Inappropriate audience laughter

persephone88
#1Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 3:15pm

Have you ever attended a play or musical where a significant portion of the audience laughed during a very serious moment? last weekend my daughter and I went to see Long Day's Journey Into Night at BAM. Although there are a few lighthearted moments in the play, we were stunned that during some very poignant moments audience members laughed. The actors line deliveries were fine and they were not trying to be humorous, so we were puzzled to hear people laugh.

The same thing happened last night when we attended a local production of The Crucible. There were a few times when characters were discussing their religious beliefs and audience members laughed out loud. Again not an intentionally funny moment in the script and not due to poor delivery or intentional humor from the actors. My daughter and I just looked at each other in disbelief that people would laugh in serious parts of a performance, and we felt bad for the actors on stage.

Have you ever been at a show where someone in the audience laughed or otherwise gave a very inappropriate response, ruining what should be an important moment in the performance?

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EthelMae
#2Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 4:11pm

Yes! At movies and theatre. I think it's some kind of self-acknowledgement that they have to let everyone know they get what's going on or maybe it's being uncomfortable in a serious moment and they don't know how to deal with their feelings so they laugh loudly. Whatever the reason, it's jarring and perplexing.

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South Fl Marc
#3Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 5:49pm

Not knowing specifically which parts you are talking about, I can't give a definite answer. There is the possibility that because of personal reasons they found those parts funny. Having dealt with the politics of organized religion for a large part of my life, I have to say that I find some parts of the Crucible, especially in Act 1, funny that most people don't. I recognize the hypocrisy, the holier than thou attitude  and, more importantly, the power struggle that happens in a church setting. Because of that, some of the play that deals with the power struggle for control of the church I find funny in a dark sort of way. It's because I KNOW these characters and they still exist today.

JSquared2
#4Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 5:57pm

Humor is subjective.  Just to reference another thread, some people might find it hard to resist the urge to snicker seeing John Simon fall on his face stumbling up the theater steps in the middle of a show.

IlanaKeller
#5Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 6:58pm

persephone88 said: "Have you ever attended a play or musical where a significant portion of the audience laughed during a very serious moment?"

My first inclination, without knowing more, is that if a "significant" portion of the audience is laughing, then perhaps it was a moment that either was not as serious to all as your interpretation was, that perhaps there was a local "in-joke" (maybe there's a local politician named Tony or whatnot), or maybe someone in a different part of the audience farted. Inappropriate audience laughter 


Twitter: @IlanaKeller Latest work: app.com/topic/asbury-park-broadway/

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Elfuhbuh
#6Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 7:02pm

This has happened for me in movie theaters, but never in a live setting. It's usually when the movie is terrible and the "serious" scene onscreen just isn't giving off the effective vibes needed to make the film work, but I can't imagine why the audience would laugh in your situations since you don't seem to think the shows were bad. People are strange.


"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire

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henrikegerman
#7Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 7:23pm

Occupational hazard of show business.  Impact is impact.  If one feels like laughing, no matter what the reason, one laughs.

I once got apoplectic with laughter during Larry Kramer's The Destiny of Me, because the play's excess of melodramatically  catastrophic events struck me as ludicrous.  I was the only one with this reaction at the Lucille Lortel at the time.  Do I regret my paroxysms?  Hell no.  They were genuine.

Updated On: 5/22/18 at 07:23 PM

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Dave28282
#8Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 8:22pm

Yes, during many moments in the Les Miserables movie. 

But the movie kind of asks for it, they apologize for the singing so badly, that after 4 spoken words, using a sheepish vibrato on the 5th feels so incredibly out of place that one can only laugh.

They did everything they could to act in spite of song, instead of through song.

That results in a funny bunch of actors battling between acting and attempted singing, looking miserable while doing it.

Any fool could see that that's laughable so I'm not sure if it was unintentional, but for me personally the movie was a mix between laughter and feeling seriously violated and belittled.

EdEval
#9Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 8:55pm

It happened when Mary Martin started to sing The Sound of Music in what was one of her last appearances in that show.  Something struck the audience funny and they began giggling.  Numerous people started shushing and poor Mary began to look perplexed.  It was a mystery nobody knew what caused it.

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GavestonPS
#10Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 9:21pm

^^^ Couldn't have been the fact that Maria was in her 50s and still hadn't made "nun" level, could it?

I laughed all through the pre-Broadway tour of MARTIN GUERRE because, to me, the homoerotic subtext was so not "sub". I was among the minority, however, so I did my best to stifle my amusement.

robskynyc
#11Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 9:24pm

My friend and I were laughing hysterically at AfterGlow- the cheesy dialogue, the absurdity. It was all the more awkward by the small size of the theatre. But as the play went one, you could hear more people
snickering. If I wasn’t trapped at the back half of the house I would have left 20 minutes in.

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RippedMan
#12Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 9:51pm

I was doing a production of Hunchback and people would crack up every time Frollo said "You don't want to hurt me" and the Gargoyles would reply "Yes you do." And we could never figure out why that was funny to people.. 

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South Fl Marc
#13Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 11:16pm

henrikegerman said: "I once got apoplectic with laughter during Larry Kramer's The Destiny of Me, because the play's excess of melodramatically catastrophic event struck me as ludicrous. I was the only one with this reaction at the Lucille Lortel at the time. Do I regret my paroxysms? Hell no. They were genuine."

