A published study by researchers in Australia has revealed that stand-up comedians are two times more likely to die than their thespian counterparts.
Big Think reported that a team from the Australian Catholic University compared the median ages of the death of three groups; dramatic actors, comedic actors, and stand-up comedians. An analysis of data found that stand-up comedians are two times more likely to die younger than their thespian counterparts. A stand-up comedian on average dies 2.3 to three years before dramatic actors, and two years before comedic actors.
The real catch of the study though was, it suggested that the funnier you are, the more likely you are to die. It found that higher ranked comedians, based from the crowd-based ranking by Ranker, have a higher risk of dying.
Ranker's five funniest people of all time are Robin Williams, Will Ferrell, Bill Murray, George Carlin, and Steve Martin.
The study estimated that for each 10 points higher the comedian was in the ranking, there was a seven percent increased risk of dying. Big Think cited for example that the 50th in the list has 70 percent higher risk to die than the one in the 150th place.
A lot of comedians tend to be solitary performers who travel solo most of the time and experience depression.
Williams, who committed suicide, was reportedly seeking treatment for alcoholism after being sober for two decades.
Another study published in the British Journal of Psychology found that comedians have a higher level of psychotic characteristics related to both schizophrenia and manic depression.
Based on a personality survey conducted, comedians scored high both in introverted anhedonia and extraverted impulsiveness.
"There has been the occasional clinical observation that the rate of psychiatric disturbance in comedians seems high," the study said.