# Canned laughter **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 12, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692 "2005-08-12T05:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lotsson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@lotsson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lotsson)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/1 "2005-08-12T05:41:26Z")
Canned laughter is also for the timing. Sitcom actors can’t hear the tv viewers laugh, but they, like stage actors, still need to wait for the laughter to end before they deliver their next line. That’s one reason for having canned laughter - but of course, movie comedies manage their timing without canned laughter, so it’s also there to make the home audience laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/2 "2005-08-12T05:48:28Z")
I _think_ this is is response to [this Staff Report.](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlaughtrack.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/3 "2005-08-12T11:50:42Z")
> [@lotsson](#): > > Canned laughter is also for the timing. Sitcom actors can’t hear the tv viewers laugh, but they, like stage actors, still need to wait for the laughter to end before they deliver their next line. How can this be, if the canned laughter isn’t added until after the scene is filmed? > [@SDSAB report](#): > > They’‘re generally added in post-production; that is, after the show is taped, while it’'s being edited for air ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/4 "2005-08-12T12:48:06Z")
Yes, wrong forum, I’ll move it over. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/5 "2005-08-12T13:18:37Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > How can this be, if the canned laughter isn’t added until after the scene is filmed? Careful scripting? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/6 "2005-08-12T13:21:16Z")
It’s true that live-audience laughter acts as a cue for the actors, but that’s more true for theater than it is for TV. Many TV soundstages used for sitcoms set the audience off a good bit from the actual stage. There are also crewmembers in between and a lot of activity takes place, even during shooting, and the actors (or “talent”) are more concerned with that than they are with listening for audience reaction, so the idea of laughter for timing and cues isn’t as major here. Robin ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/7 "2005-08-12T14:07:55Z")
JOOC, **MsRobyn** , did you mean to say “Not being a big fan of Scooby Doo myself, I _can_ understand why a laugh track was needed” instead of “can’t”? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/8 "2005-08-12T15:45:46Z")
Nope. I meant what I wrote. I’m really not a fan of “Scooby Doo”, and I can’t understand why there ever was a laugh track. It’s just not that funny to me. :shrug: Robin ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/9 "2005-08-12T17:52:07Z")
I cannot stand laugh tracks. If a show is funny, then it shouldn’t need them. (The simpsons, scrubs, etc). I can’t pay attention to the show. I keep just hearing all the fake laughter and it annoys me to no end. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/10 "2005-08-12T18:25:26Z")
When I come across a M_A_S_H_ episode I like, I’ll turn it off immediately if it’s one with canned laughter. The show’s funny enough without it. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/11 "2005-08-12T20:01:31Z")
Just out of curiosity, how did the OP (and those responding) find this Staff Report? It’s not dated until next week (Aug. 16th) and I can’t find it on the SD Front Page. Is there someplace where these are posted before they go on the Front Page? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/12 "2005-08-12T20:28:37Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > How can this be, if the canned laughter isn’t added until after the scene is filmed? Primeval TV star Milton Berle claims credit for inventing a sort of flashing light device that blinked to simulate the audience laughter. Performers could judge the “laugh” by watching the length and intensity of the blinks. I don’t know if it’s still used, or if the performers simply pause as long as they want the laugh to be. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/13 "2005-08-12T21:44:00Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Just out of curiosity, how did the OP (and those responding) find this Staff Report? It’s not dated until next week (Aug. 16th) and I can’t find it on the SD Front Page. Is there someplace where these are posted before they go on the Front Page? This was the Staff Report that came along with today’s mailing list e-mail. It surprised me, too. Robin ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/14 "2005-08-12T21:51:23Z")
And, in response to **kunilou** , most canned laughter is digital, which means that it can be easily edited to fit a desired length. Robin ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/15 "2005-08-12T23:03:23Z")
I, too, hate canned laughter. Whoever was in charge of editting in the laughs for Monty Python did a horrible job of it – it’s always too loud and too long, sometimes drowning out the next joke. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/16 "2005-08-13T04:44:33Z")
