The Last Laugh

In purely cinematic terms, The Last Laugh is an excellent production in all respects. Narrated by Sally Kellerman, the program follows the efforts of a group of stand-up comedians working with a group of "PWAs" (People With AIDS) to create original comedy routines for the PWAs to perform at a sold-out benefit showcase at the Coconut Grove. The brainchild of comic Karen Babbitt, the idea was to celebrate the healing power of laughter. The format of the program is to show the PWAs and the comics working together, see the comics and PWAs performing individually, and chronicle the thoughts and feelings of each group. However, while I was laughing at the comics, I asked myself: "what's wrong with this picture?" And I concluded that the problem was sheer pointlessness. Although some people might find the humorous approach to such a serious disease offensive, I didn't feel that tastelessness was the problem at all. 10 gifted comics wrote most of the material for 9 PWAs who were neither comics nor entertainers. The 10 comics shared in common a knowledge of and superior skill in a particular profession: stand-up comedy. The 9 PWAs shared in common a life-threatening illness. Why not leukemia patients reading poetry that poets have written for them? Or women with breast cancer singing songs that songwriters have composed especially for them? Again, the production is excellent and actually quite entertaining at times. But, at least for me, the question of "what's the point?" remains. An optional purchase. (See BREATH TAKEN for availability.)