DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — What's so funny?

Given the number of high-profile comedy acts coming through southwest Ohio these days, you might start to wonder.

We're not talking about traditional comedy-club shows, either, though the intimate nightspots are certainly getting their fair share of big-name performers.

We're talking about arenas and large theaters — venues that typically present musical and theatrical shows.

Evidence of the phenomenon appears to be strictly anecdotal, however. Top spokespeople for neither Live Nation, the omnipresent national promoter, nor Pollstar, the concert industry's leading trade publication, have clear data either to confirm or refute the apparent trend.

Brad Rogers, box-office editor for the Fresno, Calif.-based Pollstar, said that his office would have to crunch a lot of different numbers to determine specific comedy show trends.

But if Cincinnati's Taft Theatre, is any example, then something is definitely going on.

Part of Live Nation's national network of venues, the Taft is a longtime powerhouse presenter of music concerts and dramatic productions. But recent months have seen more comedy than rock shows coming through the theater. Such high-wattage acts as Robin Williams and Margaret Cho appeared there recently, and the muchpublicized Cheech & Chong reunion tour is set to hit the downtown theater in late January.

Concurrently, Jerry Seinfeld played Columbus last month, while Jay Leno was in Oxford.

"Bob & Tom" show regular Drew Hastings performs Nov. 29 at Dayton's venerable Victoria Theatre.

What's going on?

Well: War. Widespread job losses. Whispers of recession.

Funny stuff, there.

Could, perhaps, the turmoil of our times be leading us to seek psychic relief through laughter?

John MacDonald, co-founder of the Los Angeles-based McDonald-Murray artist management company, considers the question, but he's skeptical.

McDonald's firm manages a stable of comedians that includes the previously mentioned Hastings, along with Ron White, who's performing at the Taft in January, and Jim Gaffigan, who played Wright State University's Nutter Center earlier this season.

MacDonald says he thinks more comics are on the road now than five years ago, but he doesn't attribute the rise to an increased cultural need to laugh, and certainly not to the economy.

"With the times getting tougher, economically, usually what you see is it's harder to sell tickets," he said.

Certain big names, such as Robin Williams and Seinfeld, are practically economy-proof, MacDonald said, but "the ones in the middle range have a harder time ... because you're asking people to spend real money."

MacDonald attributes any spikes in the recent number of comedy tours to coincidence.

"I do think there are certain times where we run into what we call 'traffic' in certain parts of the country."

He also noted that particular months see more comics on the road than others. "Music has become a real summer event. May through August, a lot of comedians cut back on what they're doing. There are more working in theaters between October and April. It's a better-selling time, especially in the northern states where the winters are long."

Neverthless, the stream of comedy acts coming through southwest Ohio seemed to begin in earnest this past summer, in the heat of the outdoor music season.

A coincidence? An anomaly?

Maybe, but there's no denying the collective wisdom that laughter can serve as a balm in distressing times.

Family therapist and syndicated columnist Barton Goldsmith has written on the healing power of laughter.

"Research shows that laughing every day can add up to eight years to your life," he wrote in a recent column.

"Laughter will get you through some of the darkest nights and help you cope with difficult days."

You may ask, "What's so funny?" about these times.

But there are plenty of comedians currently on the road ready to provide some suggestions.

Contact the reporter at (937) 225-7309 or

csimmons@DaytonDailyNews.com.