THINQon : Laugh Track

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Robin Layter, I qualify as a youth. I have long hair and it...

Laugh Track

Latest Post: October 18, 2009 at 9:41 PM

21 followers

Life is funny. But for some reason its funnier when other people are in on the joke. My friend was telling me how much he enjoys the show Family Guy but really only when he is watching it with a group of people. At first I thought to argue, but then I thought of my own relationship with South Park. I think South Park is great, but I much prefer watching it with a group of people. I'll laugh at a comedy show whether I'm watching by myself or with friends, but when I do watch with friends without fail I will laugh more. Why is that? Why does my friend find Family Guy funnier when he watches with friends?

Well, as far as I can tell, it's not funnier in a group, but we do laugh more. Although comedy isn't objective, jokes don't change from viewing to viewing. My friend Danny could watch an episode of Family guy by himself laugh maybe 5 times, watch the same episode the next day with 4 other people and laugh 20 times. It's not because the jokes are funnier, they are exactly the same. There is something else to it, but what?

My thoughts point me to the laugh track. Try watching an episode of Seinfeld paying close attention to the laugh track. Why is it there? It shouldn't be very hard removing it from the audio and really it is sort of distracting. The laugh track is basically, here is what we think is funny, you should laugh too. A lot of times in Seinfeld the laugh track doesn't even go during the funniest moments and never is there a solitary laugh who thought something mundane was funny. So why do we go along with it even we wouldn't laugh by ourselves? Is it because we subconsciously want to be part of the group? Well no, because we still find whatever happened funny. Though it might not be as funny personally as whatever we laugh at when we watch by ourselves, it is still funny. Then maybe the group makes it funnier. Why? Maybe it has something to do with proof that the joke is funny universally. Or maybe it is just fun to laugh as a group. Or maybe the laughter changes what's funny.

Laughter is contagious. Can anyone deny that? But why? (Sidenote: why are yawns contagious?) Is it a social evolutionary thing or maybe a neuroscience phenomena? If it is something of science and brain workings what does that suggest about comedy itself? Do animals find things funny? Or is it a purely human characteristic which we developed to kill the time between meals and copulation?

What is the difference between funny and laughter? Why do we have a physical reaction to the first?

Reply to:

Chris Utterman

October 18, 2009 at 9:41 PM

27 followers

Emotions, mood, stupidity, everything is contagious, and laughter is not so different, except that it's especially contagious. I'd say laughter is like rolling, and the laugh track is to give you that first push to build momentum. Once momentum is built it's hard to stop, and sometimes impossible.

There is a scene in Mary Poppins where people start to laugh and they have to stop. Then they try to think of something sad, like a cat who died, and only then do they stop laughing. (Actually, they don't because someone tells a joke with a cat who died, if memory serves me, but nevermind.)
A scene in Seinfeld where he starts laughing during a concert and can't stop (The pez-dispenser).

Once momentum is built it is much easier to continue rolling, and the laugh track is there to give you a small push. It also has the: Everybody is rolling, why aren't you?

Reverberation - laughter is also a reverberation, like the laughter of the wicked witch. It could be scary, as seeing a crazy person get themselves into a frenzy, but within limits you feel it reverberating in you and continue it yourself.

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