The Giggle Loop from the UK show Coupling. If you haven’t watched this series rent the DVD, very funny stuff.
(from wikipedia)
The giggle loop is the increasing urge to laugh during a moment of solemnity or silence. Jeff’s standard illustration of the giggle loop is that of stacking pint glasses in a tower; each pint representing one iteration of the loop, and the eventual fall and costly breakage representing the giggler’s credibility.
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Today at work we had a half day follow up to some diversity training. In one of the breakout sessions the facilitators did a relaxation exercise. Complete with “let your feet relax” and moving on up the body, talking in that drifty monotone voice.
I had a hard time holding it together. I looked at one of my co-workers and we both tried hard to stifle our laughter. It would have been inappropriate to laugh out loud which of course made me want to laugh all the more.
My mantra throughout the relaxation exercise was “Keep staring at the paper in front of you, don’t make eye contact with SB.” SB was reciting a similar mantra “Keep my eyes closed, don’t make eye contact with Molie.”
We were surprisingly successful.
“To know about the giggle loop, is to become part of the giggle loop.” - Jeff Murdock