to the absolute bottom of. But they suspect that 567 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: this occurred because he had an operation and they think 568 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 1: that the anesthesia may have altered, you know, neurologically the 569 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: way that he his laughter response is coming in and 570 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: because you know, his wife says, this didn't happen before 571 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 1: the operation, and again it is it is hilarious to watch, 572 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 1: but it's also kind of sad too, because he doesn't 573 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: really give a straight answer. You know, he talks, but 574 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,160 Speaker 1: you can't really tell if he's just trying to tamp 575 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: down his own laughter or perhaps there's something else going 576 00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:59,480 Speaker 1: on there right now. And again, this is a situation 577 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: or someone who's laughing at at everything except in the 578 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: national anthem. But there is an interesting study you came across, 579 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: the Seinfeld study. An individual that is reacting with hysterical 580 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: pathological laughter but only to a particular thing or a 581 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: particular a very narrow segment of comedy. Yeah, it's called 582 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 1: the Seinfeld syncope. And it's basically a fainting episode through laughter. 583 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 1: And it was called the Seinfeld sincope because there have 584 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,160 Speaker 1: been a couple of instances where people were watching Seinfeld 585 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: and know only Seinfeld and laughing to such a degree 586 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 1: that they began to faint. But what is going on 587 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 1: here is that the show is actually revealing that there's 588 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: a potentially serious problem in the person. The one guy 589 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: who was sixty two years old, he had a history 590 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: of hypertension, hyper cholesterol, lemmia, he had a coronary bypass, 591 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 1: and he was a smoker, and although he received enough 592 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,320 Speaker 1: blood to the brain when he was calm, when he 593 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: laughed hysterically, he experienced a normal physiological phenomenon called the 594 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: Valsalva maneuver. Now, when this happens, you get forced expiration 595 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: against a closed airway, resulting in increased pressure in the 596 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: chest that affects the heart output inside, like the yoga 597 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: breath where you like, uh, school breath. Is that we're 598 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: talking about um breath of fire? Yeah, maybe in a 599 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: way that I don't know if it's the exact same thing. 600 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: But in the other yes, is the kin to it 601 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,760 Speaker 1: and that is causing this pressure. And because he had 602 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 1: blocked arteries coming off of the Aorita, this Valsavia maneuver 603 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 1: reduced the blifflow to his brain in and caused him 604 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: to faint. Now what he was watching specifically was the 605 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: character of George Costanza, by the way, Yeah, I found 606 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,080 Speaker 1: that that. I mean, that was what was so interesting 607 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: that it was. It was not just only Seinfeldt, but 608 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: it was like one character on Seinfeldt that was really 609 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 1: causing this for him. And I could see if it 610 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: was the Marine Biologist episode, because I really like that boy. 611 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 1: Well he was pretending to be a marine and then 612 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:00,840 Speaker 1: the whale washed up. You know, always fun to see 613 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: George unmasked. But I don't know who knows which one 614 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: it was. But again, not so much that Seinfeld un 615 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: Seinfeld was funny, but but not so much that there 616 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: was something about seinfeld that was that was impacting people's health, 617 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: but the individuals had something askew in their own physiology 618 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,800 Speaker 1: that made them susceptible to this attack. And just real quick, 619 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 1: it's worth noting that you also see things like Angelman 620 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 1: syndrome Tourette syndrome. Both of these carried laughters of symptom. 621 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,440 Speaker 1: You often see patholytical laughter occurring as a symptom. So 622 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: it's not, oh, well, that person's laughs all the time. 623 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: It's no, that person laughs all the time. Let's get 624 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 1: to the bottom of it. So Tourette syndrome is a 625 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: neurobiological disorder that causes the combination of ticks and involuntary 626 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: vocal outbursts. This is we could do a whole podcast 627 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:46,440 Speaker 1: on Tourette's. But this is one that is often misrepresented 628 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 1: to a large extent, and this is certainly in comedy. 629 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: It's people come back to and use it as a 630 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,920 Speaker 1: as part of a comedy act, which is someone shouting obscenities. 631 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,120 Speaker 1: But that's a rather simplistic look at what that condition 632 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 1: actually is. And then Angelman syndrome is a rare chromosome, 633 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 1: a disorder that affects the nervous system. So people with 634 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: this condition usually can't speak and display a quote happy, 635 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: excitable demeanor with frequent smiling and laughter. M okay, So 636 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: there you have it, death by laughter, the possibility of 637 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:17,880 Speaker 1: death by laughter. I guess the will take home here 638 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 1: is that you probably could not craft a joke so 639 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:26,720 Speaker 1: funny that it would You would have difficulty even crafting 640 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,400 Speaker 1: a joke to target a particular individual, like an assassin's 641 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,040 Speaker 1: bullet of a joke, like if you wanted to take 642 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: out us fitting head of state and you put a 643 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 1: lot of research and all right, what do they find funny? 