I’m working on an author interview for my upcoming blog tour and one of the questions from the insightful Meredith Esparza of Austenesque Reviews is “What makes you laugh?”
I’ll admit to being nonplussed at first. It’s so hard to define in just a few words and it had me thinking for a bit about the different types of laughter. The Elizabeth Bennet in Sufficient Encouragement tells Darcy there are different kinds of compliments and this is the same sort of idea.
So, there’s sad laughter. Such as when I learned there are baby dolls that require real food and they “pee” and parents continually have to buy food and diapers for this doll. And somehow this sells and is so popular that there is a youtube channel dedicated to it.
There’s snarky laughter. I should probably be kinder, but my inner Elizabeth has a lot of repressed snark.
There’s inappropriate laughter. I specialize in that. My brain delights in recalling a funny incident at the worst possible time.
Self-deprecating laughter is another one I specialize in. A word to the wise, speech recognition software will give you Shirley instead of surely.
But my favorite kind of laughter is joy.
Today my kids were playing tag with each other before school started for my son. He’s recently been diagnosed with autism but has made huge leaps with socialization in the last few months. Seeing both of them chase each other with gigantic smiles made my heart joyous and I couldn’t help but laugh and smile with them.
So, what makes you laugh?
Rose Fairbanks 
I can’t really identify what makes me laugh but many authors do provide me with laughter. Sometimes it is the double entendre, sometimes it is the villain getting what he deserves and being surprised at it. I find cry more at many situations…joy, sweetness, sadness, loss, etc. Sometimes it is the over-the-top presentation of JA’s works as in a play Claudine and I viewed in NYC this pass Saturday – S&S – laughed all the way through.
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Yes, it’s so hard to define what makes us laugh! I think I just enjoy the freedom of giving into an emotion without restraint. If you cry in public people look at you strangely but that feeling is no less real than laughter, which while not always appropriate is usually more acceptable. I suppose I’m like Elizabeth Bennet there.
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