Commedy (for Comedy)

Some people hate laugh tracks (also known as "canned laughter," evoking comparison with the canned-meat product Spam) and will even go so far as refusing to watch sitcoms or other TV shows that use them. I, on the other hand ... not so much. An informed and well-calibrated laugh track just seems to me like part of the overall creative effort. And, frankly, I don't always think that highly of my fellow amused. For example, I prefer to go to the movies when there aren't a lot of other people in the audience because carbon-based giggles and guffaws can be distracting. People often laugh when they shouldn't and don't when they should. They laugh too hard, or too long, or not hard and long enough. I worry that they don't really "get it." This sort of thing really ought to be left to the professionals, I'll find myself sniffing. These amateurs simply don't know what they're doing. Today we found nine cases of Commedy (for comedy) in OhioLINK, which is nothing to laugh at. (Note, though, in very early works this could be an acceptable variant.)

(Inventor Charles "Charlie" Douglass and his infamous "Laff Box.")

Carol Reid