Wait, How Do I Know It's Funny? A Rollicking History of Laugh Tracks

Ridiculous History

iHeartPodcasts

History, Society & Culture

4.3 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We've all heard them. You're watching or hearing a show, a character says something, and -- boom! -- an invisible choir of audience members loses their minds in riotous laughter, awws, or applause. But how did where does this come from? In today's episode, we're learning how this came to be, and how it eventually became its own worst enemy. Ben here: I'd like to give a special thanks to Max for some stellar sound design.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Mooraka and I'm back with season three of my podcast, Mo Bituaries.
0:05.9	I've dug up even more stories about the people and things that fascinate me.
0:10.6	From the fruit that once scandalized...
0:13.3	The shape of the banana made it taboo.
0:15.8	...to the band that played second banana to the Beatles.
0:19.3	They were lucky to come in second and the truth is they only came in second for about two months.
0:23.3	Listen to Mo Bituaries on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:29.9	Hi, I'm Ophira Eisenberg.
0:33.4	I'm a comedian and a parent.
0:36.0	Uh, the absurdity of telling jokes late at night and then waking up early with a small child in the morning.
0:43.8	I have a new podcast called Parenting is a joke.
0:47.0	I'll talk to other funny people who are also parents.
0:50.4	Will we be laughing?
0:51.6	Will we be crying?
0:53.4	Find out by listening to Parenting is a joke.
0:56.1	On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:01.6	Hey, I'm Joel Stein.
1:03.2	I want you to close your eyes and imagine a pocket watch.
1:06.9	It's moving from side to side.
1:09.4	You're getting very sleepy.
1:12.7	Great. Now that I've hypnotized you against your will,
1:14.9	you're going to start liking long-form journalism.
	...

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