looking at others while laughing

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not sure where to post this.

ive been going to improv comedy every week for a bit now and i am noticing that when people laugh, they seem to want to look at other people laughing.

in other words, people next to me in the audience will laugh as i am laughing and then look over at me while they are laughing.

is this like a validation thing? as in, 'i am laughing, let me see if this other person is laughing so i feel more okay laughing' or 'isnt this nice that we are both laughing?'

i dont get it.

people think they are supposed to laugh but they are not quite sure, so they peer over at their peers and see what they're doing. nobody wants to be caught in public laughing out of turn.

anywhere that there is more than one person. even in dim light.

I have learned the social dance sufficiently well enough to avoid the 'sideways glance' or 'your weird' thing being thrown up.........the steps were impossible to learn overnight.

However, when it comes to laughing (as in when a person laughs for a long time and their body language is screaming at me to observe the theatre of it all) I can often feel flooded and uncomfortable.

When I laugh with gusto, I look down, raise my hands and clap vigorously to discharge the energy.......this is very me.

Such charged energy and emotional resonance with another can be fun, but can so easily become overwhelming for me when the other is keen to impose communucation outside of my comfort zone.

Sex for example, is interesting, as the force of energy is so refined it creeps through the floorboards that underpinn my wooden exterior. However, in all other areas of social interaction, (social intercourse) I often feel like a puppeteer trying to pull all the right strings attached to my facial muscles.....

Funny ol thing laughter.