ABSTRACT
One of the most challenging genres is comedy. Unlike other story forms, comedy requires frame-by-frame
precision. A comedy editor is akin to a microsurgeon whose exactitude allows him to reattach severed nerve
endings, repair vital organs, and avoid unsightly incisions. A horror editor acts more like a general surgeon,
one who gets the job done but doesn’t mind leaving a few scars in his path. In fact, he may prefer it. The
comedy editor’s work, and therefore the jokes of which he is the guardian, can live or die based on the tim-
ing of a couple frames.
