Why We Laugh at the Most Inappropriate Times
And why sometimes we just can’t stop
The Crown Court, 2014
As the trial reached a critical moment, I ducked down, giggling, behind the man in front of me. I was failing to hide my laughter from the packed court, managing to keep my head low, but not the volume. The people who sat with me were holding back giggles too, but because laughter is contagious, they couldn’t hold it in either. The judge couldn’t help but notice us – the giggling jury – bouncing around on the benches. Hearing adjourned.
At the trial of the attacker of a man beaten to death with a rowing oar, there I was, with several others, unable to stop laughing.
One of the barristers, an old and incredibly well-spoken man, had made a joke that I’d misunderstood, and heard it in an incredibly inappropriate and shockingly dirty way. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen or heard.
But after a while, I wasn’t laughing at the joke. I was laughing because I couldn’t stop laughing. I was laughing because I was nervous about everyone in the court knowing I was laughing. And because every time I got it under control, another juror would let off a snigger for the same reason as me, and I’d be set off all over again.
