#50 Commercial Theater

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Imagine you’re having a casual dinner with friends — a beach picnic, a backyard barbecue, a formal meal during an international trade summit — and suddenly one of your companions starts talking about an embarrassing personal condition starting with the letter ‘H’. I’m talking, of course, about halitosis.

“Yep,” they say, “I thought I just had bad breath, but my doctor told me I’m suffering from a condition called ‘hal-i-tosis’. He said it could be treated with a medicine called breath-tosterone.”

While you’re busy moving all of the sharp objects safely out of reach, your friend goes on about the benefits of this new wonder drug.

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Want to get the rest of this or others like it? Check out the whole audio essay and related links at www.ShortCummingsAudio.com.

Near the end of this essay, there’s a joke about local cable talk show hosts.  In real life, I actually volunteer for the county cable channel and host a show called “Davis County Now.”  You might catch it steamed on the web at DavisCable17.com.

Tags: humor essay | commercials | acting | television | griddlecakes