Dear Tell All: I've been dating this really nice guy for about six months. He's fun, funny, and it seems like we really click. But he has this strange habit that makes me wonder. When we're making love, sometimes in the middle of his orgasm, he'll laugh. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does, it's just weird. This guy seems normal in every other way, and I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but it's starting to worry me. Is it me? I'm so self-conscious about it that I can't ask him directly.
Chuckles
Chuckles: This column is supposed to be anonymous, but are you by any chance Chuckles the Clown? Because that would explain a lot.
Unfortunately, you left out a very important piece of information. What type of laugh is it exactly? Is it a sinister "Wha-ha-ha-ha-ha"? If so, I would strongly suggest that you keep a large mallet by your bed, just in case things get weirder. (The mallet can be quite handy for other things too, like making crushed ice or cracking walnuts for a late-night bedside snack.)
Is it a creepy "Heh-heh-heh"? That's also not a good sign, although perhaps not mallet-worthy. If it's one, explosive "HA!" it could be a self-congratulatory celebration, sort of the bedroom equivalent of an end-zone spike.
What we really need for questions like this is an interactive response system, so that I can get all the important details. "Who does your partner most sound like during sex? Press 1 for Phyllis Diller. Press 2 for Bart Simpson. Press 3 for your neighbor." If you pressed three, I'd suggest closing the curtains.
This is a long shot, but if your boyfriend is either Bernie Madoff or George Bush, then chances are he's laughing at all of the rest of us (and I'm guessing his laugh is somewhere between the Wha-ha-ha-ha-ha and the HA!).
There's also the possibility that when you're in the throes of your own orgasm, you're doing something to make your boyfriend laugh, like whipping out one-liners. I know it's hard to believe, but an orgasm is a powerful thing, and you may not even realize that you're doing it.
If your bedroom is like mine, with video cameras in every corner, there's also the seedy possibility that your boyfriend has made a deal with HBO for his own reality TV series, in which case the laughter you hear is probably from the live, in-studio audience. If this were true, you probably would have smelled popcorn or heard muffled coughs coming from the closet by now.
In reality, Chuckles, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I would consider your boyfriend's laughter as simply an involuntary response in the midst of a mind-blowing orgasm. Consider it a compliment. It's better than him jumping up with one of those "9.8" Olympic scoring cards, as if you'd just stuck your dismount after a triple Lutz. (Did you?)
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