@Fyrius Now that’s an amusing though. A whole crowd of people jostling by to see the action and laughing every time a joke is cracked.
But no. Canned laughter isn’t funny. But I think there’s a reason for it. It’s not so much to tell people that there’s a joke and that it’s a cue for them to laugh, but more to make them laugh.
Have you ever heard a joke, was the only one to get it, and laugh only to shut your mouth in embarrassment? It’s something like that. Or have you ever laughed and laughed with somebody about something until the point where almost anything at all can be a trigger for laughs (oh I hate and love those moments)?
Laughter’s contagious. That’s proven. That’s why (as @Harp has said before me), it’s something psychologically used to induce laughter.
Would you really laugh at a standup comedian’s jokes so much if there weren’t a huge audience laughing along with you?