Ageing

Coleridge:
Like some poor nigh-related guest,
That may not rudely be dismist ;
Yet hath outstay'd his welcome while,
And tells the jest without the smile.

Telling a jest without smiling is one of the marks of an actor or an orator/story-teller. The performer may supply a sort of "laugh track" and even engage in the ritual of the repeated punch-line.

Love.