Who's that laughing at us?
Let's talk about that.
(
Good Mythical morning.
Today, y'all, Rhett is going to get
- a makeover from a mortician. - Yes, I am.
And we're also going to be hanging out with Zach Braff! Twice!
We'll be playing a game about bizarre podcasts with him,
- but first... - There's a lot of classic sayings
about laughter, like,
"A good laugh is sunshine in the house" from William Thackery,
or "Earth laughs in flowers," from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Or "Live, Laugh, Love," from Link's Aunt Debbie's cheap bathroom decor.
- Oh, you've seen that over the toilet. - Yes.
But what you don't hear is, "Laughter is deceptive,"
- Uh-huh. - but we should hear that,
because it actually is. According to an article in the peer-reviewed
scientific journal, "Evolution and Human Behavior,"
humans are crazy-bad at figuring out who someone is
based just on their laugh.
- Hmm. - So today, we're going to double-check
scientists' work, yet again.
It's time for...
You know him, you love him and you'll be seeing more of him
with his new show, "Alex, Inc.," on ABC.
- It's Zach Braff! - Boom!
- There he is. - Welcome to the show, eh.
- Thank you so much for having me. - High-five for doing that.
- Good to have you, man. - I always high-five in the mornings.
- ( laughs ) Yeah, you do. - Can we just go ahead and hear
a nice Zach Braff laugh?
Um... ( laughs )
See, I feel like if I just heard that I would know,
- "Zach Braff is here." - You would know that I was here?
The thing is, though I think I would be able to recognize you,
- Yes. - it's kinda because I know you.
- From all of your exploits. - Right.
- And maybe we'll be friends after this. - I hope so.
We'll get to know each other better. But science dictates
that that is not the case for a normal situation
with a stranger. Basically, a person's laugh, science says,
is both involuntary and contagious, so much so,
that you cannot pick up on identity cues, i.e.,
you cannot guess the person, if it's a stranger,
if you were to say, turn around and pick out the laugh.
Our goal today is to prove science wrong.
Yes, here's how this is gonna work.
We're about to meet six strangers.
We're gonna get their names, but no other questions,
then we're gonna put on blindfolds.
And then, one of them will step up to the microphone
and laugh, and then based on appearance alone,
we have to match the laugh to the person.
Right. And we're gonna write the names
of the person we think on these boards here.
Now, we get some lifelines to help us out.
- Okay. - We each have two.
We can ask anyone we suspect is the laugher a question,
or give them an assignment so that we can
get a little taste of their vocalization to help us along.
- Zach: Okay. - Whoever get the most right at the end
- gets to hug Zach Braff. - Yes! Now what happens if I win?
- You get to hug yourself. - I love that one.
It's gonna be great.
Our laughers are arrayed before us.
- Link: Let's meet them. - I'm Eljo.
- My name's Ethan. - I'm Aaron.
- I'm Belinda. - I'm Scott.
- Marla. - Oh...
That's all we have to go on.
I feel like I'm going to win this game.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean,
It seems like it's gonna be easy, doesn't it?
I think it does.
Stevie:
Okay. All right.
I put my blindfold on early, so I don't know if Zach's is on.
- It's on. - Is it, though?
- And mine is on. - I'm not a cheater.
Okay, can I have the first laugher
please step forward to the mic?
( high-pitched cackle )
( Rhett scoffs )
- Oh, ho, wow. - Wow!
Please step back into the line.
- Somebody's not holdin' back! - Zach: Yeah.
And you may remove your blindfolds.
- Okay. - We need that laugh to stick around.
- We know it was a man. - ( laughter )
Rhett: Man, it had a little bit of almost,
like, Wicked Witch of the West.
- Yes, it was kind of scary. - Yeah, right at the beginning,
and then it got a little more gentle.
I would call it "Wicked Delight."
- A happy, happy wicked. - Link: Yeah.
Okay, just right off the bat,
just for confirmation's sake, I'm going to break out a lifeline.
- All right, do it. - Zach: Oh, okay.
Marla, give me a detailed compliment.
- You have a beautiful beard. - Oh, wow.
- Can you give me some details about that? - ( laughter )
- That's a follow-up question. - Okay! All right!
- That's all I get! -
write down your answers, please.
That was helpful.
All right, it was definitely probably Ethan.
- Link: All right. - Zach: Okay.
Okay, Rhett, you are the tallest.
Please, let's see your answer.
Marla. Not just because she likes my beard.
Okay, Zach?
Marla, because she lies about people's beards being good looking.
( laughter )
And Link?
You know what? I agree. I'm so glad you asked Marla.
Will the real laugher, please step forward?
- All: Oh! - (
- All: What?! - Zach: Eljo, you lied to us!
