Comedy Books

Make a snack, sit down in your favorite chair and get ready for all there is to know about the Marx Brothers. This book is a reference guide to dates, names, films and darn near anything else that occurred in the life of this amazing team. It is chock full of interesting stories, fascinating facts and just plain silly stuff that kept me captivated the whole way through. Its one drawback was that it is picture free. It is pure reference material. For the true fan or just for the person who would like to know everything about them without starting a library this one is for you. If the price is the only thing holding you back be reassured...it is worth every penny and more!

Gee, How exciting to be the first and only reviewer of this item.
First as a girl who grew up listening to lots of old radio shows
with my Dad--this is a nice reminder. This is a radio
based satirical game show with the topic being the story of
Christopher Columbus. The two contestants use whatever audiotory means to convey this to the audience. I giggled the entire time
as I listened to it on my headphones--so much my husband had to
leave the room to avoid my laughter. As everyone knows I just
love Tim Robbins. This is done by him based from another man's
book. For those who are fans of his know about a group he formed
as a young man called the "Actor's Gang" Most if not all of these
folks are involved in this project. Tim Robbins as always shines
in this. I myself--although happily married enjoy curling up in
comfy spot and hearing Tim's sexy voice. This is truly a fun
thing to listen to. I think you will enjoy it:)

I was a student of John S. Weld at Harpur College, Binghampton NY . His teaching was filled with a great zest and comic spirit . His love for Shakespeare and his dramatic sense made his teaching of the plays a great delight. If this book contains just a small part of his generous and enthusiastic spirit it will be very worthwhile indeed.

I picked up Measure for Measure knowing nothing about the play other than it was not an early work and that it was a comedy. I knew Shakespeare as an enjoyable Wit and was looking forward to a virtuoso display of the English Language. I certainly got this, but this is by no means a "light" play. In fact, the more I looked into it, the more disturbing it became.

The plot is quite involved with many twists and turns, based on many unlikely situations. Read it like any other comedy and you will be fine.

The characters are what's disturbing. There are no clear "white hats" in this story. Claudio sets his sister up which causes much of the story. The Duke handles people like puppets. Angelo is certainly not worthy of trust and there are some hints that the Duke even knows this when he leaves him in charge. Isabella? Well, there are two strong attributes to her personallity - Future Nun and also as Harold Bloom described her, the sexiest female character in Shakespeare.

There are many "lowlife" characters as well. Most important and probably most interesting would be Lucio who moves the plot around. Also quite interesting and infuriating would be Pompey.

I read it in the New Cambridge Edition. Brian Gibbons gives an interesting introduction which goes over the original context for the play, a discussion of its sources, as well as a production history. His notes to the text are also quite good. My eyes glazed over a bit on the textual analysis...not interesting to me at this point.

If you want "uplifting" or "inspirational", pick something else. If you are willing to let these interesting, ambigious characters into your mind, you will have a fine time as one of the finest artists of the English Language leads you around their stories.

This is probably the finest book on the minstrel show which I have encountered. Many threads involving race, history and popular art are connected, giving some new slants on this curious, but still very resonant, cultural phenomena.

Menander remains a mystery for most theater-goers. This work, carefully put together by two outstanding exponents of the classical stage, gives a fine concise overview of the Greek theater and the playwright. If you love the stage and stage history you should find this book a worthwhile and even engrossing read. As you will discover, it's really true that there's very little new under the sun! Menander did indeed create modern comedy, and the examples covered bear this estimate out.
The book does not require a knowledge of either Greek or Latin, and the prose is that rara avis among academic tomes - fluent, natural and stylish. Although not an especially long work the chapters present a significant amount of material, well-organized and presented - on finishing you should know more about Menander and his works than all but the specialists!
After this work you will probably wish to read a full play - and two are now available - after 2,000 years of oblivion.
All in all an excellent book and most deserving to join any collection covering the Greek theater.

I do not write in englis

This series (Shakespeare Handbooks) is a new one with only a handful of plays covered. My only complaint is that they don't have more of the plays done!

This is an outstanding book that gives a sense of historical perspective, but spends the vast (and I mean VAST) majority of its pages discussing "The Merchant of Venice" as a PLAY. It doesn't focus on close reading or nudging some obscure reference to a historical event that has faded from view. Instead, it brings the text to life by offering some insights into how the scene may be presented on stage. It goes scene by scene, with a thorough, but not overwhelming, commentary into how the scene plays out in the theatre.

For those who want to approach Shakespeare as a playwright rather than simply as a poet, these are invaluable resources.

This is the first American publication of a new play by the famed Swiss dramatist whose The Visit has become a modern classic wherever theater is performed....

As the curtain rises, Nobel Prize-winning author Wolfgang Schwitter has been certified dead. All the ceremonial machinery to attend his state funeral has been set in motion. But the corpse, ignoring the official evidence, escapes from the clinic in his pajamas and returns to his old studio to die. The artist - "the meteor" - is more alive than the others and it is a long wait for the end. And so danse macabre unfolds, in which a bizarre assortment of archetypal characters are sacrificed at Schwitter's deathbed.
--- excerpts from book's dustjacket

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is one of Shakespeare's most charming and intelligent comedies. Exploring with humour the theme of star-crossed lovers that he deals with tragically in "Romeo and Juliet," Shakespeare here takes three troubled relationships and has them intersect in the most amusing ways.

The impending nuptials of Theseus and Hippolyta set the background for the play, and are certainly the most distant, both from the immediate action, and in terms of romantic possibility. Theirs is a cool, rational relationship, seemingly devoid of passion. The already-married Oberon and Titania, king and queen of fairies, provide another marital backdrop. Both seem to be jealous of the other's chosen distractions, which deprive them of each other's company. Finally, the main action of the play concerns the love affair between Lysander and Hermia. Hermia's father, Egeus, wants his daughter to marry Demetrius, and does not approve of Lysander at all. Helena, Hermia's friend, is smitten with Demetrius, and so, the conflicts begin.

Oberon initiates the action of the play, goading his mischievous aid-de-camp, Puck, to stir up trouble with a love-inducing flower amongst both the human lovers and the fairy queen Titania. Foible and folly ensue when Puck starts into his work. Throw in some common craftsmen from Athens who are trying to put together a simple play for Theseus's wedding, and you have all the ingredients for enchantment.

In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Shakespeare not only delves into the intricacies of human relationships on a romantic level, but also at the social, class, and interpersonal levels. He even critiques/celebrates the habits of his late 16th century audiences to intriguing effect. If you are tired of tragedy or think Shakespeare too distant or foreboding, pick up "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and you will find a solidly funny and endearing read.