Is it better to be an unsung hero

or an unsung shmoe? Opera is full of sung heroes, such as Puccini's Cavaradossi and Golijov 's Federico Lorca. Interestingly, Hemingway borrowed a paragraph from a British preacher, John Donne, who finished a statement with " Every man's death diminishes me, for I am involved with mankind.......Therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." The hero of the movie, played by Gary Cooper, arrived among the Spanish gypsies to demolish a bridge and prevent Franco's troops from using it, having had a pleasant night after Ingrid Bergman crawled into the sleeping bag with him. He blows the bridge, but on the escape is thrown by an unfamiliar horse, breaking his leg and having to be left, so they put him in a good place with a rifle and lots of ammo, to hold the troops off as long as possible. Good, wrenching scene there. The poet and playwright, Lorca, should have had sense to stay in South America, as urged by his friend, actress-director Margarita Xirgu, but you know, it is rare to find a tenor with good sense, so he comes home to join the supporters of the king, of all people and is promptly executed by Franco's police. The name of that opera is Ainadamar (Fountain of Tears, commemorating a 19th century conflict). Of course, France has a share of conflicted heroes: There is Andrea Chenier, the poet, comforting the scared chick being trundled to the guillotine along with him, and Dickens" Sidney Carton "It is a better death than my life was", or words to that effect. But for us unheralded standup comedians, one tries to leave them laughing.