Do it again. I don't believe you.
- Oh, wow. - Oh my goodness.
- Okay, we gotta regroup. - This is harder than I thought.
- Everything I thought I knew. - I wish I could flip this!
Okay, Eljo has been asked to leave because she tricked us.
Actually, that's how it works.
Once you laugh and you've been exposed,
you leave and replaced with a new person.
- Who do we have now? - Julianne.
- Oh, yeah. - Registering that tone.
- Okay. - Ready. Got it.
-
- All right, my eyeballs are asphyxiated. - No cheating.
Will our second laugher please step forward?
( maniacal laugh )
( laughs ) Oh, wow.
And you may take off your blindfolds.
- Marla, again! - ( laughter )
That was a breathily powerful...
- ...laugh. - Yeah, he really thought of something genuinely funny.
That came from the groin. Like, it just rumbled up.
Well, I wouldn't go that far, but, uh...
- ...okay. - Okay, I wanna use one of my lifelines.
- Okay. - Okay.
Ethan, what's the last time you laughed?
What was something that made you laugh really, really hard
in your life, that you recall now and can tell us about
that might spark some feelings inside you?
Well, it's actually quite a depressing story.
I don't want to get too far into it, but--
Okay. I don't know if you understood the question.
- ( laughter ) - When is the last time you laughed, Ethan?
Actually, just a moment ago, but I kept it to myself.
- Uh-- oh, tricky. - Mysterious.
Mysterious. Marla? It's Marla.
Yeah, definitely.
Please write down your answers.
Oh, shoot.
Rhett: Ah, gosh, this is--
I thought I was so confident coming into this.
All right, Zach, we're gonna go with you first.
Well, I don't believe that Ethan kept it inside.
Frankly, I think he laughed out loud
in a very bellicose manner. Ethan.
Okay, Link?
I do not think it's Ethan,
because under that demure smile... is Aaron's laugh.
-
because I am almost positive it was Scott.
Will the real laugher please step forward?
- Agh! - Yay!
( score counter chimes )
New potential laugher, would you introduce yourself?
- Hi, I'm Roddy. - All: Roddy. Roddy.
- Roddy. A little rasp in there. - It's warm.
- I like it. - Warm.
Okay, guys. Please put those blindfolds on.
Link: Roddy joins the ranks.
And will our laugher step forward and laugh into the mic, please?
( deep laugh )
( snickering )
( laughs )
- I mean... - Yeah.
- Oh, wow. Okay. - I mean, my gut is Marla.
- Rhett: Okay. -
Your gut is Marla. You've named it.
Yeah, this is my gut, Marla.
- Oh, man. I haven't used a lifeline. - I think you should.
- Yeah, please do that. Help me out here, Link. - Zach: Help me out.
Scott, would you mind saying the word,
"lug nut" eight times?
- That's not on here. - ( laughter )
- It's from my brain. - Feels like cheating.
Lug nut. Lug...nut.
( rapidly ) Lug nut.
( falsetto ) Lug nut.
- Oh, he's changing it. - That's helpful. Do it.
( choking ) Lug nut.
( drawn out ) Lug nut.
- Lug nut. - Whoa.
- Well, what happened-- - ( raspy ) Lug nut.
( baritone ) Lug...nut.
- Do you know what a lug nut is, Scott? - Yes, I do.
- Okay. ( exhales sharply ) - I'm pretty clear.
-
All right, Link, let's see it.
Definitely wasn't Scott.
I'm saying this is the new man, Roddy.
-
Will the laugher please step to the mic?
- It's Ethan! - Oh god!
- It's Ethan! - Argh! Raah!
- Ethan got us. All of us! - Boom!
All right, now we're mixing things up a little bit.
We have an all-female round.
And we have a new potential laugher to meet.
- That's right. - ( laughing )
- "That's right." - Ah, that's right.
- What's your name? - My name is India.
- That's right. - She's playing it close to the vest.
- See it on your name tag. - That's right.
- Playing it close to the jean jacket. - She has a catchphrase.
- She does. ( laughs ) - It's like "Did I do that?"
( laughter )
All right, guys, please put on your blindfolds.
Blindfold going on.
I'm stealing that catchphrase as soon as she leaves.
- ( laughs ) - That's right!
- Okay. - That's right.
Okay, could our laugher please step up to the mic
-
- Rhett: Ooh. - Zach: Mmm.
- Melodic. - Mm-hmm.
-
You could loop that,
and, like, Drake would be all over that, or something.
All right, I've got my suspicions,
but I do wanna use a lifeline.
India, please describe your process
for picking out fruit at the grocery store.
First, I go to the bananas and I feel those,
- to see how firm they are. - Whoa.
