Improvoker

Long have I held the belief that a packed audience for any show, including a graduation show, is the key to a great performance. Today the New York times in an article What’s So Funny? Well, Maybe Nothing cites a study which further proves that having familiar people (in your social circle) in the audience, will lead to easy laughs for you.

Laughter can be used cruelly to reinforce a group’s solidarity and pride by mocking deviants and insulting outsiders, but mainly it’s a subtle social lubricant. It’s a way to make friends and also make clear who belongs where in the status hierarchy.

The study showed that people put in a situation where they needed support, or felt at a disadvantage, were far more likely to laugh at even the lamest of jokes. This might also be an explanation why some improvisers find themselves laughing on the first day of classes out of nervousness of not being accepted.

Primal laughter evolved as a signaling device to highlight readiness for friendly interaction, sophisticated social animals such as mammals need an emotionally positive mechanism to help create social brains and to weave organisms effectively into the social fabric.

While there still is no magical formula for creating the perfect joke and getting an easy laugh, this is interesting news for performers seeking laughter. Although my favorite joke still remains this one.