Comedy Books

Christopher Shillock's deft alchemy infuses the modern with the ancient. For "Invisible Jazz," he throws an old motorcycle leather around the shoulders of a Roman-era statue, sticks a Camel Straight in it's mouth and hangs a fetching girl on the statue's arm. From the "Prelude" that starts his newest collection, Shillock exhibits a reverence for what has gone before.
"Forever (Cleopatra)" drapes taut, lean images on a classical scaffold. In his mastery of the form, Shillock coveys more with his restraint than many writers can express with an excess of allusion.
A phrase like "...the vast fleet sunk at Actium," (in "Never") recalls a distant history -- one with which I have only a vague familiarity. A bell of memory tolls -- as if I've forgotten my own past (which I have! in large part) and Shillock recalls it for me.
Shillock nods to more recent masters, invoking Ginsberg and the Beats with phrases like: "careening amphetamine dawn."
As for the music, while other reviewers have rightly underscored Tabatha Predovich's versatile voice, I would like to mention the guitar-work of Rich Patterson. Of particular note is his crisp playing on "black sun blues."

I picture Chris Shillock, the classical scholar, standing at a winter bus stop. His bus, however, after stops at Antioch, Alexandria, and ancient Rome, runs Express along the Via Appia to downtown Minneapolis.

The above reviewers stole most of my thunder, except for what Chris Shillock and Tabitha Predovitch have left pounding in my head. This book makes clear, once and for all, that the past is always with us, that love is always crystal sharp, that soldiers are young men farfrom home and that formal elegance is not reserved for inaccessible language poets. Predovich's smoky, Goth tinged voice is beautifully strained, not with a limited octave range, but with a range of emotion that makes her voice itself a statement of longing, a straining AFTER something. "Blue Nile", with it's haunting melody and deceptively simple conceit, is a show stopper. The ghosts of poets past dance in ruined libraries in Shillock's text, the desert wind swirling sand around their ankles. Leonard Cohen and Francois Villon are tossing imprecations at the moon, while a gimlet eyed Herodotus smokes hashish and takes detailed notes. This is a don't miss for anyone who enjoys having their heart broken and their day brightened at the same time.
Evilyn Garnett
www.swst.blogspot.com

Invisible Jazz, a combo CD and book of poems, tells of a time when "dogs have no names". The poet seems to be telling us that such times have always been with us. The book spans the CD's poetry/lyrics, and adds a few that went unrecorded. You have to work to synch up the poems in the book with the tracks on the CD, but it's worth the effort to listen to and think about what the poet is saying. One of my favorite tracks is Shillock's translation/adaptation of a poem by the medieval French rogue, Francois Villon, ending in the recursive line: "I am the poet who picks his (Villon's) bones." The CD's presentation shifts from straight
poetry-reading, to rhythmic, sensitive rapping, to haunting musical balladeering with Tabatha Predovich beautifully doing most of the singing. Chris and Tabatha get together in a compelling, driving way in some of the rhythmic numbers. And Erin Muir does a great job singing a poem Shillock composed in French. By far the longest number is a translation of a poem from the Coptic Nag Hammadi library, arguably the most important archeological find of ancient documents made in modern times. The delivery on the CD jumps around in this ancient poem, mirroring the way the overall CD jumps around in its companion book. Shillock knows what he's doing, punctuating these jumps with the drumbeat refrain "For I am peace and I am War. I am the holy one and the Whore. I am the utterance of my name..." Modern gnostics will appreciate this CD, and those who don't know what a gnostic is will realize that there are ancient names for the themes that move us today. Chris Shillock is a renaissance man, and Invisible Jazz is a treasure

If you're looking for 10 minute plays that work beyond the page for actors and for audiences, this book is a great place to start. Besides reading them all, I also had the pleasure to see three of them performed on stage.

"Harrison's Choice" had an entire audience leaning forward in their chairs when I saw it. It's a great piece for scene study if you're an actor because there's lots of back story that comes into play.

