Anderson Cooper, poses in Toronto Thursday, June 2, 2011.Darren Calabrese
Like a bad case of the giggles itself, we just can't get enough of Anderson Cooper's laugh-fest from last night's edition of The Ridiculist.
Sure, the segment was invented as a forum for Mr. Cooper to lighten up and unfurrow his war-zone-tightened brow.
But in his pun-laden segment about French actor Gerard Depardieu urinating on a recent flight, Mr. Cooper smirked his way through bad scatalogical puns he's obviously rehearsed ("thes-pee-an," etc.).
Then, he lost it so completely and compellingly when he gets to a "Depar-two" crack, the whole segment screeches to a halt amid a high-pitched, quivery near-cry
"This has actually never happened to me," he said mid-giggle.
The video made the rounds on every media outlet and social media platform. Most observers and Twitterati characterized the melt-down as cute and charming. We've all been there, right?
Some of the most interesting – and personally useful – feedback was all about how to quell the giggles when they start. TV host Ryan Seacrest tweeted at Mr. Cooper: "BRILLIANT! But lower ur eyebrows & tuck the chin for speedy recover next time."
He replied: "Really? That works?"
Of course Mr. Cooper's Twitter feed was a must-read today. As fans praised him for inadvertently making great TV, he replied as best he could: "It's a goofy laugh, but I'm stuck with it," and "It's embarrassing but I'm glad you laughed as well."
And, for those who couldn't get enough, Mr. Cooper teased his followers mid-afternoon: "This just in: tonight we'll have a follow up to last night's EPIC edition of #TheRidicuList!"
Watch for a Seacrest-endorsed tucked-chin.
What is it about the giggles that makes us all let down our guard and laugh right along with the giggler? And, pray tell, what's your worst case of the giggles? Job interview? Funeral?