We interrupt the telling of this story for a giggle

I love it when I'm talking to Nick and we both start laughing long before the story that one of us is telling is over. It happened tonight while we were on the phone. We weren't laughing hysterically, but enough that when I started giggling Nick paused from his telling of the story to chuckle a little himself. That feeling of, "I don't know what the punch line is but I can already tell this story is going to be comical" is a great one. 

In this case the story Nick was telling wasn't that funny in itself but he and I both could relate to other experiences like the one he was telling me about, in which he and I would take the situation lightly while those around us might be more uptight. Relatability paired with humor can enhance the type of laughter you have, even if it isn't full out hysteria.

Giggling in general is like being at a childhood sleepover, which probably evokes some subconscious sense in many of us of the hyperactivity surrounding raiding the fridge late at night, getting in your sleeping bag and sliding down the stairs, sneaking out to jump on a trampoline, having a parent tell you to pipe down only to raise the volume of your antics minutes later.

Laughing mid-story is something I'm somewhat famous for. When I was younger and there were enough of us at home to still gather around a table for dinner, I would recount happenings from school and start losing it during my telling of the story. The funnier the story, the harder I would start laughing, and the longer my recovery time would be in order to keep the laughter at bay long enough to return to the telling of the story. And usually if the story was really funny I would lose it, then recover, several times during the telling.

Maybe I should start telling really funny stories, even if they're not all that recent, more often to get that awesome giggly feeling. Giggling is usually contagious, so really, if you think about it, to tell a story that has you spending more time giggling than actually telling the facts is kind of a little gift to those around you. Or a big gift, depending on how much you all need a boost.