cheap laugh

1. A joke or humorous gag that elicits laughter by being especially crude, vulgar, or base. The film had a cheap laugh here and there that actually made me giggle, but otherwise it was painfully unfunny. I'm sick of that comedian—his stand-up routine has always been nothing but cheap laughs. You only need about half a brain to enjoy his show because it's nothing but cheap laughs.

2. Laughter that is elicited by such a joke or gag. They dumbed his character down in later seasons, turning him into a total goofball for cheap laughs. New Yorkers are a notoriously tough audience—you won't get cheap laughs out of them. Come on, this scene doesn't need any pratfalls for cheap laughs, OK?