comparison ...can't get the meaning

Hello!

The below sentence can be transtlated into 2 meanings, I think, and I don't know which one is better one. Help me please.

..

Laughter is contagious. It can spread through a crowd faster than you can slip on a banana peel. Producers of radio and TV shows know this. That's why they often play laugh tracks - recordings of laughter - to make humorouis moments seem funnier to audiences that "catch" the giggles.

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I think the blue sentence can mean,

1.  Spreading (of laughter)  is faster than your action itself.(slipping on a banana peel)

2.  Spreading (of laughter) is faster than squeezing laughter by slipping on a banana peel.

What do you think?

I think 1 is the original meaning. But I think 2 can be a possible meaning.  Isn't it?

Thank you, in advance!!

If I understand you, number one is the correct analysis.  Number two is extremely unlikely.

I think you're suggesting that instead of playing a laugh track to "infect" the audience with laughter,  they might instead try having someone slip on a banana peel to generate the laughter; and if they did, it would not be as fast.

The blue sentence is used to elaborate the first sentence and is only meant to emphasize the speed.  The stuff about artificially generating laughter comes later.

We have common expressions for speed, like "quick as a wink,"  "faster than you can say Jack Robinson."  (Don't ask me where that came from!)  The banana peel image is appropriate because of the show biz - vaudeville - pratfall - clown sort of connection.  Banana peel jokes are common.