There are many different types of laughter. There is the good laughter caused by joy, surprise, happiness, or perhaps even ecstasy. There is laughter at the absurd when one cannot even make sense of what they are experiencing. There is also the laughter of rage and anger. There are laughs from emotional discomfort and anxiety. There is hysterical laughter in the face of death or other great peril when the danger is so extreme that you hear a person laughing and then realize it is you.
Some people laugh during funerals and other times of great grief and sorrow. I experienced this once at an Irish wake for a friend who took his own life. One person started laughing while telling a story about our departed friend, and then another person laughed, and the laughter spread around the table.
