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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!bmcg!rasp
From: rasp@bmcg.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: looking for an old story
Message-ID: <488@bmcg.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Aug-83 14:47:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: bmcg.488
Posted: Wed Aug 31 14:47:32 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Sep-83 03:52:40 EDT
Organization: Burroughs Corporation, San Diego
Lines: 33

Please help:

I need help in locating an old science fiction story. I've
not had a lot of luck at the book stores, so I'm hoping
this letter strikes a familiar note.

A number of years ago, probably 25 or so, I read a marvelous
little story that I believe was called `IRONY'. The premise
was that a comic named Hester ordered a robot with a huge
memory bank in which to store jokes. The idea was that the
robot would stand off stage with a teleprompter and feed
`ad-libs' to Hester.

The problem arose when the robot would start grabbing the
punch lines for itself. The hilarious story ended with a
frustrated Hester essentially becoming the robots keeper.
His billing from that point on was `Lester the Pestered'.

This was really great stuff. I remember laughing out loud
while reading the story. My current problem is trying to
locate the story again. I don't even remember the name of
the author. I believe that it was anthologized more than
once. I would appreciate any help that anyone out there
can give me.

Thank you,

Ron Perloff
17040 Oculto Court
San Diego, CA  19127

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