Running Order

Running Order

Documentary: Laughing Matter

Channel: Channel 4

Scheduling: Thursday 8:30 – 9:00pm

Duration: 27 minutes (including advert break)

VOXPOP – Peoples reactions to a joke	20 seconds
Title sequence	20 seconds
Voiceover – introducing topic of the documentary and addressing it as a whole. Montage of people laughing, comedy venues, film posters and stand up	50 seconds
History montage, clips from jesters, punch and Judy, Laurel and Hardy, that was the week that was up to modern day comedy	1 minute
Laughter clinic as a medicine or stress relief interview + cross cut with clips from archive	1 minute
VOXPOP – Peoples favourite jokes	30 seconds
Interview with psychologist about what effect laughing has/ why do people laugh	1:30 minutes
Controversial comedy – archive footage Frankie Boyle + voiceover explaining. Schadenfreude – reactions watching Schadenfreude on screen	30 seconds
Comedy as an event – wide shots of crowds at Edinburgh comedy festival	20 seconds
Interview with John Bishop – talking about importance of comedy as an event and his experiences at the festival. Cross cut between interview and footage from the festival e.g. comedians shows, crowds around Edinburgh, street performers	2 minutes
Interview with various comedians about how they come up with material and how they know what will make people laugh – cuts between interviews and their shows and audiences laughter	1:30 minutes
How humour can affect relationships – interviews with laughter clinic and psychologist crosscut with shots of groups of people socialising	1:30 minutes
Cuts between interview with psychologist talking about how laughter can help relieve stress and shots of students working, students in exams, office workers etc	45 seconds
Interview with laughter therapist with cuts between the interview and shots of laughter therapy sessions	45 seconds
ADVERT BREAK	3 minutes
How humour differs between different social, age and ethnic groups – wide shots of stereotypical groups e.g. chavs, students, adults and people of different ethnicities. Narrator voiceover	30 seconds
Interview with comedian Chris Rock about humour within ethnic groups which cuts back to interview with Psychologist. Cuts between archive footage of Chris Rock stand up – showing majority of audience is black.	2 minutes
How different comedians appeal to different audiences – archive footage of comedians stand up shows and the contrast between the audiences.	30 seconds
Different cultures from around the world and how humour differs	1 minute
Taboo subjects – what shouldn’t be joked about e.g. racism – cuts between interviews with psychologist, comedians etc	2 minutes 30 seconds
VOXPOP – What topics do people believe should not be laughed at	1 minute
The dangers of comedy – history of jokes that have caused serious offence / practical jokes that have gone wrong – archive footage of newspaper headlines	30 seconds
Interview with person who has suffered from a practical joke gone wrong	2 minutes 20 seconds
Montage of different footage from previously in the documentary with narrator giving overall summary	1 minute
Archive footage – internet clips of funny videos with credits rolling on screen	50 seconds