The defender of the theatrical experience has logged back on (I never log off).

Fellow proponents love to cite comedies to support our ideology; what’s better than group laughter? While this sentiment holds true, there’s also an artistic upside to the communal aspect of the genre that’s commonly overlooked.

When it comes to more layered, nuanced, not-as-broad humor, it stands to reason that everyone won’t pick up on every joke, especially if they’re flying at you a mile-a-minute, some requiring thought to fully comprehend; if you too loudly guffaw at one gag, you miss the next.

Which is why someone else’s chuckles can key you into bits that go in one ear and out the other.

As is the case with the new movie You Hurt My Feelings, now in theaters. The pithy quips whiz by, and sometimes their full meaning registered with me only after someone else’s audible reaction cued me into their depths.

Which is also the uncomfortable magic of A Strange Loop; every time I saw it, one person would chortle at a moment that someone else would find the opposite of comedic. Cognitively squaring these responses are a substantive part of the musical.

And then there are the cultural touch-points that might go over one head, but not another. In MCC’s Bees & Honey, an older Dominican lady is watching what must be a famous daytime TV show. When my audience heard the broadcast, many of them IMMEDIATELY recognized it solely from an audio snippet. If I had been alone, I would’ve never realized the play was referencing something widely known, albeit outside my limited purview.

The wonders of an uncurated crowd.