Summary
Overview
The team discusses facts about laughter, cinema history, expensive hot chocolate, and the Craven Heifer (England's biggest touring cow). Amy Gledhill joins as guest, sharing insights from her recent appearance on Last One Laughing UK. Topics range from Victorian wallpaper poisoning to Beatles superfans posting themselves, with tangents covering swimming cows, Stephen King adaptations, and mysterious porridge shouters.
The Science of Not Laughing and Wallpaper
Amy reveals that according to science, thinking about wallpaper is one of the best ways to avoid laughing - information that would have been useful before filming Last One Laughing UK. The discussion explores various techniques for suppressing laughter, including facial muscle control, distraction methods, and reappraising jokes as non-funny. Amy shares her own strategy of keeping her mouth full of flumps (marshmallows) during filming, while noting that Bob Mortimer's attempt to help with neutral conversation backfired spectacularly.
- Science suggests thinking about wallpaper is an effective method to avoid laughing
- Amy used flumps (marshmallows) to prevent laughing during Last One Laughing UK
- Mel Giedroyc's jaw protrusion technique was so effective she developed a jaw injury requiring specialist treatment
- Bob Mortimer tried to help Amy with neutral conversation by asking 'Are you happy with your Hoover?' which nearly made her lose it
- Computers can distinguish tickle laughter from all other types of laughter
- Victorian wallpaper often contained arsenic and could be fatal
" Are you happy with your Hoover? "
" You tickled the wee out of me. "
American Cinema's Random Viewing Order Until 1960
Until 1960, American moviegoers could enter cinemas at any point during a film, which ran on continuous loops. People might arrive during the ending, watch until they reached the part where they came in, then leave. Alfred Hitchcock revolutionized this with Psycho, insisting audiences watch from the beginning, effectively changing American cinema culture forever. The campaign featured posters of Hitchcock pointing at his watch, demanding punctuality.
- Before 1960, American movies ran on continuous loops and people entered at any point
- Filmmakers knew a movie was successful if people stayed to watch the beginning after seeing the end
- Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in 1960 changed everything by requiring audiences to watch from the start
- Previous attempts to enforce viewing times had failed, including a 1945 campaign for Mildred Pierce
- British cinemas had ushers who would seat people, based on old theatre traditions
" Due to this sensational surprise twist in the ending of Mildred Pierce positively no patron will be seated in the theater during the last eight minutes of this picture. "
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