sources for lincoln laughing when he was shot i have several sources that write about lincoln laughing when he was shot while waves of laughter echoed through the theater james ferguson kept his eyes focused on abraham lincoln the president joined the crowd with a 'hearty laugh the darkest dawn lincoln booth and the great american tragedy by thomas goodrich it is a comfort of sorts to know that the bullet hit lincoln mid guffaw considering how the war had weighed on him at least his last conscious moment was a hoot assassination vacation by sarah vowell