We all love our dads, but when the 'dad jokes' come out (especially in public) we tend to want to just slip away and pretend we didn't hear what he just said.
However, a new study has shown that a laugh track makes dad jokes funny. If just one person laughs, it makes the dad joke (believe it or not) funny.
This kind of laughter is usually seen in sitcoms to indicate something is funny and therefore it allows people at home to feel like they are apart of the audience. it prompts them to laugh along, and it works.
Much like when your dad cracks a terrible joke, if you hear someone laughing along, it prompts you to laugh along too.
Lead author Professor Sophie Scott, from University College London, said: "I'm fascinated that not only does laughter make the joke seem funnier, but that the more spontaneous the laughter, the funnier it makes the joke."
"What this study shows is that adding laughter to a joke increases the humour value, no matter how funny or unfunny the joke is.
"It also suggests we respond much better to spontaneous genuine laughter, rather than posed or canned laughter, showing the inherent human joy and value of a natural response."
The University tried the following jokes on volunteers for this particular research
1. "What does a dinosaur use to pay the bills? Tyrannosaurus cheque"
2. "What do you call a man with a spade on his head? Dug!"
Not exactly the funniest jokes, but perhaps if you heard someone giving them a hearty laugh, you might laugh along too.
So now when your dad says "cheer up, you could be stuck underground in a pool full of water", just know that he means well.
