Crowds and teenagers

Today I was too busy to do the 'hello' experiement but I had my fair share of interaction. I was rehearsing all day for my 'second city skit show', did the show, and it's now 6pm.

However, I did manage to devise a social theory based on the show I was involved in today compared to the one last weekend. Last weekend the audience was easily over 70, this week, close to 20. I can tell you that a large audience is much happier and receptive than a small audience. Making a 20 person audience laugh is much tougher than a 100 person audience. 20 persons and less audiences are like an insecure teenager. They don't want to laugh, just in case what they laugh at isn't considered funny by their peers (other audience members), because that would mean they aren't cool. On the contrary, a 70+ audience is like drunk teenagers at a party. There are enough loud laughers, and drunk bafoons around so everyone is laughing and after a while they forget why.

This has to do with the feeling of invasion we all try desperately to avoid all day long. In a small group we feel that we are being judged. So here are some mental hypothesis that surround close space laughter.


If I laugh at that joke in front of this small group of people they will notice my laughs and then be able to judge my laugh; ie. is it annoying, is it cool, etc..

If I laugh at that joke in front of this small group of people they will assume that I can relate to that joke a little too much, and maybe I'm the same creep that is being identified through that joke. Ie. laughing at a facebook joke like the one below-

"I love being poked" - If I laugh at this, people around who didn't laugh now think that I love to get poked.

If I laugh at that joke and other people don't I will look like an idiot.

Stay tuned for more, BUT, in temporary conclusion, the reason I didn't get a ton of laughs today, is not because I wasn't hilarious. It was because there weren't enough people in the audience to allow everyone to remain anonymous with their laughter. I feel a lot better after writing this.....