History Main / TensionCuttingLaughter

* On one episode of ''Series/TheDailyShow, after showing news footage of a Republican criticizing the President for cheering upon learning of someone's death, Stewart quipped, "He's cheering the way you would when the doctor tells you "It's benign."

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* ''FanFic/HereWeGoAgain'': After Itami gets knocked out by [[PunnyName Piña Co Lada]] (by accident), Kincaid and his fellow [[TankGoodness tank]] crewmen learn the princess's name. Cue peals of laughter and no one getting killed, as opposed to the feared slaughter by the "iron elephants".

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* Done famously in ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}'' after a prolonged scene where [[HairTriggerTemper Tommy DeVito]] (Creator/JoePesci) appears to be offended at being called "funny" by Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), his rage visibly building over the course of several minutes. A bit of a twist in that it is Ray Liotta who breaks the tension.
* Subverted in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' after they escape the Locker. [[MexicanStandoff Everybody pulls guns on everyone else]], and after a minute they all start laughing... but then they remember that, yes, they ''do'' all have people to threaten.
* Found at the beginning of ''Film/BatmanReturns''. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Max Shreck]], a villain, and [[Comicbook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], his secretary, break out in this after Max makes like he's going to choke her to death. After the laughter subsides, he [[DestinationDefenestration pushes her out of the 45th-floor window]].
* In ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'', when Jack Ryan, Captain Bart Mancuso, and Seaman "Jonesy" Jones arrive aboard the titular sub, there is dead silence as the Americans and Russians stare at one another. But when Ryan accepts a cigarette from one of the Russian officers, he coughs while smoking (earlier, he'd explain that he doesn't smoke, repeatedly turning down cigarettes), which amuses the Russians and soon eases the tensions between both sides.
* Done in a GallowsHumor way at the end of ''Film/BloodDiamond'', when Solomon [[spoiler: admits to a dying Danny that he'd suspected the latter would betray him and take the diamond for himself. Danny admits that he'd given it serious thought]], prompting the two to share a laugh.
* ''Film/EvilDead2'' famously has a scene involving this that both cuts through [[ZigZaggingTrope and exaggerates]] the tension; after enduring nightmare upon nightmares worth of horrors, Ash ends up [[ThePratfall pratfalling]] in a busted chair, to which ''everything in the cabin'' comes alive and starts laughing at him, [[LaughingMad and Ash joins in]]. It manages to be very creepy (implying that Ash [[SanitySlippage finally broke and lost his mind]]), but it's also legitimately goofy (also implying that everyone is realizing [[HorrorComedy just how farcical it's all become]] and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny deciding to have a jolly good laugh]] before [[MoodWhiplash Ash gets back to shooting stuff]]).

* In [[Literature/HorusHeresy Galaxy In Flames]], Fulgrim is raging to Horus about the latter's orders, with Horus trying to flatter him into obeying. After a terse pause, Fulgrim breaks out laughing and points out he knows what Horus is trying to manipulate him but it's working anyway.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* On one episode of The Daily Show, after showing news footage of a Republican criticizing the President for cheering upon learning of someone's death, Stewart quipped, "He's cheering the way you would when the doctor tells you "It's benign."
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', Tuco is the master of this...[[HairTriggerTemper and then beating someone to death anyway.]]
* On ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' D'argo and John Crichton frequently did this.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Near the end of season four, Series/{{Angel}} visits Sunnydale to try and mend fences after a falling out with Buffy on his own show. Instead, he gets in a LetsYouAndHimFight with her new love interest. When Buffy asks what he was trying to do, he replies "I was trying to make things better" and they both crack up.
** In the season six finale "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]", Buffy tells Giles the ways the Scoobies have stuffed up in the half-season since he left, ending with "And I've been sleeping with Spike." She then looks nervous as she waits for Giles to tear strips off her...only for Giles to burst into laughter. After a moment Buffy can't help but join him.

