Talk:Death from laughter

Infinite Jest
I don't think that Infinite Jest (the film) is fatal hilarity. It is fatal comfort that kills - there are hints throughout Infinte Jest (the book) that the film consists mostly of shots from the point of view of the crib while the mother figure repeats over and over again that she is sorry. Furthermore, in another passage, it is learned that the director was working a special lens apparatus (and also specially ground lenses) that simulated the eyesight of an infant. The whole point is to regress the viewer to an infantile state of bliss, which turns out to be so overwhelming that those who view it want nothing more to keep viewing it.
 * Yeah, Infinite Jest never explicitly refers to the film as causing uncontrollable laughter. It was more of a magic, surreal quality. ˉˉanetode╦╩ 01:59, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Article?
This doesn't seem so much an article as it does a list. Perhaps it would be better if it were formatted as such? Gershwinrb 10:58, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Historical death
I read in a book....I think it was caled miscellaney or something....That one king died laughing when he found out that italy was independant or something.....Not sure though.199.224.81.132 17:01, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
 * I added the incident mentioned in Schott's Original Miscellany. Thanks for the lead.--Stoa 20:28, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

About the death of Aretino, there's this curious history: http://www.trivia-library.com/a/famous-painters-and-paintings-titian-venus-of-urbino.htm - Is that true? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cesarakg (talk • contribs) 21:00, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Wow
I suggest we get some medical sources here? Anyone care to elaborate on how exactly this happens? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xvall (talk • contribs) 20:51, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Zeuxis is said to have laughed himself to death
Zeuxis, the famous painter of Ephesus in the 5th century BC, is commonly said to have laughed to death at one of his own paintings of an old woman—(indeed, I just checked, and the Wiki article on him says as much). If someone kind find a source, I think it would be worth adding. I'll go ahead and add it.

Remington Steele
There was one episode of Remington Steele where a person is murdered by laughing so hard they suffocated. In fact, it was the only episode of Remington Steele that I ever watched. Can't remember the episode though. Worth adding if anyone can remember it. Kevin 03:07, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

Too much trivia, not enough science
Can anybody provide details of the pathology of fatal hilarity. How do people actually die? Kransky 13:29, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Agreed. If you read the article it's evident the result is either asphyxiation or heart failure, but how either of these are reached is not explained. Asphyxiation I can easily see - I've had to remove myself from situations because, after laughing for a few minutes straight and finding myself unable to stop, I can no longer breathe and my chest starts to hurt. But heart failure... eh? Explanation would be nice. Torca 08:01, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

List of works that can be used as references
This will be quite difficult - I searched on two databases, GBooks, and a general Google search on "fatal hilarity", "fatal laughter", and "fatal mirth"; it turned up nothing of any medical or scientific value. Does anyone else have better luck? Nousernamesleft (talk) 22:39, 19 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Aha! - I'm unsure if it's reliable, however. Nousernamesleft (talk) 22:40, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * And and . Reliability questionable. Nousernamesleft (talk) 22:42, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Yet another . A book would be nice. I, however, can't find any of the books mentioned in the article. Nousernamesleft (talk) 22:44, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Also . Interesting: - only somewhat related, but perhaps it should be mentioned? It's already in the "see also" section. Searching "death from laughter" may generate some results. Nousernamesleft (talk) 23:13, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * It appears that there's sufficient basis to justify this phrase being used by journalists and historians, not doctors or scientists. This severely limits our scope of coverage and trivializes the validity of the pathology section (the section could be dismissed as original research). ˉˉanetode╦╩ 09:09, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

Legitimacy of article
"Fatal hilarity" isn't used in medical literature and would technically qualify only as a contributing factor, no doctor would ever use the phrase when describing the cause of death. The physiological complications of laughter are currently unreferenced and need to be reviewed by an editor with medical expertise. This whole article may have to be overhauled to better distinguish the curious phraseology from any medical analysis. Even then, we have little more than pathology and several lists. ˉˉanetode╦╩ 09:03, 20 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Apparently so, but source? Nousernamesleft (talk) 17:20, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't have access to any medical databases. Reading over a few abstracts from PubMed, it seems that laughter has actually been studied for its potential to improve chronic obstructive lung disease, so the first pathology described in the article is on very shaky ground. Then there's this utterly uninformative curiosity. I'm beginning to doubt the necessity of making this article about anything other than an urban myth backed up by archaic anecdotes. ˉˉanetode╦╩ 05:34, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
 * That was my first impression as well, actually - I suspect that it'll be very difficult, if possible, to pin down a source which actually explains what fatal hilarity is, which will be necessary as an introduction before mentioning notable cases. It can still make FA, though, I'm sure - it'll just be very difficult. Nousernamesleft (talk) 22:41, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Syncope vs. cataplexy
There seems to be some confusion about the use of the terms "syncope" and "cataplexy". With syncope, there is loss of consciousness. With cataplexy, there is no loss of consciousness. Cataplexy is often induced by strong emotions, including laughter, and is a feature of narcolepsy. Axl (talk) 17:37, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

