During the 1900s, movie-goers were so scared of laughing their way to an early demise that they bought insurance with the notorious insure-anything firm, Lloyd’s of London.
Can you really die laughing?
Actually, yes, it’s possible – and in quite a few different ways.
- Ruptured brain aneurysms: Bulging blood vessels (i.e. arteries) in the brain run the risk of rupturing if someone laughs hard.
- Asphyxiation: Uncontrollable laughter can lead to difficulties with breathing
- Syncope: Fainting due to a lack of proper blood flow to the brain is known as syncope, and it can sometimes be triggered by excessive laughter. Though the loss of consciousness itself may not be fatal, fainting in public can be extremely dangerous if it causes a fall off a balcony or onto a hard surface, resulting in head trauma or other serious injuries.
Though it’s commonly said as a joke in itself as someone’s ideal way to go, it turns out you can die laughing. For those (only a handful though) super-confident comedians, having death by laughter insurance might help calm their nerves before the big show.
What is death by laughter insurance?
It is essentially a type of liability insurance. Death by laughter insurance is a policy designed to protect film production companies, comedians, stand-up comics, or anyone else who runs the risk of killing someone through their sheer wit alone. Though comedians and the like thrive on making their audience members laugh, there’s always a slight chance that their material could end up doing more harm than good… even fatally so.