Canned laughter really DOES work: Even ‘dad jokes’ are funny when told alongside recordings of people chuckling, study finds
- Researchers from University College London looked at 40 groan-worthy gags
- These were tested on both 48 neurotypical individuals and 24 autistic people
- Found that all of the jokes were ranked funnier when aided by artificial laughter
- The surprising findings were recently published in the Current Biology journal
Adding canned laughter to a punchline increases how funny people find a joke, a new study suggests.
The research indicates that artificial laughter – often used in shows such as Alan Partridge, Friends and The Big Bang Theory – makes people rate low-quality jokes as funnier than they actually are.
However, spontaneous laughter was deemed more effective than pre-planned.
Scientists from University College London said the findings also held up in those diagnosed with autism.
Good humour: Steve Coogan pictured as his character Alan Partridge – his TV show often used canned laughter to heighten the effectiveness of its jokes
Smash-hit: The Big Bang Theory is one of many American sitcoms that also heavily relies on the use of artificial laughter to enhance their punchlines, especially with a global audience
In the study, 40 groan-worthy gags were given a baseline humour rating of between one – not funny – and seven – hilarious. Participants were asked to rate how funny the jokes were when read aloud by a professional comedian.
Two versions were created adding short canned – or posed – laughter and short spontaneous – or real – laughter.
Researchers deliberately chose weaker jokes so they could avoid ceiling effects when determining any influence of laughter.
Both versions of the jokes were tested on 48 neurotypical individuals and 24 autistic individuals in the study published in the Current Biology journal.
Laughter may be processed differently in autism, as typically developing children’s enjoyment of cartoons is enhanced by laughter tracks, watching with another or simulating a smile.
In contrast, autistic children’s enjoyment is not significantly adjusted by such manipulations.
Lead author Professor Sophie Scott, from University College London, said: ‘What this study shows is that adding laughter to a joke increases the humour value, no matter how funny or unfunny the joke is.
‘It also suggests we respond much better to spontaneous genuine laughter, rather than posed or canned laughter, showing the inherent human joy and value of a natural response.’
Edited: Shows like Friends are recorded in front of a live audience, but the real laughter is amplified during editing for particular jokes that had been well received
Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer star in the hit TV series Friends
Both groups gave higher funniness ratings for jokes paired with spontaneous laughter than with posed laughter.
The only difference was that those with autism gave all 40 dad jokes an increased funniness rating when laughter was added.
The research team at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience said this may be because neurotypical adults were more aware these dad jokes are considered childish and uncool.
Professor Scott added: ‘This research shows that while canned laughter does elevate the humour of a comedy, adding real laughter would get a better response.
‘This has been adopted in shows like Friends, which are recorded in front of an audience, with the real laughter amplified during editing for particular jokes that had been well received.’
WHAT 40 DAD JOKES WERE FUNNIER WITH CANNED LAUGHTER?
1 What do you call a bear with no socks on? Bare foot.
2 What button is impossible to unbutton? The belly button.
3 What did Michael Jackson call his denim store? Billie Jeans.
4 What is invisible and smells of worms? A bird’s fart.
5 What do you call a Minecraft celebration? A block party.
6 Who is the best Kung Fu vegetable? Brocc‐Lee.
7 What do you call a rabbit who is angry over getting burnt? A hot cross bunny.
8 What did the butt say to the other butt? PTTTTT .
9 What’s orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot.
10 Why couldn’t the toilet paper cross the road? He got stuck in a crack.
11 What’s round and sounds like a trumpet? A crumpet.
12 What do you call a sleeping dinosaur? A dino‐SNORE.
13 What do you call a man with a spade on his head? Dug.
14 What kind of hair do they sell at IHOP? Eggstensions.
15 What do you call an Asian man who always has correct change? Exact Lee.
16 What do you call an apple that farts? A fruity Tooty.
17 What is the best day to cook? FRY‐DAY.
18 What did the horse say when it fell? GIDDYUP!
19 What do you receive when you ask a lemon to help? Lemon aid
20 Why can’t you give Elsa a balloon? Because she will let it go.
21 When does a sandwich cook? When it is bakin’ lettuce and tomato.
22 Why did the smart phone need glasses? It lost all its contacts.
23 What state has the smallest drinks? Mini‐soda.
24 Why did the cow cross the road? They wanted to go to the mooooovies.
25 What do you call a funky car? Mustang.
26 What did the hammer say to his homeboys? Nailed it.
27 Why are cats good at video games? Because they have nine lives.
28 What do you call a deer with no eyes? No idea.
29 What is big and green and falls off over the tree will kill you? A snooker table.
30 What did the French guy do when he drank too much water? He went oui oui in his pants
31 Where do pencils spend their vacation? Pencil‐Vania.
32 What do flies eat for breakfast? A bowl of poop loops.
33 Why did the balloon go near the needle? He wanted to be a pop star.
34 What did the duck do when he read all these jokes? He quacked up.
35 Why was the tomato all red? It saw the salad dressing.
36 What do you call a female magician in the dessert? A sand witch.
37 How do billboards talk? Sign language.
38 What is brown and sticky? A stick.
39 I hurt my foot driving the other day. You know what I called? The toe company.
40 What does a dinosaur use to pay bills? Tyrannosaurus checks
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