Fatal hilarity
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'''Fatal hilarity''' refers to [[death]] resulting from the physiological effects of [[laughter]]. Use of the phrase was first recorded in [[1596]].<ref name="First record">{{cite book |title=The Compact Oxford English Dictionary |author=Oxford: Clarendon Press |year=1993 |id=ISBN 0-19-861258-3}}</ref>
== Pathophysiology ==
Fatal hilarity may result from several pathologies that deviate from benign laughter. These include:
*[[Asphyxiation]] caused by the inability of the [[thoracic diaphragm]] to expand or contract fully. One of the main processes of laughter involves the continuous expansion and contraction of the thoracic diaphragm, bringing in and releasing air into and from lungs. It is possible to overexert and strain this muscle to where it becomes too weak to perform normally. Abnormal lung conditions such as [[asthma]], [[bronchitis]], [[hypersensitivity pneumonitis]], or [[Acute respiratory distress syndrome|Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)]] may contribute to this cause of death.
*[[Heart failure]], [[heart attack]], and [[cardiac arrest]] brought on by [[cardiac arrhythmia]] resulting from excessive laughter. During laughter the [[heart rate]] increases above the normal ranges and may reach dangerous levels that the heart is not accustomed to, straining and damaging it. Abnormal heart conditions such as [[coronary heart disease]], pre-existing [[cardiac arrhythmia]], or [[ischaemic heart disease]] may contribute to this cause of death.
== Historical deaths attributed to fatal hilarity ==
[[Image:Chrysippus of Soli.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[Chrysippus]] reportedly died of laughter.]]
*In the third century [[Before Christ|B.C.]] the [[Greece|Greek]] [[stoic]] philosopher [[Chrysippus]] died of laughter after giving his [[donkey]] wine, then seeing it attempt to feed on [[fig]]s.<ref name="Chrysippus">{{cite book
|title=What a Way to Go, Deaths with a Difference
|author=Peter Bowler and Jonathan Green
|id=ISBN 0-7537-0581-8
}}</ref>
*[[Martin I of Aragon]] died from a lethal combination of [[indigestion]] and uncontrollable laughing in 1410.<ref>[http://www.cc.jyu.fi/mirator/pdf/Morris.pdf Morris.pdf<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*[[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) pg. 59 footnote.</ref>
*It is cited that the [[Bamar|Burmese]] king [[Nanda Bayin]], in [[1599]] "laughed to death when informed, by a visiting Italian merchant, that Venice was a free state without a king."<ref name="Miscellany">{{cite book
|title=Schott's Original Miscellany
|author=Schott, Ben
|location=London | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing
|year=2003
|id=ISBN 0-7475-6320-9
}}</ref>
*In [[1660]], the [[scottish people|Scottish]] aristocrat, [[polymath]] and first translator of [[François Rabelais|Rabelais]] into English, [[Thomas Urquhart]], 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 = 0-714-620-513 | publisher = Routledge | pages = p. 126 | year = 1968}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = The History of Scotish Poetry | publisher = Edmonston & Douglas | year = 1861 | pages = p. 539}}</ref>
*The phenomenon is also recorded in the book ''Crazy History'' where a Celtic [[soothsayer]] was able to predict the hour of his demise. As with the death of [[Calchas]], when the time arrived and the soothsayer found himself still alive, he purportedly laughed hysterically, eventually killing himself through either heart attack or [[asphyxia]]tion.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}
== Modern deaths attributed to fatal hilarity ==
*On [[24 March]] [[1975]], Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from [[King's Lynn]], [[England]], died laughing while watching the [[Kung Fu Kapers]] episode of ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'', featuring a Scotsman in a [[kilt]] battling a vicious [[black pudding]] with his [[bagpipes]]. After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant.<ref name="snopes">{{cite web | url = http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/laughing.asp | title = The Last Laugh's on Him | work = Urban Legends Reference Pages | date = 2007-01-19 | accessdate = 2007-06-23}}</ref>
*In [[1989]], a Danish [[audiologist]], Ole Bentzen, died watching ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]''. His heart was estimated to have beat at between 250 and 500 beats per minute, before he succumbed to [[cardiac arrest]].<ref>[http://www.canongate.net/Lists/Death/9PeopleWhoDiedLaughing 9 People Who Died Laughing - Death - Book of Lists - Canongate Home<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*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. It is believed that he died either of [[heart failure]] or [[asphyxiation]].<ref name="snopes"/>
== References to fatal hilarity in popular fiction ==
{{Cleanup|date=July 2008}}
*In the [[Monty Python]] sketch "[[The Funniest Joke in the World]]", the eponymous joke is so funny that anyone who hears or reads the joke will immediately laugh themselves to death. For this reason, the joke is used against the [[Germany|Germans]] by the [[United Kingdom|British]] during [[World War II]]. It was so lethal, each word of the joke had to be translated by only one translator (two words were able to induce a coma). The words used in the Sketch, whilst sounding German, are in fact [[nonsense]], presumably to prevent translation. The two Python members, [[John Cleese]] and [[Michael Palin]], would star in ''A Fish Called Wanda'', which, as mentioned above, made one of its viewers die laughing.
