h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We all know the expression 'rolling on the floor laughing'. We use the smiley every day. But have you ever seen anybody falling down laughing?

Abe Lincoln did. He was usually the cause of it.

According to Ida M Tarbell, the investigative journalist - possibly the FIRST investigative journalist, though, frankly her style isn't much to brag about - reported this story in 'McClure's Magainze' in 1895:

'It took some four weeks to build the raft, and in that period Lincoln succeeded in captivating the entire village by his story-telling. It was the custom in Sangamon for the "men-folks" to gather at noon and in the evening, when resting, in a convenient lane near the mill. They had rolled out a long peeled log on which they lounged while they whittled and talked. After Mr. Lincoln came to town the men would start him to story-telling as soon as he appeared at the assembly ground. So irresistibly droll were his "yarns" that, says Mr. Roll, "whenever he'd end up in his unexpected way the boys on the log would whoop and roll off." The result of the rolling off was to polish the log like a mirror. Long after Lincoln had disappeared from Sangamon "Abe's log" remained, and until it had rotted away people pointed it out, and repeated the droll stories of the stranger.'

The town's not there any more, and wasn't in Tarbell's day, but it was in Sangamon County, Illinois, on the 'frontier' at that time.

Now, what a talent for a future President to have: the ability to make his audience fall over laughing.

There's a lesson for h2g2 in there, somewhere...

Want to read the article? Be my guest. It's full of interesting pictures you won't find elsewhere: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11548/11548-h/11548-h.htm

while at a training college in the 70's, myself and some other mates went to see a horror film at the towns cinema(scary film at the time, but laughable now)
There was a scene, where a monk got a large brass horse syringe full of gunge and was about to err place it somewhere in a possessed nun ? (not saying where) we were also eating S at the time with lashings of sauce and I called out (in a darkened cinema) ooh look! biological under-stains. One mate went "rofl" off the seat and a female near us ran off to the ladies and pucked up, the cinema also erupted in laughter

And you didn't get tossed out on your ears?

nopeit was darkand management couldn't see who did it