"Humor has been recommended for scientists looking to conduct communication activities despite relatively little empirical evidence demonstrating its effectiveness. Here, we examine the social environment of a joke through a two-condition experimental design that manipulates the presence or absence of audience laughter. Specifically, we examine how humor experienced from viewing a video clip of a science comedian embedded in an online survey can have downstream effects on whether people view comedy as a valid source of scientific information". https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963662520915359