The goodness of Botswana is crucial to McCall Smith's enterprise, and the source of much of its comic inspiration.

By the late 1980s Everett's critics were arguing that his insinuating humour failed to conceal a dwindling comic inspiration.

Her family was a rich source of comic inspiration, a minefield of the unexpected that demanded resilience and a gift for improvisation.

Yes, "Gilligan's Island" was a comic inspiration, and, yes, he is as paranoid about the government as his plots might suggest, he told interviewers.

As a general rule, films whose plots revolve around lost dogs are apt to be short on comic inspiration, and this one is no exception.

There must be more such solidly comic inspirations where that came from.

FOR several generations the academy has been a source of comic inspiration to novelists on both sides of the Atlantic.

When asked if she sought comic inspiration from real life, Ms. Ephron replied: "It's really just the way you see the world.

The actor must play off himself, set up his own punch lines, find his comic inspiration in what he himself has just done.