Woody Allen did say a version of this, but he did not coin it. In Annie Hall (1977), his character Alvy Singer tells Annie after they first make love: “That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing.” Quote Investigator ↗ finds the joke already in print in Walter Winchell’s column of January 1938 as a “definition of necking,” which QI suspects was a cleaned-up version of a saying about sex. It concludes that an anonymous version about sex or love-making was in use by 1938. The popular wording, “Sex is the most fun I ever had…”, appears in no primary or documented source: it circulates on quote sites as a blend of the old “Sex is the most fun you can have without laughing” and Allen’s first-person screen line.
“Sex is the most fun I ever had without laughing” Anonymous — in print by 1938 (Walter Winchell's column, 25 January 1938, as a "definition of necking"); Woody Allen used a variant, "That was the most fun I've ever had without laughing," in Annie Hall (1977) but did not coin it — traced by Quotle.info · Verbatim: “The latest definition of necking: How you can have the most fun without laughing.”
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? We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.
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In context
Evoking the themes of happiness and love. Theme: "Sex is the most fun I ever had without laughing". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Sex is the most fun I ever had without laughing". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
The earliest documented version
Earliest known
“On Broadway” by Walter Winchell (syndicated column)
Printed
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 25 January 1938, p. 24, col. 6
Author
Unidentified. Winchell gives it as “the latest definition,” not as his own.
Allen’s version
Annie Hall (1977), spoken by Alvy Singer; screenplay by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
The latest definition of necking: How you can have the most fun without laughing.
Walter Winchell, January 1938
As transcribed by Quote Investigator. QI thinks Winchell, or whoever gave him the line, cleaned up an existing saying about sex to make it fit for a newspaper. Allen’s 1977 screen line is “That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing”. It does not begin “Sex is…”
1938: Walter Winchell’s column gives “the latest definition of necking” with no author named. This is the earliest match found by Quote Investigator ↗ (also cited in Garson O’Toole’s ADS-L note ↗).
1942: H. L. Mencken’s A New Dictionary of Quotations prints “Love is the most fun you can have without laughing” and lists the author as “Author unidentified” (Quote Investigator ↗).
1967–1968: The “Sex is…” form appears. Leo Rosten jokes about a bestseller titled “Sex Is the Most Fun You Can Have Without Laughing,” and Evan Esar’s 20,000 Quips and Quotes prints the line unsigned (Quote Investigator ↗).
1977: In Annie Hall, Alvy Singer says after love-making: “That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing” (scene transcript at Filmsite ↗).
No rights status can honestly be given for the popular wording. “Sex is the most fun I ever had without laughing” has no identifiable source. The earliest version, from 1938, is anonymous and after the 1931 U.S. public-domain cut-off. Allen’s own line is dialogue from Annie Hall (1977), a work still in copyright. quotle.info makes no public-domain claim for this line.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Many famous names, no author
This joke has been credited to a long list of celebrities. Of the famous names below, Allen is the only one with a documented use of a version, and even he arrived after the joke had been in print for decades.
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The popular creditWoody Allen Used it, didn’t coin it
His character says “That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing” in Annie Hall (1977), a film he co-wrote with Marshall Brickman. Quote Investigator ↗ documents the saying from 1938 onward. The “Sex is… I ever had” wording is not the film line.
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The reference-book creditH. L. Mencken Recorded it, didn’t claim it
Mencken’s 1942 A New Dictionary of Quotations printed “Love is the most fun you can have without laughing” and credited it to “Author unidentified”. He did not claim it (Quote Investigator ↗).
✕
A 1942 newspaper creditSarah Bernhardt Unsupported
In June 1942 the columnist E. V. Durling credited the “Love is…” version to the French actress, who had died in 1923. QI says it does not know whether she used a version in French (Quote Investigator ↗).
✕
A later compilation creditHumphrey Bogart Unsupported
Bob Chieger’s 1983 collection Was It Good for You, Too? credited Bogart, who died in 1957, with “Nothing beats making love. It’s the most fun you can have without laughing.” QI finds earlier anonymous versions (Quote Investigator ↗).
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A columnist’s creditColonel Stoopnagle (Frederick Chase Taylor) Unsupported
Jim Bishop credited the radio comedian with a garbled version in columns of 1964 and 1972. Both postdate the 1938 printing (Quote Investigator ↗).
✓The joke is anonymous. Quote Investigator ↗ concludes that a version about sex or love-making was in use by 1938, and that Alfred Lunt, H. L. Mencken and E. V. Durling helped make it popular. Woody Allen’s Annie Hall gave it its best-known outing.
Context
Why the wrong name stuck
The line people quote mixes two sources. The subject, “Sex is the most fun…”, comes from the anonymous saying, which by 1968 appeared in Evan Esar’s 20,000 Quips and Quotes as “Sex is the most fun you can have without laughing.” The first-person “I ever had” comes from Woody Allen’s scene in Annie Hall, where Alvy Singer says “That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing.” The blended version sounds like something Allen said, but no primary or documented source records it.
The joke had a long life before Allen. Quote Investigator ↗ notes that its first known printing, in 1938, was about “necking”. QI’s explanation is that the taboos of the time kept frank talk of sex out of newspapers. Over the following decades the line was credited to Sarah Bernhardt, to a radio comedian, and, after the film, to Humphrey Bogart.
That was the most fun I’ve ever had without laughing. — Alvy Singer, Annie Hall (1977)
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
b. 1935 · American filmmaker, actor, writer and comedian
Woody Allen is an American filmmaker, actor, writer and comedian. He holds the record for the most wins of the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Annie Hall (1977), which he directed and co-wrote with Marshall Brickman, won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It is the source of the line people remember. He did not invent the joke. Quote Investigator finds it in print in 1938 with no author attached, and it was credited to several other famous names before Annie Hall.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Earliest documented printing (Chicago)
Winchell, Walter. “On Broadway.” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, PA), January 25, 1938, 24, col. 6. Unsigned “necking” version; earliest match located by Quote Investigator, “The Most Fun You Can Have Without Laughing,” June 16, 2018. Woody Allen’s variant: Annie Hall, directed by Woody Allen, screenplay by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman (1977).
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Sex is the most fun I ever had without laughing’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/sex-is-the-most-fun-i-ever-had-without-laughing/