* In ''Series/TheWestWing'' - in the first season episode "[[Recap/TheWestWingS01E03AProportionalResponse A Proportional Response]]", President Bartlet has been angry all episode about the fact he doesn't think their response to Syria shooting down a plane and killing everyone on board (including the President's physician) has been strong enough. Finally, right before the President is scheduled to go on network television, Leo [=McGarry=] and the President argue it out in private, and though passions are running high, Leo manages to convince the President they're on the right course. Then the President says this:
-->'''President Bartlet''': Oh man Leo. When I think of all the work you put in to get me to run when I think of all the work you put in to get me elected...[[BaitAndSwitchComment I could pummel your ass with a baseball bat]]. (''Leo and the President both burst into laughter'')
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** There's a very tense scene when Robb Stark, who's risen to patriarch of his House very young due to the murder of his father, is struggling to maintain the loyalty of his bannermen, who see him as a "green boy". An argument with BoisterousBruiser Greatjon Umber leads to a dagger being drawn and Robb's wolf biting off two of the man's fingers.
--->'''Robb:''' My father told me it was death to bare steel against your liege lord. Doubtless Lord Umber merely meant to cut my meat for me. \\
'''Greatjon:''' ''[cradling his hand]'' Your meat... ''[tense pause]'' is bloody tough! ''[whole room starts laughing]''
** Subverted when Tyrion and his sellsword Bronn encounter the Mountain Clans. Shagga asks Tyrion how he wants to die. Tyrion replies "At the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my cock." Shagga gives a short laugh and Tyrion starts to smile...[[HaHaHaNo then Shagga]] tells his clansmen to kill Bronn and capture Tyrion, who has to resort to some fast negotiating to convince them otherwise.
* On an episode of ''Series/SportsNight'', the staff is all on edge because of a ratings expert that's been called in, and the shows have all been stiff lately. At the rundown meeting, everyone looks grim until Elliot reads a memo about how one of the legs on the craft services table is wobbly, so they should be careful when getting food. Dana makes Elliot repeat what he said, and then busts out laughing, after which everyone else follows suit.
-->'''Casey:''' (''mock serious'') Hey! The show's important, but first things first -- there are bagels on that table. (''everyone laughs even harder'')

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': In the ninth season episode "[[Recap/MashS9E11NoSweat No Sweat]]", on a sweltering hot night where no one can sleep, B.J. is irritated about a letter he received from his wife about the gutters in their house, because it makes him imagine all kinds of scenarios he'd rather not think about (which irritates Hawkeye), Charles is trying to deal with his family's money problems (thanks to a crooked accountant), Klinger, who took the PA system apart to see if he could put it back together, is having trouble doing so, and Margaret has come down with a severe rash on her butt. She tries to explain to Col. Potter, who's zonked out on a sleeping pill, that she wants him to call [=ICorps=] and have them include calamine lotion on a chopper they're sending (to pick up a patient). That's when Klinger, unbeknownst to Margaret and Col. Potter, finally manages to put the PA system back together, and the entire camp ends up hearing Margaret and Potter talk about her butt rash, which makes them howl with laughter, even after Margaret realizes what's going on and destroys the PA system again.
* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': In episode three, Halbrand tries to enjoy his lunch in Armenelos, when a bunch of men accost him and try to bully him. Tamar, one of them, tries to provoke Halbrand by hurling insults at him. He gets truly angry only when Tamar starts talking about how a certain She-elf would rather prefer someone of a better breeding than a low man from the Southlands. Halbrand's entire face screams "I wanna murder those guys" at that moment. But he breaks the tension by having a sudden burst of laughing, and telling the bullies sarcastically how right they are and how ungrateful he has been for the hospitability of the Numenorians, then offers himself to pay for everybody's drinks.
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS1E2 Death of a Hollow Man]]", a very tense scene in which Colin tries to save David from being accused of murder by falsely confessing to it himself ends with David himself admitting that he didn't commit the murder at all - he was just spiking Esslyn's cakes with Vim as revenge for the actor's increasingly terrible behaviour. Both Colin and David crack up laughing out of sheer relief.

