Buzz
When Ross cracks a paleontology joke on Friends, some viewers may find it funnier when the joke—regardless of its quality—is paired with laughter. This classic sitcom technique typically involves using a live studio audience or a pre-recorded laugh track. And it seems they’ve got a good reason for doing so.
In a recent study published in the journal Current Biology, a team from University College London gathered 72 participants, including 24 with autism, and had them listen to a series of so-called 'dad jokes' (a.k.a. bad jokes) performed by a comedian. These jokes were presented with either no laughter, forced laughter, or genuine, spontaneous laughter. The participants were then asked to rate the jokes on a scale from one to seven, with seven being the funniest. Here’s a sample of those laugh-worthy lines:
“What’s the best day to cook? Friday. Get it? Fry-day.” “What state has the smallest drinks? Mini-soda!” “Who is the best kung-fu vegetable? Brocco-Lee!”
Pretty lame, huh?
“We wanted to ensure that the jokes could be made funnier because if we had started the study with already fantastic jokes, there was a risk they wouldn’t improve,” explained Sophie Scott, a professor of cognitive neuroscience and the study’s lead researcher, to NPR. Participants rated the jokes without laughter on the lower end of the scale, from 1.5 to 3.75. However, when different types of laughter were added, the ratings went up, with spontaneous laughter getting the highest scores compared to the canned laughter.
The study highlights that “we are much more likely to laugh when we're around others,” regardless of whether the joke is genuinely funny. Back in 2000, a neuroscientist writing for Psychology Today reached a similar conclusion: "laughter is mainly a social vocalization that brings people together. It’s a universal language we all speak."
"Laughter plays a key role in making jokes seem funnier, and I think that’s because laughter is a powerful signal for humans," Scott told The Guardian regarding the findings of her study. "It always communicates something: not only that something is funny but that it’s okay to laugh."
