Henri Bergson’s assertions that “You would hardly appreciate the comic if you felt yourself isolated from others” and that “However spontaneous it seems, laughter always implies a kind of […] complicity, with other laughters” are particularly thought-provoking.[1] The implications that the best setting for comedy is a social one is corroborated by the live studio audiences and laugh tracks accompanying many earlier sitcoms, such as Friends (NBC, USA, 1994-2004). Bergson’s comments imply that watching comedy in a social setting makes us more likely to laugh out loud, but to me this raises the question of whether watching comedy together actually creates social pressure to laugh; as audience members, we enjoy the feeling of community when we react to the same jokes as everyone else.
Millions more people watch sitcoms like Friends on broadcast TV or streaming services than as part of studio audiences. I would like to posit that sitcom laugh tracks create the impression of a social setting (though it is a false one) and function to make a lone viewer feel like part of a group audience, influencing their reactions in turn. In this clip of Friends, the laugh track encourages (or pressures) the viewer into laughing at certain points. Small witticisms and moments of sarcasm or slapstick, such as Chandler’s irritation at the Rolos on the chair or his mocking imitation of Monica, are followed by short, light laughter. Meanwhile, Joey’s revelation later in the episode is met with uproarious laughter, cheering and applause. This suggests that the canned laughter indicates how funny each joke or gag is intended to be, and reveals that the show signposts its own comedic peak through a more exaggerated reaction in the laugh track which should be echoed by the viewer. This makes laughter feel much more constructed as the viewer’s response to the sitcom has already been predicted and even guided by the creators, thus corroborating Bergson’s notion that comedy and laughter are not so spontaneous as it initially appears.
Friends: Joey Finds Out (Season 5 Clip) | TBS – YouTube
[1] Henri Bergson, ‘Chapter 1’ in Laughter: an essay on the meaning of the comic (London: Macmillan, 1911), 5-6.Friends: Joey Finds Out (Season 5 Clip) | TBS – YouTube
I agree with your position and like the example of Friends. In one of my previous classes we learned that laughter from others does create a sort of “pressure” to conform with the norm to laugh in that instance; thus, making us more likely to laugh at a joke that we wouldn’t have previously if the canned laugh was omitted. However, I think an interesting question would be whether this ultimately makes the laugh ‘fake’ or illegitimate. Personally, I don’t think that it detracts from the legitimacy of the laugh, since we still get comedic pleasure from the scene/act that made us laugh (whether we know about the societal pressure or not). I am interested to see what others would think and whether they would consider the laugh ‘real’ even if it was encouraged/pressured from others.