- That's right! - ( laughter )
That's right, India!
- ( laughter ) - Zach: Yeah, you do, India.
- Priorities! - ( laughing )
"I walk right up to those bananas..."
- Then what? - What happens next?
- That's a good question. - You go to the kiwis, don't you?
- Grapefruits. - Grapefruits! Okay! All right!
- ( laughter ) - Okay.
Um...I'm gonna use a lifeline as well.
( laughter )
- India... - ( laughter )
What's your idea of a perfect date?
Respectful. Handsome. Like you.
Ooh.
I think he's been a little naughty in his interpretation
- of your previous answers. - No, I--I really think that
this could work out between us.
- Are we ready to vote? - Yes!
- That's not what we're voting for. - Oh!
- We're just trying to figure out-- remember? - Oh, the laugh thing.
- I thought it was like-- - And here I am about to put the blindfold back on.
Like, why-- I'm so disoriented. This is too much.
- You're flustered. - Oh, my goodness.
- Wow. - Rhett: Having a lot of fun.
All right. Rhett?
Curveball. I think it's Julianne.
- Link: Wow. -
I just want to hear her talk, and laugh,
and maybe go on a date. India.
I just wanna win this game. I think it's India, too.
Will the real laugher please step forward?
- Rhett: Yes! - No!
- Whoo! Yeah! - What?
- I cannot win a round! - You thought you had a connection.
- I thought we connected. - Now, see, my perfect date
would've started with feeling the bananas, too.
- Oh! - Okay, Julianne!
- Uh-oh. - Wow.
This show's gonna need to be censored.
- You know what I got to say about that? - Zach: What?
- That's right! - ( laughter )
Okay, fellas, it looks like we have
- an all-male round. - Link: Yup.
And we have some new gentlemen to introduce themselves.
- Sir, will you go first? - William.
William, welcome to the party. And?
- Brian. - Brian. Welcome.
- You guys are quite a pair. - Yeah.
Did you come together?
- No. - Absolutely not.
Don't answer any more questions.
- He has no more lifelines. - He will try and trick you...
- But we're listening. - ...get you to talk.
- We all get helped. - Don't talk about his beard.
Blindfolds on, please.
Link: Okay. All right.
- No cheating. -
step forward and laugh into the mic, please?
( soft, creepy laugh )
Somebody does voiceover work for B-movie cartoons.
Please take off your blindfolds.
Okay. That one ended in quite a whimper.
- Oh, I have a lifeline. - We're out of lifelines.
- Are we out? - Yeah, we're out over here.
Oh, you're the only one with lifelines.
- Uh... - Choose wisely, Link.
- We're all depending on you. - Hmm.
William, I was wondering if you could
engage in small talk with me,
as if you're my hairdresser
and this is my first appointment.
- No. - William, I heard you're the best
cutter of hair in this side of L.A.
- Would you please cut my hair? - Yes.
Would you please give me some small talk,
to kick off our short but vibrant relationship?
- Love your hair. - Oh, thank you.
Do you have any notes for
what you're gonna do with it?
- Give it to the poor when I cut it. - ( laughs )
Okay. He's gonna give my hair to the poor.
- It's noble. -
They eat hair. Don't know if you knew that.
I'm making an appointment with you, William.
- Okay. - Link: Oh, yeah.
- Rhett: Off the show. - Time to shine.
- Okay. -
Zach, please reveal your answer.
Well, because he's a barrel of laughs,
- I'm gonna go with William. - Mm-hmm.
( laughter )
Link?
You know what? I think this is Roddy.
-
- Link: Ooh. - I think it's Scott.
Will the real laugher please step forward?
- Yes! Whoo! - No! Seriously?
- I got killed at this game. - Yeah, it was when he said, "lug nut" earlier.
- It was the same exact tone. - Oh!
You remembered it from "lug nut"?
Oh, those lug nuts stuck right in my mind.
Congratulations, Rhett, you get to hug Zach Braff!
But wait, let's make it special.
- Oh, let's make this count. - No back taps.
- Okay. Caressing. - You gotta hold me.
- Not caressing, but just hold me tightly. - Hold me tight.
- So tall. - ( laughter )
- ( laughter ) - Okay. All right.
That's enough.
Zach, thanks so much for coming in. This was a lot of fun.
You can catch Zach in the premiere of his new show,
"Alex, Inc.," this Wednesday, March 28th at 8:30,
7:30 Central, on ABC.
And click to the next video to see me get a dead person makeover
with a real mortician.
And I'm going to take the elevator down.
( laughter )
Link:
We'll prove it. If you buy one at mythical.store,
we'll autograph the book with our names.
Promise.