"Uptown #9 Tanya With the Bloomingdales Bag" oozes charm in an old, Cary Grant farce or Jimmy Stewart romantic comedy kind of way. It's a crowd pleaser in the most traditional sense, and it provides a good, comedy style study for the lead actor.

"Your Money or Your Life" is an absolute crowd teaser with its plot twists and characterizations. The audience I saw was quite audible in its responses. The roles seem simple but are ultimately challenging.

Though I never saw "St. Peter the Processor" performed, I have to say that its edgy wit made it my favorite to read.

I would love to see an evening of the entire book presented as suggested by the author. If there are any producers out there looking for some good material in short form, you've come to the right place.

KMcHoop

To briefly summarize the 4 plays:

"Your Money or My Life" is a dark comedy about Hopper, a mugger and part time actor, who tires to rob Roger, a depressed widower in Central Park. Roger is eager to be mugged, and when Hopper refuses for the few bucks in Roger's wallet, Roger offers Hopper $100,000 to not only mug him--but kill him. Hopper must decide whether Roger's check is good, the tax ramifications, and whether he can really do it. Meanwhile, Roger gets increasingly frustrated by Hopper's hesitation and lack of commitment to his craft. In the end, both men get what they wanted, but in a surprising way.

"Uptown #9 Tanya With the Bloomingdales Bag is a romantic comedy set on a Manhattan Uptown #9 subway car. Scott enters the subway at 23rd Street and sees Tanya, a beautiful woman carrying a Bloomingdale's bag. Scott claims that a psychic told him that he'd meet his future wife an uptown #9, that she'd be carrying a Bloomies bag. Furthermore, the psychic said that Scott would know for sure that she's "the one" by the 79th street stop. Tanya must decide whether Scott's serious and her soul mate or just a handsome con artist trying to pick her up by the 79th street station. An off stage New York Conductor serves as a ticking clock with the announcement of every subway stop leading to 79th St.

Harrison's Choice opens with an abrupt gunshot on a black stage. When the lights go up, we find Lydia, a woman living in a small Southern town with a gun and the body of her dead husband. A nosy neighbor hears the shot and calls Harrison, the town Sheriff and Lydia's former fiancé. Cut to black again. When the lights go up again, the body has disappeared and Harrison arrives. As the two former lovers go over their past, Harrison discovers the warm gun. He proceeds to look for the body, which he's convinced is somewhere on stage/in the house. As Harrison searches, both he and Lydia are forced to make their own choices about duty, love, murder, and their futures. As with the beginning, the play ends with an abrupt gun shot.

St. Peter the Processor tells the story of Jack, newly deceased and arriving in Heaven to be processed by St. Peter. There's only one problem. In life, Jack was a very bad man, and fully expects and desires to go to Hell for his deeds. Peter grants Jack's request--several times--but not in the way that Jack or the audience expects.

In addition to the four plays, there are two monologues by the same blue collar character, who book end the evening. The third monologue is delivered in the middle of the play by a different character during a scene change.

The entire evening may serve as a tour de force for a cast of 3 actors (a woman and two men) or a full cast of 12.

Just Give Me 10 Minutes. 4 one act plays and 3 monologues for 1 Evening

To briefly summarize the 4 plays:

"My Money or Your Life" is a dark comedy about Hopper, a mugger and part time actor, who tires to rob Roger, a depressed widower in Central Park. Roger is eager to be mugged, and when Hopper refuses for the few bucks in Roger's wallet, Roger offers Hopper $100,000 to not only mug him--but kill him. Hopper must decide whether Roger's check is good, the tax ramifications, and whether he can really do it. Meanwhile, Roger gets increasingly frustrated by Hopper's hesitation and lack of commitment to his craft. In the end, both men get what they wanted, but in a surprising way.

"Uptown #9 Tanya With the Bloomingdales Bag is a romantic comedy set on a Manhattan Uptown #9 subway car. Scott enters the subway at 23rd Street and sees Tanya, a beautiful woman carrying a Bloomingdale's bag. Scott claims that a psychic told him that he'd meet his future wife an uptown #9, that she'd be carrying a Bloomies bag. Furthermore, the psychic said that Scott would know for sure that she's "the one" by the 79th street stop. Tanya must decide whether Scott's serious and her soul mate or just a handsome con artist trying to pick her up by the 79th street station. An off stage New York Conductor serves as a ticking clock with the announcement of every subway stop leading to 79th St.

