It seems to me that getting 2 or more teenage males together results in a laugh-fest. Sometimes it’s redirected aggression as a means of establishing the group hierarchy but other times it’s just a word or a phrase or a look that sets them off. Is it hormones? Is it the flexibily-wired adolescent brain? Anyone?
The oppressive weight of the life of toil awaiting them hasn’t sunk in yet.
I see the exact opposite. Girls are the giggly ones.
Then again, maybe they’re high.
Teenage male here.
I spend a lot of time with certain friends. Because we’re together so much, we develop a closeness. Much of this is related to humor, since we share a similar sense of humor. We have a great arsenal of in-jokes, which we are constantly using. We’re always telling each other jokes. Even if it appears that we’re speaking normally, a certain phrase with a history can ignite laughter.
I also echo what SmackFu said (semi-jokingly, I assume.)
‘fry-height’
Yes. They are still under the illusion that life is good, and full of promise. The crushing of hopes and dreams has not yet begun for most of them.
Well, doesn’t that just suck? 
But I agree with some points in this thread. Lots of inside jokes. Jokes help make most things seem better. Just another way to escape reality when there’s nothing to drink. 
Yeah, as a teenage male we just joke.
I think you’ll find it’s teenagers in general - not just males.
Agreed. We teenage males are a crafty bunch, always cracking clever jokes and spouting witicisms the likes of which have never been seen.
And we never use sarcasm.
Ever.
I don’t have any bunches of teenage girls on whom to test this observation.
Maybe it’s just that guys laugh louder than sugar and spice girls?
Also, they’re high.
I’m the mother of two teenagers – a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old boy – and, in my experience, girls laugh more. They giggle, to be specific. My son and his friends seem to feel they are too “cool” to laugh – at least around me, for the most part. I do hear them laughing and goofing around when they’re alone – private jokes, probably. Dirty ones, more than likely. However, I would say the girls laugh a good deal more.
and
Man-oh-man! Your memory of the teenage years is vastly different from mine. I remember those times as being full of angst, self-doubt, and awkwardness. Anything to break the tension was welcomed. Much of what the OP is observing is essentially nervous laughter which can be a bit over the top.
I think it’s because the jokes are usually at other people’s expense… making fun of someone, or an otherwise “inappropriate joke”. This makes it funnier because you’re not supposed to laugh… which makes you laugh even more. You laugh at the joke and also how inappropriate the joke is.
My son and his friend were ALWAYS LAUGHING or slamming each other into walls. One day they came downstairs and found a stranded midget in the kitchen and nearly came apart at the seams. I could have died of embarrassment.
What?
This midget’s car broke down in front of my house on a fairly rural road. It was very cold and snowy and I told her to come in to call for help. My kid and his friend were upstairs and came down for pop and found the midget standing on the chair dialing the phone. They just thought it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever seen and just about spewed from laughter.
I saw her again at the local tavern. She was a really mean drunk.
Some possibilities:
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Bonding by laughing together or at the same things
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Competition: trying to be the funniest or wittiest or to make the others laugh the hardest, or the feeling of superiority that comes when you see the humor in something where not everybody gets the joke
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Socially acceptable release of aggression, nervousness, or awkwardness
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It’s just fun; it feels good to laugh.
Maybe I’m not as grown up as I think I am, cause the phrase “stranded midget” nearly killed me. BAHAHA.
Actually, it WAS hilarious. And I AM immature. If you could have seen her crawl up on the chair, and the boys just losin’ it…