Laughing innapropriately

[Amnesiac]

Cool. Good luck.

[Ralph Rotten]

Hello what's the word for .... when John laughs because of the unexpected situation he finds himself in. Its inappropriate to be laughing to himself but he does. He's in say mortal danger but he laughs because it's the last place he thought he'd be right now.

What's a word / phrase to describe that please?

You could have nervous laughter, like toilet-mouth (just keeps running)
You could have maniacal laughter if they realized they were in an impossible situation, with no way out alive.
Wanton abandon is always something to describe someone who has lost it.
psychotic chattering.
Empty headed laugh
laughs like a bobblehead.
empty-vacuous laugh

[Harper J. Cole]

Adrenalin-fuelled laughter, maybe?

[bdcharles]

Hello what's the word for .... when John laughs because of the unexpected situation he finds himself in. Its inappropriate to be laughing to himself but he does. He's in say mortal danger but he laughs because it's the last place he thought he'd be right now.

What's a word / phrase to describe that please?

Try for an image or simile that has the rioght voice, eg: "He laughed, though it made no sense to do so, and though he was in mortal danger - a real killer-clown-at-a-kids-do laugh. Already he felt able to handle things." (or whatever your tone of the piece is)

[Megan Pearson]

hehehe... there is actually a test out there for diagnosing pseudobublar affect, a mental health condition marked by innappropriate outbursts of laughter. Maybe John has such condition?

Then again, a lot of people laugh out loud when under stress. "Nervous laughter" is a coping mechanism without a fancy name.

But, that was already suggested.

hehehe...

[Rojack79]

Her: I love my computer! All of my friends are in there!
Me: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about my freezer...
Her: What?
Me: What?

I love this!

[Hero]

I remember very vaguely when Barack Obama came into office many years ago, he laughed inappropriately during a speech.

The news reporters discussed this and gave a name for laughing inappropriately.

I cant find it on internet. Doubt anyone remembers it but thought I'd just put it out there

[Periander]

Remember this episode from the Mary Tyler Moore Show?

https://youtu.be/TJny78bpsgo

"untimely laughter"
"she laughed when she should have been crying"
"instead of replying with some profound and sagacious phrase that would set them all at ease, he broke into a storm of hysterical laughter"

Just a couple of possibilities.

[LaughTrack]

The only word I could think of that would negate the usage of "laugh" at all, while still meaning a nervous laugh would be titter. Otherwise you'll probably have to use another closely related word, or if you're willing to spruce up the word laugh you could use phrases like...*-ly adverb* laughed" or "laughed *-ly adverb,*" as in: nervously laughed / laughed nervously.
Or... "*noun*-*-ed verb* laughter," as in: nervousness-fueled laughter.
Or... "*adjective* laughter," as in: nervous laughter.
Or if you want to get creative you could come up with a simile, "laughed like..." as in... "he laughed like he'd just seen his famously strange uncle pull a raw minnow from his pocket and stroke it as their cashier stood stoic, probably wondering what he did to deserve this." (You probably shouldn't use my exact example, but by all means if it really is relevant to your story go ahead.)