Harrison's Choice opens with an abrupt gunshot on a black stage. When the lights go up, we find Lydia, a woman living in a small Southern town with a gun and the body of her dead husband. A nosy neighbor hears the shot and calls Harrison, the town Sheriff and Lydia's former fiancé. Cut to black again. When the lights go up again, the body has disappeared and Harrison arrives. As the two former lovers go over their past, Harrison discovers the warm gun. He proceeds to look for the body, which he's convinced is somewhere on stage/in the house. As Harrison searches, both he and Lydia are forced to make their own choices about duty, love, murder, and their futures. As with the beginning, the play ends with an abrupt gun shot.

St. Peter the Processor tells the story of Jack, newly deceased and arriving in Heaven to be processed by St. Peter. There's only one problem. In life, Jack was a very bad man, and fully expects and desires to go to Hell for his deeds. Peter grants Jack's request--several times--but not in the way that Jack or the audience expects.

In addition to the four plays, there are two monologues by the same blue collar character, who book end the evening. The third monologue is delivered in the middle of the play by a different character during a scene change.

The entire evening may serve as a tour de force for a cast of 3 actors (a woman and two men) or a full cast of 12.

Brian Regan is super funny and even my 10 year old can listen to him. He comments on everyday things that just make you giggle! HE is a great comedian; highly recommended!!!!!

This comedy CD is a true treasure!! I have bought several to give to my friends & relatives - his 'good, clean' comedy passes the 'Grandma test' easily, but is SO funny everyone laughs together! I shared it with 2 fellow health care professionals, they loved it, and have decided to recommend it to patients to help them lift their moods - you can't NOT laugh at so many of his routines here!! I hope Brian will come out with a DVD of this and other routines!! Brian Regan is a heavenly gift to all of us who love to laugh but hate the 'blue' language too many 'comics' resort to in their routines.

I have listened to (and own) many standup comedy CDs but Brian Regan's "Live" CD is one of the funniest CDs I have ever heard. I nearly wrecked my car the first time I heard it because I was laughing so hard that my eyes were tearing up.

As an added bonus there is NO CRUDE SUBJECT MATTER OR LANGUAGE on this CD so it is appropriate for the whole family and the subject matter even entertained my teenagers.

I've now read two of the three biographies Matthew Kennedy has written, and will most certainly be reading the third with gleeful anticipation. I love the detail, the atmosphere, the background of Marie Dressler's life. She was an amazing, unique, powerful lady, made wise through her endurance of so much hardship after her massive early fame.
My first knowledge of Dressler was the famous line in Dinner at Eight, delivered to the impossibly sexy Jean Harlowe. Dressler steals the scene shamelessly and effortlessly. Who WAS this person who could do full-body double takes with a grace and precision that belied her bulky body? Now I know.
Kennedy obviously loves his subjects, has a passion for film history, and for history in general. You cannot know Marie Dressler without knowing what she went through in traveling theater, WWI, the decline of Vaudeville and the Depression. Kennedy's writing is insightful, wry, warm and flows wonderfully from thought to thought. He has told the story of Marie in context with her times, and of early Hollywood, knitting it all together in a graceful, engaging way, and made what surely was an immense job look effortless.
Even if you've never heard of Marie Dressler, you will love her by the time you finish this book.

