I think your instincts served you well. By laughing, you took the lead in defining the situation as a friendly one (even though it really wasn't). If you had angrily confronted him, he might have reacted more defensively, treating you as a dangerous adversary capable of getting him in serious trouble.

Most men aren't malevolent or physically dangerous, but some are, and others can become so when they feel threatened.

So while you'll never know for certain if you came up with the best possible strategy for handling the situation, bottom line is you did escape physically unharmed.

As every pilot says, any landing that you walk away from is a good one.