The laugh button

I'm not a big fan of sit coms on TV. I just get annoyed with the laughter they add after every punch line (if it's not recorded infront of a live audience). It so structured, like: Now you're suppose to laugh. But I love stand up comedy. Because it's real. Real people laugh because they think it's funny.

Last night a couple of friends and I went on a stand-up-comedy-show at a bar in the city. Both professional comedians and total amateurs were on stage. The known professionals were really funny. People were cheering, laughing and clapping their hands. Then it was time for the amateurs, who were up on stage for the first time in their lives. I could see how nervous they were and even I felt nervous. And here is the worst part. Some of them were just not funny. People didn't laugh. I felt so bad and I really tried to laugh, but nothing came out. It's very uncomfortable, this silence that follows a punch line.

The whole thing reminded me of the old times when kings and queens were amused by jesters . People were just sitting there in the audience like lazy couch potatoes. Come on then. Make me laugh. Be funny. At those silent moments on the live show, I really wished someone could have just pressed the laugh button, like in the sit coms.