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RARE! Laugh Tracks, Black Box Found

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

Laugh Tracks: RARE Black Box Found!

A couple of years ago, this piece of television history popped up on ‘Antiques Roadshow’. Here is the video of the Charlie Douglas ‘Laff Box’ which was discovered among the items sold in a storage locker sale. Thankfully the new owner was curious, other wise, it would have gone into the dumpster like so much other TV history has.

Back in the 50s and 60s, Charlie Douglas was ‘The Man’ for laugh tracks in Los Angeles and traveled with his top secret black box to sweeten the tracks on many famous shows. He would wheel his black box of pre-recorded laughs into the post audio room, plug in to the mixing console, and proceed to treat the soundtrack with everything from chuckles to knee-slapping fits to applause.

Understandably, Charlie and his son Bobby were very protective of the technology and the library of carefully categorized audience reactions inside that black box. Now remember, this was before cart machines, but when the close up comes, you’ll see the loops rotating and I think this technology was called the Mckinzie tape loop system. Enjoy and Share! -Bobby Ellerbee

Watch now: Antiques Roadshow | Appraisal: 1953 Charlie Douglass “Laff Box” | PBS Video

Appraisal: 1953 Charlie Douglass “Laff Box”, from San Diego Hour 2

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14 responses to “RARE! Laugh Tracks, Black Box Found”

  1. Terry Brown

    Worked many years with Bobby Douglass when I was in Hollywood. Carol Pratt was a competitor of the Douglass’s, worked with him as well. When you tell them a joke their hands would immediately start moving.

  2. Saul David Haase

    That’s cool

  3. JohnMark Arnold

    Of course, the guy who now owns it is a complete dolt.

  4. Felix Girard

    Carts were great, but the Laugh Machine was legendary. Charlie was a real talent, played it like a piano with perfect timing …

  5. John Burnham

    I always thought I could here desi arnaz laughing on some of these tracks. Is this possible? This is a great page!!

  6. Melinda Sparks

    Excellent.

  7. Barbara Hagan

    After watching the video I’m surprised Mr. Douglas’s family didn’t claim the storage space years ago. He did not pass this world a poor man. Strange. Anyway, when I was hired in 1975 at CBS in LA I was part of a SFX Department of about 10 people…we gained new hires or lost to retirement over the years. Ross Murray was my friend and boss for most of those years, and Tom Buchanan took over after Ross retired. We sweetened many shows in post production using Mackenzie cartridges. Shows like All In the Family and Carol Burnett. Ross and Tom did live sfx in booths on stage 33. I made many of them myself for Price Is Right and Match Game, etc. Still have the splicing blocks and silver tape we used as end stops after we recorded the sounds we wanted and put them in the cartridges. I loved all the good times and doing live shows with a wonderful, knowledgeable group of people…..the best. I think I can post a few pictures here….I’ll give it a try. Seems only one is posting….I’ll try to put the other two in the comments section.

  8. Al Killion

    Worked with his group a number of times when I was still editing in LA. We had a special jack for him to plug into when he came. It was great watching his face. He changed expressions as he watched the show and played the machine like an organ.

  9. Dennis Degan

    In the 1990’s Unitel posted ‘Hollywood Squares’ during its run of shows shot at Radio City Music Hall. There was a ‘Laff Machine’ used in the edit room, I don’t know if it was this one or not.

  10. George Boes

    WOW !!!

  11. Mike Medrano

    Love it!

  12. Don Newbury

    These behind the scenes things are fabulous

  13. Mike Prendergast

    Great find!

  14. Jim Cox

    I worked on a sitcom in LA many years ago and the producers hired him to come in and run laughter during a run-thru . The actors had been talking into laughs when the audience came in and this was used to help that .

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