Make 'Em Laugh

Head Sound Designer

February 2025 | Bishop Fenwick High School Drama Club • METG Drama Festival Production

The METG Drama Festival does not allow microphones to be used to amplify actors' voices, therefore, I only had to create sound effects. A large part of this production's sound design included various laugh tracks and other canned audience reactions, meant to give the effect that the show was taking place inside sitcoms from various eras. These sounds were thoughtfully selected, trimmed, and cued into the show’s script.

A script for Make 'Em Laugh, which has various sound cues highlighted. Page two of a script for Make 'Em Laugh, which has various sound cues highlighted.

The sound operators needed to fire the cues with perfect timing in order to give the correcrt styles of the different sitcoms, and not to interfere with actors' dialogue. To simplify running the show, I created a Go Button file and loaded all sound effects needed.

A screenshot of an iPad running Go Button, which has a file loaded containing sound effects for Make 'Em Laugh.

For more previews of content shown here, or for downloads of any resources shown, please Contact Dave.