Louis B. Mayer once said that the three greatest actors who ever worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer were Greta
Garbo, Spencer Tracy and Marie Dressler. Beloved actress Marie Dressler (1868-1934) was my writing
obsession for four years. How did this delightfully idiosyncratic woman overcome so many demons in
herlifetime? How did she shape her epoch and how did it shape her? Known simply as "Marie" to millions of
fans, she is a fascinating creature of American popular culture. She is most known today for her amazing
popularity in early talkies such as MIN AND BILL (Academy Award, Best Actress, 1930/31), TUGBOAT
ANNIE and DINNER AT EIGHT. In fact, the large, unlovely sixtysomething year old was the number one
box-office attraction of the early Depression. Her earlier years were equally compelling. In the 1880s, she fled
an abusive father by joining a horse drawn carriage pulling a third-rate theater company. Later she charmed
Broadway and was the comic foil to legendary stage stars Lillian Russell, Eddie Foy and Weber & Fields. She
co-starred with Charlie Chaplin in Mack Sennett's 1914 hit TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE, the first
feature length comedy every filmed. She was a passionate advocate of women's suffrage and the American
participation in World War I. In 1919, she co-founded Actors Equity. Her career took a nosedive in the 1920s
and she was broke and pitiable at the time of her rediscovery by the brilliant screenwriter Frances Marion. Her
final makeover as warmly embraced mega-star remains one of Hollywood's great comeback stories.
Researching the life of Marie Dressler took me to screening rooms, dusty archives and quiet libraries all over
the United States and Canada. In addition to interviews with her surviving colleagues at MGM, I had moving
conversations with Joseph Newman, assistant director on MIN AND BILL and DINNER AT EIGHT, and
Grace Ruthrruff, the generous nurse who was at Marie's deathbed in 1934. It is my hope that this biography will
help restore Marie Dressler's legacy as one of the twentieth century's great entertainers.

Ever since Marie Dressler knocked my socks off when I first saw DINNER AT EIGHT I have been frustrated that most biographical sketches of her life recycled the same tantalizing ten pages or so of information, and although Betty Lee's competing biography was welcome, it left as many questions as answers. This book finally does this fabulous star justice with comprehensive research on her now-obscured early life; loving, intelligent coverage of all her extant films; savvy, well-written documentation of her stage career; and endlessly perceptive reconstruction of what Dressler was like as human being. Catching Dressler in a rare showing of her films EMMA and TUGBOAT ANNIE in San Francisco some years back and espying a notice that this biography was being written, I spent years anticipating it, and was never disappointed in the slightest. Truly a bravura performance -- Dressler lives again. But WHEN will more of her work be released on video?

This play is for two males and two females. A professor of Anthropology and his wife, who is Dean of Women at a New York college, each deliver a lecture on the perils of monogamy in this classic battle of the sexes comedy. The Broadway production starred Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Juie Newmar and Edmon Ryan.

This play is for two males and two females. A professor of Anthropology and his wife, who is Dean of Women at a New York college, each deliver a lecture on the perils of monogamy in this classic battle of the sexes comedy. The Broadway production starred Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Juie Newmar and Edmon Ryan.

This play is for two males and two females. A professor of Anthropology and his wife, who is Dean of Women at a New York college, each deliver a lecture on the perils of monogamy in this classic battle of the sexes comedy. The Broadway production starred Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Juie Newmar and Edmon Ryan.

Michael's excellent book is thorough, well-organized, entertaining and EXTREMELY useful. I had no previous experience in musical theater, let alone long-form improvised sketch comedy, but I really love it, and "Musical Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy" has been an incredible boost in my learning curve.

There are also elements and rules in the book that can be applied to composing for film, television, commercials, and just plain songwriting and performing - creating a mood, underscoring, segues, becoming familiar with many styles and genres, etc. Any and every working musician can glean something useful from Pollock's book.

It's the closest substitute to having Michael Pollock as a personal mentor, and that's saying something.

This is a great book. The ideas are clearly explained, and the lists are so valuable. Everyone involved in sketch and improv should have this. It has already helped me in my approach to this work, and it is the only book of this kind that I know of.

"Musical Direction for Improv and Sketch Comedy" is a book I wish I'd had when I was learning the job. Michael Pollock has undertaken and conquered the colossal challenge of compiling decades worth of insight into musical direction. Whether you are looking to accompany improvisation or sketch, this book is the shortcut that bypasses much of the land of trial and error. Enormously informative and very funny, Michael answers questions many might be too timid to ask. The book and CD offer great examples of the limitless power of music to evoke images and emotion in the minds of both the audience and the actors onstage.

