Comedy Tonight

In recent years, I've dreamed of being a theater and opera critic. Even if the salary is small, the perks (free tickets!) more than compensate. But there's one flaw in my critical apparaisal of shows: I cannot stand comedy. It's inexplicable. Charles Isherwood recently wrote a New York Times article about feeling like the only one in the theater who's not laughing. It's happened to me--at just about every comedy I've ever attended.

I try to enjoy myself, I really do. I'll walk into A Behanding in Spokane after reading a rave review, expecting the best. I'll even force a little chuckle near the beginning to warm up. But at some point, dousing teenagers with oil and threatening to light them on fire fails to be funny (even though the rest of the audience is in hysterics).