But what about live studio audiences, still a fixture for many sitcoms: Is there a way to guarantee they laugh at just the right time, with just the right amount of enthusiastic mirth after a particular gag? The television industry thinks there is, and that’s why it’s developed professional laughers — folks so good at guffawing they’re planted in live studio audiences to get everyone else sniggering, cackling or howling at just the right moment.
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She (Lisette St. Claire) started auditioning people, looking for dominating, infectious laughs that were explosive and unique. If folks made the cut, she put them into one of three tiers: top-level Group A, second-string Group B or “when hell freezes over” Group C.
She aimed for a 50-50 mix of men and women, and she discovered those in their 40s and 50s tended to be the best. She doesn’t know why; maybe it takes more life experiences, more joy and sorrow, to find things to really laugh about.
Her formula was a hit. Her phone was soon ringing off the hook, with three to four shows a week planting Central Casting’s cacklers in their audiences. Laughers got $75 for a day’s worth of chuckles, slightly better than your typical extra.
As crazy as it sounds, Hollywood might be on to something. Scientists have discovered that laughter really can be contagious, almost like a social disease. In 2006, London researchers found that the sound of laughter triggered parts of the brain that are activated when we smile. It’s as if the brain is primed for laughter even when it doesn’t know what exactly it’s laughing about.
The Humor Code: Professional Laughers, Straight Out of Central Casting / By Joel Warner and Peter McGraw / wire.com / January 25, 2012
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She (Lisette St. Claire) started auditioning people, looking for dominating, infectious laughs that were explosive and unique. If folks made the cut, she put them into one of three tiers: top-level Group A, second-string Group B or “when hell freezes over” Group C.
She aimed for a 50-50 mix of men and women, and she discovered those in their 40s and 50s tended to be the best. She doesn’t know why; maybe it takes more life experiences, more joy and sorrow, to find things to really laugh about.
Her formula was a hit. Her phone was soon ringing off the hook, with three to four shows a week planting Central Casting’s cacklers in their audiences. Laughers got $75 for a day’s worth of chuckles, slightly better than your typical extra.
As crazy as it sounds, Hollywood might be on to something. Scientists have discovered that laughter really can be contagious, almost like a social disease. In 2006, London researchers found that the sound of laughter triggered parts of the brain that are activated when we smile. It’s as if the brain is primed for laughter even when it doesn’t know what exactly it’s laughing about.
The Humor Code: Professional Laughers, Straight Out of Central Casting / By Joel Warner and Peter McGraw / wire.com / January 25, 2012
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