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Laughter is a reaction normally associated with good humor, shared insight, and merriment being had. Other times, it signals that you are not going to get shivved in the back. Tension-Cutting Laughter is that second kind, the kind that says "Ah, so the Don ''doesn't'' think [[TheInformant I'm a rat selling him out to the Feds]]" or "So Bob ''isn't'' going to kick my ass for insulting his daughter" or even simply "Mary ''does'' get I was kidding about [[TropeyComeHome selling her cat on]] Website/EBay." It is akin to an exhale of relief after a particularly tense bit of drama has been wound up, the source of which is usually a misunderstanding.

Laughter is a reaction normally associated with good humor, shared insight, and merriment being had. Other times, it signals that you are not going to get shivved in the back. Tension-Cutting Laughter is that second kind, the kind that says "Ah, so the Don ''doesn't'' think [[TheInformant I'm a rat selling him out to the Feds]]" or "So Bob ''isn't'' going to [[OverprotectiveDad kick my ass for insulting his daughter]]" or even simply "Mary ''does'' get I was kidding about [[TropeyComeHome selling her cat on]] Website/EBay." It is akin to an exhale of relief after a particularly tense bit of drama has been wound up, the source of which is usually a misunderstanding.

Can be a source of MoodWhiplash, doubly so if the Tension-Cutting Laughter is followed by the revelation that the one laughing ''actually'' '''is''' taking everything seriously (overlapping with HaHaHaNo).

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* In ''Videogame/Yakuza1'', during a dramatic face-off with Kiryu at the batting cages, Majima's villainous monologue is interrupted when the pitching machine beans him in the head with a ball. After an awkward silence, Majima laughs it off, with the rest of his henchmen joining in. [[SubvertedTrope But then]] he notices one of his men isn't laughing and [[MoodSwinger flies into a violent rage.]]

* There are several occasions in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels when the narrator notes that characters are laughing at not-very-funny lines because people who thought they were about to die will laugh at ''anything''. In ''Literature/TheTruth'', Sacharissa's Tension-Cutting Laughter lasts too long, and William realises the tension isn't cut at all, and this is "[[DieLaughing the kind of laughter you die from]]".

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* The infamous forced laughter scene from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is in the spirit of this since Yuna is trying to teach Tidus how to do this and failing miserably. The awfulness makes them laugh at themselves.
* In ''Videogame/Yakuza1'', during a dramatic face-off with Kiryu at the batting cages, Majima's villainous monologue is interrupted when the pitching machine beans him in the head with a ball. After an awkward silence, Majima laughs it off, with the rest of his henchmen joining in. [[SubvertedTrope But then]] he notices one of his men isn't laughing and [[MoodSwinger flies into a violent rage.]]
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** Subverted moments later when several PortentOfDoom happen at once, throwing Wesley back into turmoil again.

* ''Series/MASH'': In the ninth season episode "[[Recap/MashS09E11NoSweat No Sweat]]", on a sweltering hot night where no one can sleep, B.J. is irritated about a letter he received from his wife about the gutters in their house, because it makes him imagine all kinds of scenarios he'd rather not think about (which irritates Hawkeye), Charles is trying to deal with his family's money problems (thanks to a crooked accountant), Klinger, who took the PA system apart to see if he could put it back together, is having trouble doing so, and Margaret has come down with a severe rash on her butt. She tries to explain to Col. Potter, who's zonked out on a sleeping pill, that she wants him to call ICorps and have them include calamine lotion on a chopper they're sending (to pick up a patient). That's when Klinger, unbeknownst to Margaret and Col. Potter, finally manages to put the PA system back together, and the entire camp ends up hearing Margaret and Potter talk about her butt rash, which makes them howl with laughter, even after Margaret realizes what's going on and destroys the PA system again.

* ''Film/EvilDead2'' famously has a scene involving this that both cuts through [[ZigZaggingTrope and exaggerates]] the tension; after enduring nightmare upon nightmare of horrors, Ash ends up [[ThePratfall pratfalling]] in a busted chair, to which ''everything in the cabin'' comes alive and starts laughing at him, [[LaughingMad and Ash joins in]]. It manages to be both creepy (implying that Ash [[SanitySlippage finally broke and lost his mind]]), but it's also legitimately goofy (also implying that everyone is realizing [[HorrorComedy just how farcical it's all become]] and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny deciding to have a jolly good laugh]] before [[MoodWhiplash Ash gets back to shooting stuff]]).

