At a recent play, I was told to laugh at all the funny parts. I did as I was told, rather well if I may say so. However, I felt that all the eyes in the audience rolled as I struggled to contain myself when certain euphemistic lyrics were sung in the musical. My laugh is both piercing and jolly, interruptive and welcoming, and always resulting in stares and eye rolls.
I have found that one of the best ways to portray yourself is through your laugh. Your laugh is a portrait of who you are in its purest form. For those few blissful seconds when the air rushes out of your lungs resulting in fits of laughter, the walls holding back your true personality crumble releasing your true identity. What I can't stand is when someone had a quiet giggle to themselves. While I'm sure it is being nice and polite, I believe that a laugh should be thunderous and cause others to stare at you with bewilderment. In fact, I suppose that is how I tend to live my life. Never crossing the line of what I believe to be obnoxious, rather just toe-ing the line enough to provoke a response.
I love hearing a domino effect of laughter. After all, laughter is quite infectious. The gradual build up of sharp pangs of cackles is music to my ears as I sit back and bask in the carefree attitude of the group. That's what laughter is really about to me, yes it is about enjoying yourself, but I think the real purpose of laughter, in addition to revealing a true personality, is to promote a carefree attitude. Those fleeting moments of laughter provide a respite from the crushing pressures of our day. Without laughter, our day would just turn into a mundane schtick.
Oh Paul, your laughter is indeed the epitome of what you have described in this post, and I must say, it has a most enjoyable read! Your laugh is infectious and utterly vivacious. You always seem so full of life, but when you laugh, you take that to a whole other level. "Piercing" and "jolly" are two very good adjectives to describe your laughter, and certainly, without it, my life would be much more lacking.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, a great post, and an excellent topic of choice!
I think many people's laughs do reflect their personalities, and I agree with you in that I believe yours does quite well! It was much appreciated from the cast of the musical. Sometimes all it takes for everyone else to get into the mood is a nice carrying laugh. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteA great laugh is a wonderful attribute. Some of my best friends are known for their particular and infectious laughs.
ReplyDelete(Maybe you should start a laughter yoga club at Uni - we all need more laughs, and you'd probably be a great laugh leader. If you don't know about laughter yoga, google it. I've never done it, but I'd love to try it.)
I completely agree, a lot of people's personalities are reflected in there laugh. You can tell if some one is really shy if they laugh quietly etc. It would be interesting if you classified different types of laughs.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I completely agree that laughter can reflect a person's nature, and I always enjoy hearing you laugh. I think "shameless" is a very good way to describe your laugh.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. I love listening to people's laughs, and how unique each and every one is. And some people just have downright funny laughs that you can't help but start laughing yourself. I really liked what you said about the domino effect of laughter. It's actually a very beneficial thing to actors, since we always want to know how the audience is doing with the show. We judge you guys on how much you react :P
ReplyDeleteYour audience was a good one, don't worry, most likely due to your contributions :D
Having you in the audience was both a blessing and a distraction, because though you often started a domino laughter effect, you were also very distracting and I had to avoid eye contact with you the entire time!
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, you're right that people shouldn't hold laughter to themselves. It's like people who try to hold in their sneezes and go "aaaaahhh-mmm!" instead of "aaah-chooo!" I just don't get it! Very laughter-inducing post.
A very enlightening post! The title describes you so well. I can recall your laugh right now, that's how distinctive it is.
ReplyDeleteI also like understated laughs, though, like ones from people who are usually very quiet.
As a witness to the magic your laughter had at this play, I can say that the play wouldn't have been the same without it.
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