A laughing matter
Just For Laughs Gags is all about pranks, jokes, laughs and hidden cameras. But how do they do it?
Just For Laughs Gags Season 13 Mon-Thu e.tv (*194) 16:25
With over 2 500 episodes, Canadianbased series Just For Laughs Gags (2000- current) is the world’s biggest hidden camera prank show – and there isn’t a single word of dialogue. “We were looking for a show to run for a year. We had this idea to focus on emotions and reactions but in a nonverbal format,” explains creator Pierre Girard. “This behaviour is universal and almost everyone on Earth can relate to it. Especially because there is no language barrier.”
DOWN TO DETAILS
It’s one thing coming up with an idea for a gag, it’s another making it work, explains co- creator Jacques Chevalier. The team have been together since day 1, with a handful leaving or joining. “The core group has been here since the start. It’s difficult because we’ve reached the point where we can’t start with new people. We have a mindset and formula that would be difficult for people to get into.”
The group sits from December to March developing the new season at
their base in Quebec, with up to 200 ideas being thought up every day. “We then narrow those down to 10 each day that we think will work best,” adds Jacques. But before they greenlight a gag for use, they make sure that every safety precaution is taken care of and that they’re within the law. “It simply has to be safe – no question about it. And not too offensive, but something that almost everyone will find funny. We’ve never had a serious accident and we have a medic. We let bystanders know what we’re planning so that they won’t be alarmed when seeing a gag enacted,” adds the co- creator.
HOW DO THEY DO IT?
Episodes are filmed around Quebec, including restaurants, stores, intersections as well as parks. Permit applications are submitted at least a month ahead of filming to be approved by the city council. The show has never been turned down because, as Jacques explains, “We provide every single bit of information, down to the types of cameras we use and clothes our team will be wearing.” Any props are made by the design crew, although they try to keep it as simple as possible. “Everything can be bought at a local hardware or clothing store. If you go to a massmart, everything is there, which makes it cheap and easy to create what we need,” adds Jacques.
Props are also tested to make sure that they’re safe and work as intended. Setting up the gags start before the parks and stores officially open so that they’re not spotted. The actors and the crew wait for their unsuspecting victims, which they are also careful to identify. “We make sure that we don’t find someone who looks nervous or we can see would by unpleasantly surprised,” says Jacques. “We are about laughter, not upsetting anyone.”
Participants sign waiver forms once they’ve been let in on the gag so that the show can use the footage. “We’ve had almost zero refusals,” says Pierre. “We do have one or two people who get in contact with us years afterwards and ask us not to air their gag. We put that tape in archive and it’s edited out of current syndication tapes.”