When you enter an improvised world, you step into a white room with nothing in it. Michael Pollock gives you the canvas, the brushes, and most importantly the permission to paint a vivid picture through music. What a gift!

Chapter Twelve on its own should be required reading for life; it's a handbook on how more of us should act toward one another.

Yes,it is enjoyable and considering the dark and disturbing contexts of his other novels it is indeed a comedy.Yet it is seriously constructed and top quality novella.

Thomas Bernhard must have been the bane of the Austrian cultural world during his lifetime. His favorite style is an endless, run-on paragraph, seething with rage and pain at every turn. If you don't catch that these crabby narrators are constantly undermining their own credibility, you might not see how funny these books are. Old Masters involves an old musicologist, who spends every other day in front of the same painting in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This 150-page assault on Western art and music (few are spared: Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and especially Bruckner are given real tongue-lashings, and at one point he implies the painting he always looks at is a forgery) might annoy you, until you realize that, as flawed as these great works might be, they're all we have to keep us going day to day. Life without these Old Masters would be unbearable. The narrator is slow to admit this, but when the admission comes, it's heart-breaking. For someone to complain this vigorously about the limits of Austrian art and culture, he must have loved his homeland very dearly indeed. You won't be disappointed in this one.

This a book about two grumpy old men. " ..he does not like solar radiation. He avoids the sun, there is nothing he shuns more than the sun. 'I hate the sun, you know that I hate the sun more than anything in the world,' he says. What he likes best are foggy days, on foggy days he leaves the house very early in the morning, actually takes a walk, which he does not normally do, for basically he hates walking. I hate walking, he says,it seems so pointless to me. I walk, and while I am walking I keep thinking how I hate walking, I have no other thoughts at the time, I cannot understand that there are people who are able to think of something other than that walking is pointless and useless, he says." If you cannot find this very funny then this book is not for you. In 156 pages there are no paragraphs, or chapters. But there is excellent prose and conversations on philosophy of life, art, suicide, class, Catholicism, nationalism, culture......life. Very funny and perhaps sad too, but in the end strangely exhilarating. A wonderful read.

Funny thing is... I saw this done at the One-Act Play Texas Competition by a very talented company. I was intrigued by the beautiful language of Don Nigro, and became enchanted with watching the performance. Suprisingly, this play has been very hard to find; now that I've finally found it,I plan on enjoying this wonderful play centered around Paganini, violin virtuoso. I highly recommend reading this play, and look forward to finding some good monologue material inside.

P.S.- Hey Carroll.......See ya at One-Act!

Funny thing is... I saw this done at the One-Act Play Texas Competition by a very talented company. I was intrigued by the beautiful language of Don Nigro, and became enchanted with watching the performance. Suprisingly, this play has been very hard to find; now that I've finally found it,I plan on enjoying this wonderful play centered around Paganini, violin virtuoso. I highly recommend reading this play, and look forward to finding some good monologue material inside.

P.S.- Hey Carroll.......See ya at One-Act!

There is no better way to capture the mysterious life of Nicolo Paganini...the man who could make one violin sound like ten, and whose powerful caprices sent theater goers mad. This was the first of Don Nigro plays I had read and it was delightfully edgy and audacious. I've never been fond of dark comedies, however this play broke the mold! It disturbed me and moved me with it's unexpected switches from humor to depth. It's language nearly melts from scene to scene, like poetry. Also this play means a great deal to me as I was able, and blessed enough,to perform in this play and our cast one a state-level championship with it. Our Directors brilliance Don Nigro's phenomenon, and the chilling music of Paganini's own musical peices made for one powerful production no matter who loved it or absolutely despised it. But more importantly, this masterpeice and our love for it soldered us together. Don Nigro's "Paganini" gets under your skin, it haunts you just as Paganini's demons haunted him. It is something you never can forget.