644 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:40,440 Speaker 1: What's there? What's their heart condition? Like? What you know? 645 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 1: How healthy are they? If you put that much work 646 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 1: in it, you could perhaps incapacitate them a little bit, maybe, 647 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: but it would be very difficult to actually craft the 648 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:50,719 Speaker 1: killing joke. Yeah, it would be very very hard. Now 649 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: do you remember in the Monty Python's get about the 650 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,240 Speaker 1: World's myth dangerous joke, the killing joke, what the Germans 651 00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,759 Speaker 1: tried to craft In response, No, I don't, and they 652 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 1: over the radio there were sweet peanuts fucking down Distrasse 653 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: and Vaughan Vos assaulted peanut. It is really funny, it's 654 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,320 Speaker 1: a pretty good, like it's funny watching the reaction that 655 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,560 Speaker 1: people who are listening to it over the radio because 656 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: they're just they're just their faces are blank. And but 657 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:24,959 Speaker 1: it is absurd. Is that sketches. It really does drive 658 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,320 Speaker 1: home the how the absurdity like humor is one of 659 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: those things that doesn't necessarily cross to other languages all 660 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 1: that well. I often feel like British humor I totally get. 661 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,239 Speaker 1: I share the language with it. If I turn on 662 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:38,719 Speaker 1: the Spanish TV network and I happened to catch some 663 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:41,400 Speaker 1: of that. Sometimes I'll see some of the slapstick and 664 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: it's making sense. But then I seem to have like 665 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: a real disconnect with Japanese humor, Like I love a 666 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 1: lot of media that comes this way from Japan, but 667 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 1: but when I encounter humor it often I often feel like, wow, 668 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 1: this is not speaking to me, Like my I don't 669 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,320 Speaker 1: have the right cultural wavelengths set. What about do you 670 00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: think there's a French humor? Oh yeah, yeah, okay, tell 671 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: me tell me about what you think the French humor is. Well, 672 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: I mean the stereotype, of course, is the French love 673 00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:10,560 Speaker 1: Jerry Lewis. Yeah, but that's an American I mean certainly 674 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,000 Speaker 1: have like the roots of of mime and uh, and 675 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,400 Speaker 1: you have puppetry is of course big street puppetry. To 676 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,920 Speaker 1: see some it's not punching Judy in France, they have 677 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: another name. But I have seen some some French puppetry 678 00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:24,759 Speaker 1: in that vein and it's it's hilarious. But I don't know. 679 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,600 Speaker 1: I think if we look close enough, we'd find that 680 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,880 Speaker 1: even French humor is more diverse than we think. You know, oh, 681 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:31,759 Speaker 1: I'm sure, I'm sure. I'm just thinking that's not really 682 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,800 Speaker 1: known as as a big export for France, so just 683 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:38,719 Speaker 1: just curious. I tend to think the French this is 684 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 1: just a huge generation. I think they like grotesque looking 685 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,719 Speaker 1: men doing ridiculous things, but I think that probably the 686 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:50,480 Speaker 1: same for most cultures. Yeah, all right, Well that's the 687 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,280 Speaker 1: episode we'd love to hear from you guys and gals 688 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 1: out there. If you have any personal experience with with 689 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,319 Speaker 1: deadly laughter or with any of these conditions that we've 690 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:03,720 Speaker 1: mentioned here, we'd really love to hear some insider insight 691 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: on that and what it's like to live with it, 692 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,360 Speaker 1: or if you just have thoughts in general about laughter. 693 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 1: Responding to this episode or our previous episode about the 694 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:12,360 Speaker 1: healing power of laughter. We've kind of given you the 695 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: the yen and the yang here looking at laughter. Is 696 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:20,040 Speaker 1: this this physiological um mental event that in the right 697 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:23,200 Speaker 1: or wrong situations, can go either way? So reach out 698 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:25,000 Speaker 1: to us. You can find us on Facebook, where we 699 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:26,759 Speaker 1: are Stuff to Blow Your Mind. We're also stuff to 700 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,640 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind on Tumblr, and you can follow us 701 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,320 Speaker 1: on Twitter under the handle blow the Mind. And you 702 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:34,560 Speaker 1: can also drop us a line at blow the Mind 703 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 1: at Discovery dot com for more on this and thousands 704 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:46,080 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is it how Stuff Works dot com 705 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:53,520 Speaker 1: brought to you by the two thousand twelve Toyota Camera. 706 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:55,000 Speaker 1: It's ready, are you