A few weeks ago, I saw a short video clip of a standup comedian telling what seemed to be kind of a risky joke. However, in the video, the audience was roaring with laughter so I just thought maybe I was the outlier in thinking that the joke seemed a little too “out there.” Whatever, I thought, to each their own.
The other night I happened to catch the full comedy show that the clip was from. When it reached the joke I had heard before I recognized it, but something was off. I paused the show and looked up the clip on my phone.
Sure enough! In the clip, the audience was loudly laughing and cheering. But in the actual show, the joke fell flat, barely getting a few awkward chuckles. For the clip, someone had edited in the sound of uproarious laughter.
That was the only edit. The joke is the same, and the camera angle doesn’t actually show the audience so it’s easy to put in a laugh track. But it’s amazing how different the two clips seem! The delivery of the joke, the face of the comedian, it’s all identical – but in one, they’re met with enthusiastic agreement and in the other, awkward silence. And my perception of the joke was very different!
Like many jokes from comedians, it wasn’t a “bit,” but rather an opinion delivered in a funny way – and how I perceived agreement with that opinion was easily manipulated. In the short clip, I was convinced that I was an outlier for not sharing the opinion. In the full video, my impression is more that the comedian was the outlier. If I didn’t already have a fairly established opinion of my own on that subject, I could see it being easy to sway me with this trick.
Not all lenses are clear and straight, is what I’m saying. Every hoop information jumps through before it gets to you is a chance for someone to tweak what you hear and see, even if only through the context in which it reaches you. Keep your wits about you.
The Opportunity Machine 