Word: laughters
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...once was nor what it might be. As early as 1968, in The Rise and Fall of American Humor, English Professor Jesse Bier solemnly declared that "we are in great part humorless as never before." Other humor experts, who cannily refuse to be associated with their opinions, believe that laughter has continued to dwindle because Americans are losing their former skill at recognizing humor when it comes along unannounced. The good news: relief is at hand...
Certainly Americans are getting some laughs, but often of a low quality and seldom provoked by real humor. Laughter fans instead rely more and more on professional comedians. Many are so desperately in need that they even laugh at Don Rickles or Joey Bishop. Meanwhile, fewer and fewer people partake of the real humor that is all around. Studio audiences at TV talk shows of the Mike Douglas genre tend to laugh at the host, presumably for nervous relief. But they frequently fail even to chuckle when the list of guests is proclaimed, even though such lists usually contain more...
...short, happy days could be here again. Not Utopia, however. Far more often than now, Americans will discover that the public itself is the butt of some of the biggest jokes around. In such cases, laughter might be reduced. Still, half a laugh is better than none...
...major weakness of the production, however, lies in the directors' apparent inability to decide whether to play up or defuse the melodrama written into Ten Little Indians. Even allowing for what seemed to be a fairly lighthearted audience, the amount of laughter punctuating some of the most serious scenes makes for lags in suspense that mar an otherwise fine production. The laughter may in part be attributed to an outdated play, but the responsibility for staging the play's ending obviously belongs to the directors, and that ending falls very flat. It is simply too long and too overacted. Because...
...hard to recognize Turow from his selfportrayal as an anxiety-ridden student in One L. One indication of change is his attitude toward academics. When asked about his 3L courses, Turow bursts into genuine laughter: "Who, me? Courses? The second and third years," he explains, "tend to fade into some kind of boredom, distraction and distance from school. Course material seems much less difficult, and students suddenly stop working as hard...