The Humor Code: Professional Laughers, Straight Out of Central Casting

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.

via The Humor Code: Professional Laughers, Straight Out of Central Casting | Underwire | Wired.com.

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