What is The Laughter Track?

The Laughter Track is a term used in television for the fake laughter added on to the background of a situation comedy. You know, the really bad ones where they try to convince you that there is a live audience who find absolutely every word that comes out of any character's mouth hysterically funny, whether it was intended to amuse or not.

Good sit-coms tend not to use a laughter track. They either give you the laughter of a live audience, or none at all. That's the way it should be. There should be no need of a laughter track. We should be the laughter track. That's what this site is all about.

All good comedy starts with live comedy. Whether it is a situation comedy, a sketch show, or just someone standing there with a microphone in their hand, that's where it all begins. That's where the best performers and the best writers cut their teeth, and learn how to be funny.

And they say laughter is the best medicine. Good for what ails you. Comedy allows you to laugh through the good times, and more importantly, allows you to laugh through the bad ones as well. Some of the best comedy has come along at times of the worst adversity.

That's why the live comedy scene is so important, and why it needs to be supported. Today comedy is big business, and the top comedians can perform sell-out tours of huge barn-like arenas and charge over-inflated ticket prices. But they all started out somewhere very different. They all started out, an unknown face, standing in a room, with nothing but a microphone, and with the faces of strangers staring at them saying, go on then, make me laugh.

We have started this site as a way of supporting the live comedy circuit of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The contributors are people who have enjoyed live comedy at various levels, from the dingy clubs and back rooms of pubs to the wide open spaces of the arena shows over a number of years, and would like to infect others with their own enthusiasm.

Through reviews of live shows, and news of upcoming events, the aim of his site is to encourage people to get out and experience live comedy more. To look at what is happening on the comedy scene in their own part of the country, and to support it. We would hope, eventually, to have contributors from all parts of the country, and would welcome anyone to join us who shares our enthusiasm.