Listening to jokes is America's version of Chinese Water Torture. The nerve-racking set-up. The endless middle section. The deathly procession to the punch line. How many state secrets have been spilled by barflies tormented beyond hope by the standup coercions of amateur Dangerfields? What meek office drone cannot be driven to stark postal madness by a coworker's interminable funny stories? Who knows what promising love affairs have been cut to pieces by the buzzsaw comic stylings of overeager younger brothers? Statistics have not been compiled, but if you've ever docilely withstood some living room Uncle Milty's comedic juggernaut, comforted only by thoughts of the merciless japer's excruciating death, you'll understand that figures alone don't tell the whole story.