The “laughter begets laughter” idea was, apparently, used by Mark Twain. In _Roughing It_, Twain describes returning from his trip to Hawaii as a newspaper correspondent and coming up with the idea of becoming a lecturer. He wrote some material, hired a hall, and advertised his lecture but was very nervous that people wouldn’t like him. To allay this fear, he hired a couple of confederates to sit in the audience and laugh like mad at his funny stories. A glance from Twain was to be the cue to laugh. In the book, Twain claims that at the end of a particularly solemn part of the lecture that he was very proud of, he accidently glanced at one of his confederates (with a “hair-trigger laugh”), who proceeded to laugh. Everyone else took their cue from him and laughed too, and Twain’s serious, solemn story drew the biggest laugh of the night. Twain must’ve stretched the truth a bit, of course, but it shows that the idea of the laugh track came way before TV. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/17 "2005-08-13T21:29:48Z")
> [@The Weird One](#): > > Whoever was in charge of editting in the laughs for Monty Python did a horrible job of it – it’s always too loud and too long, sometimes drowning out the next joke. If you’re referring to the Flying Circus television series… The editing might have been off sometimes, or maybe a lot, but I don’t think the laughter was canned. Their skits were recorded in front of a studio audience, interspersed with pre-filmed sketches and animation that was also shown to the same audience. One quasi-exception was the “Attilla the Hun” skit (and there may have been others), in which they deliberately played around with canned laughter: exaggerating it, cutting it off very suddenly, and in general making it obviously artificial. You can still hear real laughter from the audience though, in between those bits. You can also tell that the laughter was natural by watching the very early and very late episodes, when the audience _hardly laughed_. If Python had been willing to use canned laughter, they presumably would have used it then. In the early episodes, the material probably fell flat because they had the “wrong” sort of crowd in the studio, and maybe because they were still finding their rhythm. In the later episodes it was because they were starting to run out of ideas, and the sketches were often incoherent. That, and John Cleese had left the troupe. (Much of all this is my personal opinion of course.) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/18 "2005-08-14T17:32:09Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > Just out of curiosity, how did the OP (and those responding) find this Staff Report? It’s not dated until next week (Aug. 16th) and I can’t find it on the SD Front Page. Is there someplace where these are posted before they go on the Front Page? There’s a link on the Front Page to subscribe to a mail list to get advance notice of the next weeks columns. Be the first on your block…well, one of the first. > [@](#): > > Join the Straight Dope mailing list! > > Too busy to check the Straight Dope Website every week? Afraid you’ll miss out on vital world knowledge? No problem! Subscribe to our mailing list and we’ll send you weekly column reminders and other Straight Dope news. Don’t worry, we’ll never sell, give, rent or otherwise convey your name to anyone else, cross our hearts. Please note that we require E-mail confirmation of a subscription so comedians can’t sign you up as a prank. > > To subscribe: > > Click on the link above, which will take you to the entry screen for our mail list server. In addition to subscribing, you can use this screen to change your e-mail address or put your subscription on hold. > Alternatively, click on this link, which will pop up a blank message addressed to our mail list server. Simply press “Send.” It’s not necessary to add any text. > If the link doesn’t work, send a blank message to: [join-straightdope-list@jokeaday.com](mailto:join-straightdope-list@jokeaday.com) > To unsubscribe: > > Click on the “unsubscribe” link in one of the mailings you received from us. This is the surest method. > Don’t have one of our mailings handy? Click on this link, which will take you to the entry screen for our mail list server. Then follow the directions. > Can’t get through? Click on this link, which will pop up a blank message. Press “Send.” Add no text. > If the link doesn’t work, send a blank message to: [leave-straightdope-list@jokeaday.com](mailto:leave-straightdope-list@jokeaday.com) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/19 "2005-08-15T13:35:42Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > If you’re referring to the Flying Circus television series… I was, and thank you for correcting me. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692/20 "2005-08-16T15:58:56Z")
I just now read Robin Cartwright’s Staff Report article. (Sorry — I’m a bit behind.) I’m intrigued by this statement: > [@](#): > > Douglass’s company now produces a machine about the size of a laptop that will do basically the same thing as the old Laff Box, but more so. In addition to age and gender, it offers **laughter in a number of accents** , useful for shows done in other languages. So what would distinguish audience laughter in different accents, assuming you can’t hear any specific spoken words? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-laughter/316692.md?page=2)