Canned Laughter

Kristoph

Kristoph

Kristoph

Soldato
Joined
11 May 2007
Posts
8,303
Watching mock the week now.

Shockingly bad canned laughter, sounds like it was recorded on a tape player in the 80's. Fades in and out so fast it goes from eruption to silence in half a second.

It's sad that they need to resort to this, but I guess it beats having dead silence after each joke.

I'm trying to think of other shows where it's used, Friends came to mind but I'm fairly certain they have a studio audience.

Do you think canned laughter adds to something like this in a positive or negative way?
 
its very 90s canned laughter, or even earlier than that, as Andy Kaufman said "those are dead laughs, dead people laughing".

Any self respecting comedy these days wont have it. I don't watch it but I put on the IT Crowd just to see what it was like and that canned laughter on it and it just seemed to dated and out of touch that I just turned it off.
 
Two jokes I just heard on the show.

Talking about Ed and David Miliband.

"Ed is the more normal of the two, but that's like saying Reggie was the nicer Kray Twin"

Straight faces from all other comedians sat there.

"They've done some research into the Miliband brothers, it turns out they have over one hundred legs between them"

I much prefer some of the guests on shows like QI. It's on the spot, not a huge amount is scripted, it's clever and witty and they have a studio audience.
 
It's probably the way it's cut.

I'd expect it to sound like canned laughter when it's trimmed from possibly an hours worth of film, down to 30.
 
I really don't like mock the week.

It's reasonably funny, but so hideously scripted to the point it's basically screaming at you "If this were any more obviously scripted it would be stamping on your face, and we are laughing at you for being such a mug and watching it"
 
I used to like mock the week when it was first broadcast but the blantantly obvious scripting got to me. That and constantly switching to shots of the 'comedians' laughing about anothers' joke.

We know it's intended to be funny, we don't need a mug shot of Hugh Dennis trying to force a smile just to prove the point.
 
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i hate canned laughter, watched the ashes to ashes sports relief special and they had canned laughter in that....it ruined the program! even in programs like you've been framed...just winds me up
 
a lot of older shows had it like Red Dwarf, The Fast Show etc. not sure if it was good or bad but when I look back it just seems to suit it (probably because I've never seen them without the laughter. lol it's just part of the show now)

I think it was def noticable when it wasn't there with the Back To Earth eps of Red Dwarf and if I'm honest I did miss it! I think i'd have prefered it with than without
 
I think some of it in Friends was added in at times, but it was always the laughter or reaction of the studio audience that they used.

I do remember an episode where they didn't have any laughter added in, not sure why or when, but it did make it feel a little odd to watch.
 
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