This whole "Pocketful of Python" series strikes me as just a bit odd. Much of it was released to mark Monty Python's 30th Anniversary, and it seems like something of a cash-in. After all, it's just portions of other Python books crammed into several volumes in a slightly new way.
That said, I have gotten an awful lot of enjoyment from the series (hence the five star rating.) This is undoubtedly the best book of the series. Normally I'd just write about my favorites bits, but John Cleese's selection is so good I'll list them all.
African Notebook, Anne Elk's (Miss) Theory, Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson, Consulting Jean-Paul Sartre, Eric the Half a Bee, Fear No Man!, Jonah Gambolputty, Larch in Court, The Last Supper, Merchant Banker, Mollusks, Norman Henderson's Diary, History of Mankind Medallions, Oh Lord Please Don't Burn Us, Python Panel, Raymond Luxury Yacht, Sacred Castles, We Are Individuals, and Word Association Football.

THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU READ IT OVER 10,000,000 TIMES! WHEN i GOT THIS BOOK I LAUGHED SO MUCH! MY SUGGESTION IS IF YOUR A PYTHON MANIAC YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK.(NEE!)

THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU READ IT OVER 10,000,000 TIMES! WHEN i GOT THIS BOOK I LAUGHED SO MUCH! MY SUGGESTION IS IF YOUR A PYTHON MANIAC YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK.(NEE!)

Garry Essendine, the hero of PRESENT LAUGHTER, is almost transparently Coward's idea of himself as the complete theater man whose life depends, in a odd twist of dependency itself, on the loyalty and cooperation of a vast staff of employees, most of whom know better than he what he is like and what he needs to go on. These include Monica Reed, his beautiful, devoted secretary who sees right through him llike Bette Davis seeing through Sheridan Whiteside in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER. Then there is Liz, Garry's wife who left him but never managed to divorce him, which allows him to play loose with all the young ladies who have fallen for their aging matinee idol.

In Coward's case, the reason he needed a bulwark to fend off young female admirers is because he was gay, and in PRESENT LAUGHTER, the characterization of the young pretentious playwright Ronald Maule, who becomes a slave to garry Essendine through a bit of ill-advised personal contact, is surprisingly frank for its day (wartime UK). The whole play is filled with Coward's trademark dialogue, as Garry is constantly false and hilariously hysterical, while all the other characters continually deflate him with their loving barbs. If it is not Coward's best play, then I don't know what is.

Another winner from the folks at L.A. Theatre Works who bring together all-star casts to brilliantly perform plays from all genres. You can hear the actors having fun with the material.

A fast-paced and witty bedroom farce of the 1930s, Present Laughter was written by Coward as a vehicle in which he himself planned to star, and it may well reflect some of the less attractive aspects of his own life. The play concerns a well-known, 40-ish actor, Gary Essendine, who is about to set off for a series of performances in Africa. Essendine enjoys all the perks of stardom, including women who can't resist him, fawning fans, and late nights of partying, followed by late mornings of undisturbed sleeping. Though he is married to Liz, they have been separated for a couple of years, and neither minds the other's dalliances, or the serial dalliances of their circle of friends.

In the course of the play, several women "forget their latch keys" and have to spend the night at Essendine's apartment, where his secretary, valet, and housekeeper hide them to keep succeeding visitors from discovering them. One of them, Joanna, is married to Essendine's friend Henry, but she has had a long-standing affair with another friend, Morris, and she seduces Essendine in the course of the play. In the midst of all this deception, a young playwright also arrives, wanting to know if Essendine has read his play, at the same time confessing to having an obsession with Essendine himself, before he is shuttled off to the office when yet another unexpected visitor arrives.

As is always the case with Coward, each scene sets the stage for the next scene, and the play unfolds with dramatic ease and considerable dramatic irony. The characterizations are exaggerated for comic effect, and the dialogue is witty, with many tongue-in-cheek remarks, as the all-consuming game of "musical beds," "heartfelt" confessions, and diabolical scheming takes place. Fast pace is crucial to the action, demanding the split second appearances and disappearances of some characters as new characters enter and depart.

Though the hijinx are distinctly sexual, the play maintains an elegance of language and an on-stage formality. The clever repartee never descends to vulgarity, and the love scenes all take place off-stage. Universal in its observations of human nature, this play is still being revived and finding audiences after more than half a century. This play and Private Lives are Coward at his best. Mary Whipple