- Does the audience need to stop paralyzing their faces or do the jokes just need to be funnier?
You’re a stand-up comedian up on a stage, and you finally tell your best joke. Yet nobody in the audience laughs.
This is a nightmare scenario for all funny people, both amateur and professional. But what if the audience’s emotionless faces aren’t a result of your bad jokes?
What if they’re literally incapable of smiling?
That’s what the management and performers at the Top Secret Comedy Club believe, anyway. The owner of one of London’s most popular comedy venues says comedians are sick and tired of seeing Botox-filled faces in the seats.
Botox injections, a popular anti-aging treatment, smooths out wrinkles by partially paralyzing your facial muscles. Consequently, those who have received Botox treatment may find it harder to emote with their faces — and comedians don’t find that funny.
Due to the influx of complaints, the owner of Top Secret has now banned Botox-injected faces from the club. Those looking to attend shows must pass an “expression test” or be turned away at the door.
And no, this is not a joke on the joke club’s part. The owner says he’s dead serious.
A Serious Issue
The Top Secret Comedy Club is one of the prime spots in London if you want to see something funny. Located on Drury Lane in the Covent Garden district, the club has hosted some of the biggest names in stand-up comedy.
Its cavalcade of stars includes Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Jack Whitehall, and more. You don’t need to find all of them funny, but they are big names.
Recently, however, the comedians haven’t found performing at Top Secret to be a barrel of laughs. Specifically, that’s because the audience isn’t laughing.
That’s not necessarily because the jokes are falling flat, either. The comedians believe it’s because they are physically incapable of smiling — because of Botox.
Botox injections are increasingly popular in the UK. According to industry estimates, more than one million people annually seek to smooth out their wrinkles by injecting goo into their faces.
Comedians at Top Secret, however, are getting tired of the emotionless, Botox-filled faces in the crows, the club’s owner, Mark Rothman, said.
“I’ve had numerous complaints from performers who find it increasingly challenging to gauge audience engagement and bounce off their reactions,” Rothman told The Independent.
As a result, the club has now taken drastic measures. If you have Botox, you’re no longer allowed to enter the shows.
Laugh or You Don’t Get to Laugh
Since March 5, Top Secret has subjected people seeking entry to the club’s shows to an expression test at the door. According to Rothman, the bouncers have been trained to spot people with Botox and ask them to make some facial expressions if necessary.
If the face doesn’t emote, the door doesn’t open.
The decision to ban people with Botox injections is certainly one to raise eyebrows (if those hearing the news are capable of raising their eyebrows). However, Rothman says the measure is a “last resort” to give the performers the audience they deserve.
“Our incredibly talented comedians are fed up with performing to reactionless faces,” he explained.
“Comedy thrives on connection, and facial expressions play a huge part. We want people to laugh, cry, frown, sneer, but frozen faces from Botox impact the entire atmosphere,” Rothman added.
The decision is certainly controversial, not least because some comedians don’t sport their natural faces, either. Some performers (Katherine Ryan, for instance) certainly aren’t strangers to Botox needles.
The comedians themselves welcome the double standard, however.
“Performing to an audience with frozen faces can be incredibly tough,” said Andrew Mensah, one of the club’s regular stand-up acts.
“Comedy is a two-way street – we feed off the energy and reactions of the crowd. Mark and the team are always devising new ideas to support us comedians. This must be his best one yet.”
Of course, you also have comedians who intentionally perform their shows with utter deadpan expressions. Then again, the audience has paid to see that — the jokesters would probably still like to see some smiles.
Wrinkle-Free Skin, But at What Cost?
But is there actually any basis for the claims of Botox-filled lips not curling into a smile? Or is this just a matter of unfunny comedians looking for a scapegoat for the lack of laughs from the audience?
It’s a bit of a yes and no situation. You can still make expressions even if you’ve pumped a lot of Botox in your face — but the stuff does make it harder.
You see, Botox is a neuromodulator, or a substance that affects the transmission of nerve signals. When injected into your face, it prevents some of your facial muscles from contracting, which makes your wrinkles less obvious.
Yet, that also means it works by partially paralyzing your face. So yes, it’s harder to smile widely after receiving Botox.
Additionally, according to studies, Botox impacts how those who receive the injections experience emotions. A big part of human emoting is matching the facial expressions of the ones we’re interacting with, even if we’re unaware of it.
A Botox-filled face can’t form a smile as wide as the comedian on the stage. As such, research shows the “haha, funny” reaction is dulled, and the injected audience member doesn’t laugh as hard at the jokes.
But is Botox really as big of a problem in the stand-up world as Top Secret and the club’s performance make it out to be? Well, we at Oddee can’t see our readers’ faces, so we wouldn’t know.
Not that there’s anything funny about the important odd news we bring you.