As comedy has emerged as an essential art form, with its strongest voices looked to as formidable social critics, the whole enterprise has taken on an earnest gravity that is often at odds with its original purpose — laughter.
And what would life be without original thought, without laughter, without love?
As security and comfort increased in the species, new outlets were needed for emotions that could no longer be worked off through their original channels, and laughter is obviously one of them.
Coward wrote the role of Essendine, an aging matinee idol, as a bit of a parody of himself and played the role in the original British production of "Present Laughter" in 1942.
Even the best stand-up comedy can go above children's heads, but they laugh at slapstick, which is why so many modern comedians cite it as their original inspiration, their introduction to laughter.
"The original (and continuing) function of laughter is to create and coordinate a safety and playfulness that is essential for the development of human and social capital," Wilson writes in an e-mail.
The original referred to peels, rather than peals, of laughter.
As the man who nurtured The Mighty Boosh, Little Britain and Flight of the Conchords in their original broadcast form on BBC Radio, John Pidgeon was no stranger to laughter.
It is rolling out "Reactions," a new set of six emoji that will sit alongside the original thumbs-up to let users quickly respond with love, laughter, happiness, shock, sadness and anger.
Laughter dies in the face of the supremely matter-of-fact original.
