What Happens When a Joke Is Followed by Silence
![](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/8r1bdmtcw0bybsn7/images/fileWMBQ2O2K.jpg)
Imagine sitting down at a grand piano to play, I don’t know, a Chopin ballade—something that requires technical skill and emotional engagement, an understanding of rhythm, stress, and volume. Now imagine that when you press the keys, you hear absolutely nothing.
That’s what performing comedy without an audience is like.
Over the past month, comedians have been relearning how to generate laughs when no one is there to laugh back. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, they are recording remotely, over the internet, usually sitting safely in their own homes. On The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon began the social-distancing era trying to make his crew and house band crack up; now he’s filming from home, and his two young daughters are redefining the phrase tough crowd.
Britain doesn’t have the same tradition of late-night chat shows with opening monologues. Instead, it has “panel shows,” on which guests answer questions from a host about a given topic; politics and sports are the favorites. Lols, hopefully, ensue. For—a BBC Radio comedy show that is older than I am. And in November, I got my first stab at its BBC Television equivalent, (a relative youngster, having broadcast its first program two days before my seventh birthday).
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days