Compare {{Corpsing}}, where an actor inadvertently starts laughing during a serious scene. Also note the hyena (the actual animal, not [[TheHyena our trope named for it]]) is an example, as its signature giggling call is usually given when losing a disagreement over food or rank. "Ha ha ha, you thought I wanted to fight? Just kidding, boss! Ha ha - don't bite me!"

* In WebVideo/GusJohnson's "[[https://youtube.com/watch?v=dNBQHlxUGog when companies say they are launching an investigation]]", a group of business executives seems to really be considering "launching an investigation", before bursting out in laughter and revealing they don't even know what that means.

Can be a source of MoodWhiplash, doubly so if the Tension-Cutting Laughter is followed by the revelation that the one laughing ''actually'' '''is''' taking everything seriously (overlapping with HaHaHaNo). A similar variation is when authority figures seem to be seriously considering something that a character has said, before bursting out in laughter, showing that they think the idea is ridiculous.

* ''Film/GetOut2017'': When Rod tells the police his theory that the [[spoiler:Armitage family is abducting black people and turning them into sex-slaves, the police seem to seriously consider it for a moment, before they start laughing.]]

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* In WebVideo/GusJohnson's "[[https://youtube.com/watch?v=dNBQHlxUGog when companies say they are launching an investigation]]", Gus and the gang play business executives who seem like they're really considering "launching an investigation", before bursting out in laughter and revealing they don't even know what that means.

Can be a source of MoodWhiplash, doubly so if the Tension-Cutting Laughter is followed by the revelation that the one laughing ''actually'' '''is''' taking everything seriously (overlapping with HaHaHaNo). A similar variation is when authority figures seem to be seriously considering something that a character has said, before bursting out in laughter, showing that they think the idea is ridiculous. This overlaps with

Laughter is a reaction normally associated with good humor, shared insight, and merriment being had. Other times, it signals that you are not going to get shivved in the back. Tension Cutting Laughter is that second kind, the kind that says "Ah, so the Don ''doesn't'' think [[TheInformant I'm a rat selling him out to the Feds]]" or "So Bob ''isn't'' going to [[OverprotectiveDad kick my ass for insulting his daughter]]" or even simply "Mary ''does'' get I was kidding about [[TropeyComeHome selling her cat on]] Website/EBay." It is akin to an exhale of relief after a particularly tense bit of drama has been wound up, the source of which is usually a misunderstanding.

Can be a source of MoodWhiplash, doubly so if the Tension-Cutting Laughter is followed by the revelation that the one laughing ''actually'' '''is''' taking everything seriously (overlapping with HaHaHaNo).

* There are several occasions in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels when the narrator notes that characters are laughing at not-very-funny lines because people who thought they were about to die will laugh at ''anything''. In ''Literature/TheTruth'', Sacharissa's Tension Cutting Laughter lasts too long, and William realises the tension isn't cut at all, and this is "[[DieLaughing the kind of laughter you die from]]".

Laughter is a reaction normally associated with good humor, shared insight, and merriment being had. Other times, it signals that you are not going to get shivved in the back. TensionCuttingLaughter is that second kind, the kind that says "Ah, so the Don ''doesn't'' think [[TheInformant I'm a rat selling him out to the Feds]]" or "So Bob ''isn't'' going to [[OverprotectiveDad kick my ass for insulting his daughter]]" or even simply "Mary ''does'' get I was kidding about [[TropeyComeHome selling her cat on]] Website/EBay." It is akin to an exhale of relief after a particularly tense bit of drama has been wound up, the source of which is usually a misunderstanding.

* There are several occasions in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels when the narrator notes that characters are laughing at not-very-funny lines because people who thought they were about to die will laugh at ''anything''. In ''Literature/TheTruth'', Sacharissa's TensionCuttingLaughter lasts too long, and William realises the tension isn't cut at all, and this is "[[DieLaughing the kind of laughter you die from]]".