Pathophysiology section.
Whilst I appreciate that in the pathophysiology section every technical term links to an article, nonetheless this article ought to be readable in its own right by the intelligent layman. Well, I'm an academic with no particular knowledge of medicine, and consider myself - outside of my own field - to be a pretty fair example of the intelligent layman, and without following the links, this section is meaningless to me. An encyclopaedia is not the same as a technical reference for those in the field, and the articles need to be more accessible than this. I'd love to contribute, but lack the knowledge, so I'm simply suggesting that the article would benefit from being made more approachable. --Che Gannarelli (talk) 21:14, 3 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree with the points made by this commentator. I'd add that the sentence 'Death may result from several pathologies that deviate from benign laughter' does not seem to make sense. Does the author mean 'derive from benign laughter'? Grobblakk (talk) 19:14, 3 February 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree with the first comment but not the second. The first sentence makes sense and should be left as is. Boneyard90 (talk) 09:54, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

I really don't think this is true. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.156.147.124 (talk) 19:58, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Unnecessary "Fact" citations
The page has several unnecessary Fact citations, namely the Batman and Who Framed Roger Rabbit entries. These are common facts that are evident from seeing the material or reading the Wikipedia articles on the subject. They are unsuitable for reference, though if you feel a reference needs to be added, a simple link to IMDB would suffice, though it'd be a pointless reference. Do not undo edits regarding this without first commenting on the talk page, and if you feel that these need fact citations, give them references rather than simply re-adding the fact templates. Kevin (talk) 22:41, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Citations are always necessary. In particular, You have to prove that laughing gas constitutes fatal hilarity. Please don't remove tags which require following the most basic wikipedia policies. - 7-bubёn >t 23:09, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Also the very definition in the article is still unreferenced. Is death because of tickling constitutes fatal hilarity? There is nothing hilarious in torture by tickling. - 7-bubёn >t 23:12, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Original research
There is as many as whooping 7 google books hits for the term. Google scholar fares even worse. Hits from web (if exclude wikipedia & obvcious copycats) did not meke me immediately wiser. While death from laughing is a known phenomenon, the term is clearly not. The article is original synthesis to promote a particular term. I suggest to move it to the descriptive title, Death from laughter, because I cannot even find a decent definition of "fatal hilarity". The word "hilarity" means death of something funny, not from any laughter. There are at quite a few types of laughter which are not funny. - 7-bubёn >t 00:05, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Wouldn't the proper terminology by death *by* laughter? - GAMEchief (talk) 17:11, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * No. "Kill *by" laughter", "inflict death *by* laughter", but "died from bullet", "died of cancer", "death from ".  - Altenmann >t 19:15, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, but death and died are two different parts of speech. While I would say "died from cancer," I would also say "death by cancer." http://www.google.com/search?q=%22death+by%22 GAMEchief (talk) 15:56, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

A citation
Following the pop culture "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" reference, someone has appended a "citation needed." Would not the movie itself be the citation? Why would you need a link to somewhere that tells what's in the movie? - GAMEchief (talk) 17:13, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I cleaned the phrase in question of various opinions, so that it indeed may be referenced from film. - Altenmann >t 19:08, 1 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I came here because I felt it was missing a reference to the movie, and it seems someone removed it from the article. I think it is relevant.  When I think about the expression, that movie come to mind easily and I am not the only one.  It should probably be re-added into the "In the fictional deaths attributed to laughter" section. --MickoZ (talk) 06:55, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

Nanda Bayin
In this article it is said that:
 * It is cited that the 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."

That's in direct contradiction to the information in the Nanda Bayin article:
 * The abdicated king had survived for another year before being assassinated by Natshinnaung in 1600.

