World’s funniest comedy? ‘Airplane’ nets most ‘laughs a minute’

GlobalPost

The film "Airplane" has topped a new study on the world's funniest films by scoring the highest number of audience laughs per minute, according to The Telegraph

The Amazon-owned Lovefilm movie supply service conducted the test on 10 comedies chosen by film subscribers. 

The company used a ratio of total recorded laughs to the film's full minute length in order to quantify a film's funniness. Result: "Airplane" generated three laughs a minute, said The Telegraph, beating out "The Hangover" by little over half a percent (it got 2.4) and "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad," which scored 2.3. 

Of course you want to know what the rest got, so here goes: "Superbad" followed at 1.9, with "Borat" close on its heels at 1.7. Then came "Anchorman" (1.6). And…sorry, but Lovefilm didn't provide details on the rest. Apparently they only got a few measly chuckles.

Lovefilm editor (the subscription service's website publishes film reviews and features), Helen Cowley, told The Telegraph that "while Lovefilm members voted Life of Brian as the funniest film, our research shows that for laughs a minute the hilarious aircraft-based satire of Airplane beats the Monty Python epic hands-down."

Help keep The World going strong!

The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.

Make a gift today to help us reach our $25,000 goal and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer.