In reply to:

So long as there is more fun than pain, we are fine.


So true, Helen. Probably most of the funniest things I have seen/heard involve the infliction of some degree of pain. Last night my wife was channel surfing and landed on a rerun of "The Honeymooners". We watched it and bellowed with laughter, I mostly at Jackie Gleason's visual reactions to Norton. Gleason was a genius at this and his face runs the gamut of all possible emotions, and I have yet to figure out how he got his eyes to bulge out when it was appropriate. (Those shows were done live and kinescoped, so he did it on the fly.) We commented on how amazing it is that these programs are still hilarious after 40 years even in grainy b&w. And yet, Ralph Kramden was really an egotistical and inconsiderate character, to the point of cruelty, although he generally repented in the end, thanks usually to Alice.

Humor that is purely verbal is never, to me, as funny as something with the full spectrum of reactive possibility, including visuals. Groucho's snappy quips with Margaret Dumont, or with Chico and Harpo, are amusing to be sure, but nowhere near as hilarious as that great classic the stateroom scene, or funnier yet, the scene on the opera stage when Harpo, dressed up like Azucena, is being pursued on- and backstage by the police. (Makes me chuckle just thinking about it.) And for a combination of words and action which has my vote for the funniest scene of all time in a movie, there is the one with Insp. Clouseau and the innkeeper which begins, "Does your dog bite?" This involves some pain, since the dog does bite Clouseau. Well, anyway, I trust you get my point, and I hope we get a laugh.

BTW, FWIW, with this posting I expect to kick addiction. At last.