in works of fiction, distraction is often used as a source of comedy, whether the amusement comes from the gullibility of those distracted or the strangeness of whatever is utilized to create the distraction. examples of comedic distraction, also called comic relief, can oftentimes be found in shakespearean plays. in "hamlet", shakespeare includes a scene in which two gravediggers joke around about ophelia's death. while her death is by no means meant to be funny, a small break from the sadness helped to appease the groundlings in shakespeare's time, as well as allow the rest of the audience to take a break from the constant "doom and gloom" of his tragedies.