S2 Ep 2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Cool cool cool science

 
 

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‘Terry loves yoghurt’, ‘get woke Scully’, ‘title of your sex tape?’

Why do we find comedies funny? Why do sitcoms use laughter tracks? Why can one person be in tears of laughter, whilst another is straight faced when hearing the same joke? This week we explore comedy through the hit police sitcom Brooklyn nine-nine.

Sir Ken Dodd once said that comedy is the ‘performance of humour to obtain laughter’, in other words humour is the stimulus and laughter is the response. So, how much science is there in comedy? Did you know there are research studies looking at laughter in rats? No really, the researchers even play hide and seek with them…

We mention a YouTube clip in the show, of a baby laughing at the sound of ripping paper. We just had to include it here as an aperitif to the podcast. Enjoy!

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Meet our guests

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Sophie Scott

Professor Sophie Scott, CBE, is Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL. She studies laughter and the interpretation of language and even dabbles in a bit of stand up comedy herself. As a big fan of Brooklyn 99 she explained to us why we find it funny!

T: @sophiescott

 
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Brett Mills

Brett Mills is visiting Professor of Media at Edge Hill University and Professor of Media and Culture at the University of East Anglia. His research interests include comedy (especially sitcom), popular culture and popular television. Who better to ask about the various theories of comedy and why we find things funny?

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Episode References (if you fancy some extra reading)

  • BruBearBaby (2011) Baby laughing hysterically at ripping paper (Original). YouTube [video]. 25 Jan. Available from: Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper (Original) - YouTube

  • Bryant, G. A., Fessler, D. M. T., Fusaroli, R., Clint, E., Aarøe, L., Apicella, C. L., Peterson, M., Bickham, S., Bolyanatz, A., Chavez, B., De Smet, D. and Zhou, Y. (2016). Detecting affiliation in co-laughter across 24 societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113, pp. 4682–4687

  • Build Series (2017) The Story Behind Stephanie Beatriz's Audition for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine". YouTube [video]. 27 Oct. Available from: The Story Behind Stephanie Beatriz's Audition for "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" - YouTube

  • Cheng, D., & Wang, L. (2015). Examining the energizing effects of humour: The influence of humour on persistence behaviour. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30, pp. 759–772

  • Clark, A., Seidler, A., & Miller, M. (2001). Inverse association between sense of humour and coronary heart disease. International Journal of Cardiology, 80(1), pp. 87-88.

  • Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J. (2018) Social signals and antisocial essences: The function of evil laughter in popular culture. The Journal of Popular culture, 51(5), pp. 1214-1233

  • Libera, A. (2020) The science of comedy (sort of). AMA Journal of Ethics, 22(7), pp. 602-607

  • Mabuchi, K., Tanaka, K., Uchijima, D. and Sakai, R. (2012) Frictional coefficient under banana skin. Tribology Online, 7(3), pp. 147-151

  • Manninen, S., Tuominen, L., Dunbar, R., Karjalainen, T., Hironen, J, Arponen, E, Hari, R., Jaakelainen, L., Sams, M. and Nummenmaa, L. (2017) Social laughter triggers endogenous opioid release in humans. The Journal of Neuroscience, 37(25), pp. 6125-6131

  • Michel, A. (2017) The science of humour is no laughing matter. Association for Psychological Science [Online] Available from: The Science of Humor Is No Laughing Matter – Association for Psychological Science – APS

  • Miller, L. (2006) Undercover policing: A psychological and operational guide. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. 21(2), pp. 1-24

  • Oveis, C., Spectre, A., Smith, P. K., Liu, M. Y., & Keltner, D. (2016) Laughter conveys status. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 65, pp. 109–115

  • Panksepp, J. and Burgdorf, J. (2010) Laughing rats? Playful tickling arouses high-frequency ultrasonic chirping in young rodents. American Journal of Play, 2(3), pp. 357-372

  • Provine, R. (2004) Laughing, tickling and the evolution of speech itself. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, pp. 215-218

  • Romm, C. (2016) How do spies keep their double lives secret? The Cut [online]. 18 April. Available from: How Do Spies Keep Their Double Lives Secret? -- Science of Us (thecut.com)

  • Silvertown, J. (2020) The comedy of error: Why evolution made us laugh. London: Scribe