 

Of course you did. With the exception of "The Normal Heart", Larry Kramer's work is CRAP.

astromiami
#14Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/17/18 at 11:44pm

RippedMan said: "I was doing a production of Hunchback and people would crack up every time Frollo said "You don't want to hurt me" and the Gargoyles would reply "Yes you do." And we could never figure out why that was funny to people.."

Even reading your description made me laugh.

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Lot666
#15Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 8:50am

I saw last year's revival of Sunset Boulevard five times. During one performance, several philistines laughed at Norma Desmond's mental collapse in the final scene. I was offended for Glenn Close.


==> this board is a nest of vipers <==

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- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage

Rainah
#16Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 9:27am

I'm working on a show right now, and there's a line like that. In the context of the show, it's terrible and sad, but unless you're specifically thinking about it, it feels like it should be a humorous line. I pulled the actor aside and said, just so you know, it is likely that people will laugh at this line. They're going to laugh as a knee jerk reaction, then they're going to feel like jerks for laughing.

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Bwayfan292
#17Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 9:32am

When I saw Hamilton, at the point where
*spolier**

Phillip dies. The people behind me started laughing. Idk if it was a nervous or uncomftable laugh or what but it definitly took me out of the world, and i couldnt enjoy the moment


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BrodyFosse123
#18Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 9:58am

I saw last year's revival of Sunset Boulevard five times. During one performance, several philistines laughed at Norma Desmond's mental collapse in the final scene. I was offended for Glenn Close.

With all due respect, Glenn did indeed play for laughs this time around in SUNSET BLVD.  

Having seen her a handful of times back in 1995 in the original Broadway production where she played Norma Desmond with serious tones, I was utterly disgusted when I saw this concert-style revival last year and watched her mug and milk the laughs upon her first entrance.  She continued this throughout the performance therefore of course the audience laughed when she made her final scene descend from the staircase and uttered her dialogue.  


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Lot666
#19Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 10:22am

BrodyFosse123 said: "I saw last year's revival ofSunset Boulevardfive times. During one performance, several philistines laughed at Norma Desmond's mental collapse in the final scene. I was offended for Glenn Close.

With all due respect, Glenn did indeed play for laughs this time around in SUNSET BLVD.

Having seen her a handful of times back in 1995 in the original Broadway production where she played Norma Desmond with serious tones, I was utterly disgusted when I saw this concert-style revival last year and watched her mug and milk the laughs upon her first entrance. She continued this throughout the performance therefore of course the audience laughed when she made her final scene descend from the staircase and uttered her dialogue.
"

Our experiences were apparently quite different. While Michael Xavier could often be accused of "mugging and milking" for laughs, I didn't get that from Ms. Close. 


==> this board is a nest of vipers <==

"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage

Nicole 10
#20Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 11:05am

One moment that immediately came to my mind is "Room Where it Happens" with the current Hamilton cast. My biggest grapple with Daniel Breaker's take on the role has been that he plays Burr in a comedic style and kind of makes him seem childish and jealous rather than collected and threatened.

This different interpretation of the characters becomes clearest in this song when everyone is singing to him "what do you want Burr, if you stand for nothing Burr, what do you fall for?" And it's supposed to be a big climactic dramatic moment for Burr's character development and we slip into his thoughts in that moment when the music cuts off and Burr responds more to himself than to the others with "I want to be in the room where it happens" 

I've seen it with Leslie Odom Jr and the moment is just chilling and super dramatic. I've seen it with Daniel Breaker 3 times and ALL 3 TIMES PEOPLE HAVE LAUGHED AT THAT MOMENT! I have never been able to process how all the character development could lead to that moment and be played for laughs! 

urnothingwithoutme
#21Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 11:13am

Just this past Wednesday at Once on This Island, there was a bizarre outburst of laughter during the scene when Daniel tells Ti Moune he is engaged and essentially breaks her heart. It made no sense why multiple people laughed right there, and totally took me out of the moment. Has that happened at other OoTI performances? 

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MsEmilia
#22Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 11:47am

The most uncomfortable case of this I ever witnessed was when I saw Cabaret and a lotttt of people laughed at the end of If You Could See Her. It felt...wrong.

Same with the most recent production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, there was a lot of laughter during the scene where Valmont assaults Cecille. Perhaps it was the result of how awkwardly the scene was staged (I liked the production overall but this scene was done horribly), but people laughed several times and it made me feel just a bit sick to my stomach.

Fluffy 2
#23Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 3:08pm

I’ve heard stories of people laughing when Melchior rapes Wendla in SA, probably just because they’re uncomfortable, but still weird.

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kdogg36
#24Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 4:32pm

The original production of PASSION elicited some unintended laughter. I’m afraid, despite the fact that I now consider this a masterwork, that I might have been part of the problem. I can’t cite the source, but I think Sondheim has said that inappropriate laughter is always the fault of the creative team, not the audience.

I am keenly looking forward to seeing PASSION at the Signature (Virginia) this season.

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kdogg36
#25Inappropriate audience laughter
Posted: 5/18/18 at 4:32pm

Duplicate. 

Updated On: 5/18/18 at 04:32 PM