I'm guessing the latter is correct, but can someone look this over and confirm? Then I can replace the wrong bit of information in the appropriate place. Crusoe704 (talk) 20:56, 27 February 2010 (UTC)
 * Nanda choked with laughter. Not died. Here is the direct quote from History of Burma by GE Harvey (1925): "Nandabayin choked with laughter on hearing from Gasparo Balbi, a merchant who came to Burma on business, that Venice was a free state without a king; the idea was so unintelligible as to be comic." Hybernator (talk) 20:07, 19 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Wouldn't that mean he didn't die from laughter, and would not belong on this page? I'm removing him for now. El sjaako (talk) 10:21, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the catch. I'd removed Nanda Bayin from the list but someone apparently re-added it without first checking the discussion. Nanda Bayin didn't die from laughter; rather he was assassinated. Hybernator (talk) 21:00, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Similar to this guy, that crashed his car, because he chocked with laughter! http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/driver-died-after-suffering-laughing-fit-at-wheel-of-his-mercedes-inquest-hears/ar-BBoj4yz — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.208.181.44 (talk) 18:44, 17 January 2016 (UTC)

Olle i Skratthult
I saw a documentary about comedians from Munkfors (Olle i Skratthult, Fridolf Rhudin and Bosse Parnevik) and in that they claimed a man laughed to death after a Olle i Skratthult revue. Apparently it was not while watching it, but out in the street when he recalled a funny joke. I don't know how reliable it is since Bosse Parnevik wasn't from Munkfors (he was born in Gothenburg and moved to Munkfors when he was two years old). // Liftarn (talk) 20:44, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

So comical
Is it wrong that I nearly laughed throughout this whole article? The funniest part was with the drunk donkey that tried to eat figs, when reading that you can imagine the poor Greek laughing his buttocks off, collapsing and finally dying from an overdose of hilarity. I think that in itself is comedy gold. The fact that it is even physically possible to die from laughing is so ridiculous and hilarious. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.228.127.175 (talk) 10:26, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Be wary of poetic irony. But I suppose it's a little funny, the notion that is. 95.109.102.252 (talk) 02:38, 17 November 2012 (UTC)


 * You are not alone! No harm in laughing a bit (I guess)! Lyrono (talk) 22:24, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Near fatality during live podcast recording
During the live broadcast/recording of the Trick or Treat Radio podcast one of the hosts MonsterZero seems to pass out from laughing. Episode 227, Time stamp 1:50:30 Episode 227/ Youtube Link.

It has become a long running joke on the show and also to reference MonsterZero's poor health and Art Bradish's. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tim Chuma Melbourne (talk • contribs) 18:56, 9 January 2019 (UTC)

Move the list of "real" deaths to this page. Possibly remove fictional deaths.
Right now, the page consists of two dubious paragraphs about cause and effect, a link to a list of supposedly-real deaths, and an embedded list of completely fictional deaths. There's no reason to embed a list of fictional deaths in an article about a supposedly-real phenomenon, and there's certainly no reason to have the list of supposedly-real deaths on a different page, especially when it's shorter than the list of fictional deaths.

I would probably remove all the fictional entries except the one from Greek mythology. A story that old could be historically significant and is likely worth mentioning in passing. Otherwise, it's just a random list of fictional stories that's better suited for a TV Tropes article than Wikipedia. At the very least, moving the real deaths to this page would give the page more credibility. 199.127.114.114 (talk) 05:48, 27 January 2020 (UTC)


 * I agree the article should be rewritten, so far it's only a compilation of stories with no real study on the phenomenon linking the hypothesized cause (laughing) to the consequence (dying). Rather, it seems that it was an unfortunate coincidence. I already propose to rewrite the intro to write that it is a "hypothesized" extremely rare medical condition. We could also make an article with stories about people dying while eating apples, but stories aren't enough to make it a medical condition. Regards. --Lyrono (talk) 22:27, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

mfw
mfw another person says "Among Us" for the 148512354781694201337149871593th time Lallint (talk) 14:51, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

"atonia" - link is broken, and word meaning?
So where the article says "Laughter can cause atonia and collapse" there is a link that leads to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_medicine#Atony, but that is not a recognised 'anchor' on the page.

I'm guessing it's meant to refer to "some sort of disease related to muscle tone", but it doesn't seem to be a well-used phrase just from searching (I am not a medicine guy), and none of the citations seem relevant to that phrase. Which seems odd. Danack (talk) 20:44, 11 April 2024 (UTC)


 * I fixed the link for you. It's the absence of tone, e.g., a totally relaxed muscle. WhatamIdoing (talk) 02:38, 15 April 2024 (UTC)