To laugh is human, in a full room, divine
We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
Dismiss
Normal text size
Not all laughter is created equal.
Consider the canned variety. For decades it was the rule that TV and radio comedy came with a pre-recorded laugh track, and Charley Douglass was their maestro. The sound engineer at CBS studios cobbled together a machine out of household odds-and-ends on which he could store up to 320 different laughs, from the gentle murmuring titter to the full-throated guffaw. He’d play them like a mad organist, pumping pedals and twisting dials, allowing his faked studio audience to gather in volume and intensity as the on-screen performers built towards their biggest gags.
To laugh is human, in a full room, divine
smh.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from smh.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Review: A Tom Gleeson gig is one hour of uncompromising, feel-good laughs
beat.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from beat.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Review: Sam Taunton’s ‘Rooster’ is cool, charming and relatable
Words by Alexander Crowden
It feels a little like Sam Taunton has come out of nowhere.
As it turns out, he isn’t quite the overnight success he seems. A RAW Comedy finalist in 2015, Taunton was selected to be part of the Comedy Zone at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival the following year before being nominated for Best Newcomer at the festival in 2017.
2019 was something of a breakout year for Taunton as he scored weekly segments on
The Project and triple j, also winning the Pinder Prize at MICF. Following this, a top notch review in
Words by Joanne Brookfield
O’Loughlin is appearing at Melbourne International Comedy Festival for two shows in 2021.
It’s a far more glamorous Fiona O’Loughlin you’ll see staring back at you from her posters or TV appearances these days. The fabulous new wardrobe and platinum locks are less about a calculated marketing rebrand and more about the “seismic shift” she’s currently going through in her personal life.
“It’s the first time ever I’ve felt good in my body,” she admits.
While her external appearance may have changed, she still retains that wicked cackle of hers and as an autobiographical stand-up, she’s as candid as she’s ever been as she talks with