Is it because women worry more than men?
Is it because when he makes her laugh, a man is at least not acting macho?
the same but with broader selective criterion ... Humor (not the Carrot Top kind) is often a sign of intelligence.
don't seem to share our sense of humor. As for men making them laugh, I think they feel less threatened by someone they can laugh at. Then, what the hell do I know. If I were a psychoanalyst, I would figure out my own mess.
I have, however, stumbled on a great way to tell if a person appearing to be a lady is really a man; ask if they like The Three Stooges. If they say yes, it's a guy.
But darlin' we all know you are all woman.
Some day...
B
Laughter is an expression of happiness. Positive feelings get associated. Taking her to a comedy club makes her feel the same way she feels when you make her laugh. She loops it all into one big lassoo.
Laughter is submission. When a man makes a woman laugh (in a good way), he IS acting macho, in the sense that he is distanced from any potentially threatening situation, can see the little things and the humor in them rather than worrying and stressing. It's REAL macho, the macho of a truly successful leader, to see humor in something, not some swagger-act of bluster and puffed-up strength.
(Of course, women tend to respond much more positively than I tend to guess, to swagger-acts of bluster and puffed-up strength, too. A total caricature of a buffoon saying 'I am great' often carries more weight than a great man does, and more so with women than with men, in my experience. Learning to impress women is, at least for me, mostly about learning to toot my own horn MORE, not less; this disappoints me, and is only tangential to the point about humor; but it's still interesting.)
Whoa! Heavy post, BG, and lots of truisms. However, I love a woman who can make me laugh, as seen by my lusting after the decidedly average looking Ms. Garafalo (who had me on the floor at a concert of hers). It is just rare that I meet a woman who has a sense of humor that is "individual", and not "interactive". Many women I have known create humor much more when they are interacting with people than when they are communicating only with one man.
When I have been involved with a woman who has been strong in that area, and that has been secure enough with humor to take chances with it, I have looked at it as a very, very precious thing. I think it appeals to anyone who has a remote enjoyment of submission and of being able to give and not take. However, it has been rare. There is one provider I have been with that I laugh with a lot, and that is one reason why she is so special to me. When a woman makes me laugh, it is something that in many ways is more intimate than almost anything she could do.
I also think that part of this scenario comes from the natural socialization that men and women do as the are children. Men tend to have to "put on a show", and women tend to be more "reactive" to life scenarios, because they are taught when they are little that they have to be careful. Huge generalization there, but that seems to be part of what I have seen. The women I have known who could make me laugh are more outgoing, and were usually encouraged to be that way as children.
For that matter, while she's not terribly well known for her ability to make men laugh, Julia Roberts can uncork a laugh that, if it could be bottled, would put Pfizer out of the erectile dysfunction business.
I've met a number of women through my sister (who works in the film industry) who are insanely funny (but geographically disadvantageous) who share a single common quality: fearlessness.
I think you've hit on something...these are women who, for one reason or another, are not afraid to throw themselves out there.
Yoda
She strikes me as the librarian type who has a dungeon in her basement. Smart as a whip, but with biting sarcastic wit, along with a "potty mouth" that sailors will cackle to.
I think you are on to something there. Making someone laugh is a form of power...and it feels good to have some control over a person's state of mind. I also think that a good sense of humor (and I'm not just talking about quoting movies or other funny people) is a sign of intelligence. There are a lot of guys out there who seem threatened by a woman with a good sense of humor, and I think it has a lot to do with that control aspect. Some guys feel uncomfortable not being in control of a situation, or being what they might look at as 'one-upped' in the cleverness department. Often, girls with senses of humor, regardless of their looks, get shoved into that "just one of the guys" category. It's a shame because, another thing a sense of humor tells you is that the funny guy/girl is uninhibited, which is of course a great personality trait in the bedroom! I think men who can handle a funny girl and let themselves laugh along, are in for the ride of their lives!
they don't want to become "just one of the guys" who guys won't think of romantically. If so, it's the guys' loss.
Let's hear it for fearless, funny women!!
you are my kind of horny guy, hornyguy! 
Definitely, I love a guy who makes me laugh.
I think women are in some ways more serious than men, more down to business. Just look inside families. Moms are the not 'fun' whereas when Dad gets home he plays with the kids. Moms want the kids to 'go' play; Dad wants TO play. Dads sometimes are just big kids!
Therefore, while we can and do laugh, we are more into getting things done. Just look at the workplace. Guys who work together make laughter and goofiness part of their workday, and ladies don't (tend to). Of course, these are generalizations..
I love guys MOSTLY for all the things they are that we aren't, and usually when guys make me laugh, it's from something cute, or stupid that is just so 'guyish'.
Conversely, ONE attractive feature in NetMichelle is her ability to make people laugh - she's entertaining. Not only is that fun, it's particularly fun to find in a woman because it's not that common.
I think guys don't need for us ladies to be the ones to make them laugh probably because that 'need' is already filled - with being around other guys.
What I have seen in the workplace is that the guys who are enjoying a laugh together get more work done than the women who are stressing and "serious".
Definitely often true that Dads represent playtime and fun to their children more than Moms do.
The ability to laugh is often a sign of self-confidence, especially the ability to laugh at yourself. It is also a sign of maturity.
-- Modified on 4/17/2004 2:03:05 PM
Your comments remind me that women are generally wiser than men.
Your point; that a man who makes a woman laugh is not acting macho, is probably true. Women are sensitive beings, often far more comfortable with their feelings than men. So, a man who's comfortable enough with himself to put aside the usual strutting and chest thumping, in favor of being loose enough to be funny, sends a woman a message of self-confidence. And it's been my observation that self-confidence (which is distinct from arrogance) can be very attractive to many women.
Also, in most cultures -- indeed in most primate species -- the males compete for the females' favor, and it's the female who chooses the most attractive from her suitors. Being entertaining (in this case, funny) is one avenue men can use to impress women. People with well developed senses of humor tend to live longer, be more upbeat, be more healthy, be more readily accepted in a social group and frankly, be more intelligent. These are all traits that can help a person be succesful; and most women find success -- even if just the potential for success -- to be very attractive.
And face it, a man can still be funny even when he's between jobs, down on his luck, experiencing poor health or waiting for the little soldier to recover. A guy who's not funny is usually just worrying or waiting.
Elwood P. Dowd in the play, Harvey, said it very well: "My mother always used to say, 'Elwood,' (she always called me Elwood), 'Elwood, to be successful in this life, you must learn to be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.' Well, I've tried smart; and I prefer pleasant."
Laughter is good and it releases lots of tension.
If a guy can make me laugh, he's a step closer to winning me over.
Here I always thought the guys liked to make the lady laugh because it makes her pelvic muscle "TIGHTEN" up. : )
This is hilarious. Best humor of the day. 
Paraphrase:
Male Q. "Why do women like a man who makes them laugh?"
Female A. "I like a man who makes me laugh. Laughter is good, and men who make me laugh are men whom I like."
Jeeeeez ... and women wonder why men are so clueless about what women want!
willing to make jokes at their own expense to make men laugh?
Is it because women lack self-confidence, then?
Two women were riding their rickety old bikes down the back streets of Rome one late afternoon. As it turns dusk, the increasing darkness starts making one of the women a little nervous. She leans over to the other and says, "You know, I've never come this way before." The other says, "It's the cobblestones."
Cheers!...couldn't resist this oldy but goody.