GSOH

They say it's possible for a man to 'laugh' a woman into bed. So, to test that theory out, I met up with three different men and set them the challenge, without their knowing. Looks didn't come into it, for these three men happened to be identical triplets.

Ok, so it's far-fetched, but please feel free to imagine.  These three identical triplets each had one special thing about them. The first had a truly amazing car. The second one had an incredibly massive... oh, I don't know... shall we say, for the sake of argument, stamp collection? (But I know what you were thinking.) And the third had a really great sense of humour. Their dad, a funny philatelist who drove an E-type Jag, was unfortunately out of the picture.

Triplet Number One smelled too much of Autoglym and the way that Triplet Number Two kept licking his lips was really off-putting. However, Triplet Number Three had me chuckling with his naughty innuendo, his inventively twisted perspective on the world, his linguistic prowess and his imaginative flights of fancy and I realised that, in loving his sense of humour I was also loving the way his mind worked and it felt good. You may wish to return to reality here rather than imagine the outcome, but I bet you still know what it would be: out of the three of them it'd be Triplet Number Three who'd most likely eventually have me, ahem, rolling on the floor.

Why should a sense of humour be so potent? By humour I don't just mean the memorising and re-telling of jokes, which can, on the contrary, be a huge turn-off in the wrong hands – it's a dry wit, wordplay and the abstract which works its magic on me. Apart from getting off on laughter-induced endorphins, I find myself feeling a huge sense of affection for someone who can make me giggle. I adore the fact that it displays a creative mind and, if the humour is a little edgy, there's something thrilling, maybe even a tad dangerous, about it too.  With those feel-good chemicals already producing a legal high, it's not hard to see why it's so attractive. That's whether you're male or female... whoever you are, if I admire your wit, then I'm more than likely going to admire you too.

Anyway, I was reading about the 'laughing into bed' thing, and the scientific theories behind it. Well, if it's true, it's due to all that evolutionary stuff about women being choosier than men in finding a mate (mainly because women undertake the risky bits in procreation, have a limited reproduction span and need someone who'll stick around and support them in bringing up the sprogs - you know the sort of thing.). In spite of what it looks like on Jeremy Kyle, us women are subconsciously seeking out successful and intelligent men to father our little brats and ensure their well-being.. A good sense of humour is an indicator of intelligence... one that's hard to fake... and because it's an interactive quality, it requires emotional and social intelligence too. If he's got those attributes, then, theoretically, he's more likely to succeed in life generally... and we're more likely to want to have his babies. There's more to it too, apparently - that men tend to instinctively develop their sense of humour to a greater degree than women do and use it competitively to make an impression (even if not consciously...)

So, could Triplet Number Three really have his wickedly witty way on the strength of his humour?  Or... hmm... would it just be down to his tickling stick?