Episode description

When listener Diana fell on a run on her birthday, her first instinct was not to check her bruised hand, but instead to get up as quickly as possible and act as if nothing had happened. She felt embarrassed. Meanwhile, her son Marley loves to watch fail videos that, mostly, show people falling over. So why does falling – something that can cause serious injury – elicit both embarrassment and laughter?

In the name of CrowdScience, presenter Caroline Steel trips, stumbles and falls. She spends a morning with clown Sean Kempton who teaches her slapstick skills, including how to do it safely.

Psychologist Rowland Miller explains why falling can be embarrassing and shares his theory of why humans have developed this emotion in the first place. Then it’s time for Caroline to try out Diana’s predicament herself. If a BBC presenter falls in a park, will she feel embarrassed? From embarrassment to laughter, psychologist Janet Gibson lists the ingredients of a funny fall, and humour expert Caleb Warren explains how they can get funnier with distance. Then Caroline tries, semi-successfully, to make members of the public laugh. Will clown Sean do a better job?

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Florian Bohr Editor: Cathy Edwards Production coordinators: Ishmael Soriano Sound engineers: Bob Nettles, Tim Heffer and Giles Aspen