From: XIII, thenorthbaybay.ca staff
NORTH BAY — Charles McFergus has turned his neighbour’s house into an all-out sitcom.
“I got tired of watching reruns,” explains McFergus. “And the walls are super thin here. So, I started listenin’ in on the neighbours. Whenever they’d say somethin’ funny, I’d play a laugh track through my surround sound system.”
McFergus’ neighbours are a married couple named Alice and Jake Addsen. They have a rambunctious pet chihuahua and are both essential workers. The both share a duplex on Tackaberry with McFergus.
Surprisingly, the couple have come to accept, and enjoy, their neighbour’s invasion of privacy.
“At first it made us a bit uncomfortable,” Alice admits. “But then one day Jake said ‘why couldn’t the bicycle stand up after its shift at work? Because it was too tired.’”
“’I’m the bike Alice… I’m the bike.’”
It was then the couple heard “a laugh track after a light, perfectly timed pause.”
“After that, we were on board.”
Thin Walls and Laugh Tracks
“We all need a good laugh here and there,” smiles Jake. “And I’m an aspiring comedian anyway so, I asked Charles to be honest with his reactions.”
“I started booing at bad jokes last week,” says McFergus. “Both of ‘em don’t always agree with my analysis, but I’m a connoisseur, and I ain’t gonna lie to them just to make ‘em feel better.”
The Addsen’s say that Charles is very respectful of their time. He will only listen through the paper-thin walls during their breakfast, or for an hour after their shifts.
“At the end of the day, it’s really nice of Charles to do this,” Jake adds, affectionately holding his wife’s hand.
“Since we are both apparently expendable – I mean ‘essential’ – we might as well feel like we are celebrities before an invisible monster ends this dragged out hogwash of an existence.”
A sad “awwwww” washes into the room. Jake and Alice smile.
“Thanks Charles.”