*[[Al Capp]]'s comic strip ''[[L'il Abner]]'' featured a storyline in which a nefarious comedy writer sought to commit mass murder by broadcasting a joke so funny that listeners would die of laughter. The plot is foiled when the strip's preternaturally dense eponymous main character, tasked with delivering the fatal joke, reads it beforehand and doesn't see the humor, and so substitutes a childish joke.
*The concept was also used in the mixed-[[live action]]/[[animation]] movie ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'', where excessive laughter was shown to be one of two ways for cartoon characters to die (the other possibility was coming in contact with a concoction known as "dip," a mix of various paint thinners). The characters in question are four out of[[List_of_Who_Framed_Roger_Rabbit_characters#Toon_Patrol| five cartoon weasels]] (the villains) laughing themselves to death after a hilarious comedy routine performed by ''[[Eddie Valiant]]'' (the routine included singing, pratfalls etc.). The last one dies after being kicked into a vat of Dip.
*The [[Joker (comics)|Joker]] from [[DC Comics]]' the [[Batman]], uses fatal hilarity as his primary means of murder. However, the laughter (and subsequent "death grin") is derived from the "[[Smilex|Joker Venom]]" toxin the Joker uses on the victim and is probably only a symptom of the poison.
*In the musical ''[[Little Shop of Horrors (musical)|Little Shop of Horrors]]'', a dentist uses the supply of [[nitrous oxide]] intended for his patients on himself, finding it gives him a gleeful high. He dies after a nitrous oxide mask gets stuck on him and the pump breaks. Although he actually asphyxiates from the lack of oxygen, his last words spoken are "Are you satisfied?! I've laughed myself to..." and another character finishes his sentence for him, "...death."
*At the end of the 1964 musical film ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', the character of Mr. Dawes Sr. dies laughing at a joke Mr. Banks tells him after he is fired from the bank.
*''[[Life, the Universe and Everything]]'', the third novel in the ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' series by [[Douglas Adams]], features a character named [[Prak]]. Prak was accidentally given an overdose of truth serum, causing him to recite the entire history of the universe. When he met the book's protagonist, [[Arthur Dent]], some recalled aspect of Arthur's life caused him to laugh for days on end, and eventually die of exhaustion.
*In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "[[Scott Tenorman Must Die]]", [[Kenny McCormick|Kenny]] dies laughing while watching a humiliating video of [[Eric Cartman|Cartman]].
*In [[HRWiki:A Folky Tale|A Folky Tale]], of the [[Homestar Runner]] series, Strong Sad's tale ends with, "they laughed until they passed out for the rest of their lives."
* In the play ''[[The Clean House]]'' by [[Sarah Ruhl]], the character Mathilde says that her parents were the funniest people in Brazil, and eventually died laughing when they discovered the funniest joke in the world. Now Mathilde is trying to find that same joke.
* In 1830, [[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]] wrote a poem entitled "The Height of the Ridiculous," in which his servant laughs uncontrollably for 10 days and nights after reading a particularly funny verse. It is to be assumed that the "wretched man" then expired.
* In the ''[[Drawn Together]]'' episode "[[Alzheimer's That Ends Well]]", [[Princess Clara]]'s talking vagina (the Vajoana, a poke at [[Joan Rivers]]' plastic surgeries) kills a group of old people trying to kill the rest of the housemates by telling jokes and making the seniors laugh to death.
*In the final novel of [[Stephen King]]'s [[Dark Tower Series]], "[[The Dark Tower (2004 novel)|The Dark Tower]]", a character named [[Dandelo]] nearly kills [[Roland The Gunslinger]] by causing him to laugh uncontrollably while sucking his emotions to gain strength.
==See also==
*[[Motif of harmful sensation]]
*[[Kuru (disease)]], also known as "laughing sickness".
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/laughing.asp Snopes.com article]
[[Category:Motif of harmful sensation]]
[[Category:Causes of death]]
[[Category:Laughter]]
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[[he:מוות מרוב צחוק]]
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