The third "City of Witerature" comedic reading series event will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the Haunted Bookshop, 203 N. Linn St.

Local TV host Yale Cohn came up with the idea of "City of Witerature" in order to provide locals with a comedic reading series as opposed to other local reading series that feature a more serious tone.

"In my heart of hearts, at the end of the day, I’m just a comedian, and I like to laugh," he said. "I said, ‘We should have a reading series with people just writing comedy stuff.’ "

After the initial idea came up on a Wednesday, the first reading series was set in the fast lane with a lineup of authors set the following Friday.

Both local and national authors have been featured at the two previous series, including Sean Genell, Rachel Yoder, Nathan Timmel, Larry Baker, Joseph Dobrian, Joe Blair, and Polly Frost.

Cohn said in a town well-known for its literature, a good laugh could be used — and by featuring three or four readers, it keeps the events interesting.

"Instead of having just one author read, we usually have three or four, so it’s like short-attention-span theater," he said. "Getting authors locally that have a following — that helps draw crowds. Everyone has a good time, and we keep it short."

Josh Carroll, Tom Lindsey, and Todd Jackson will read at this week’s event. The reading is free and open to the public.

— by Anna Theodosis