Laugh lines Short comic plays

This set of 34 comic dramas, many of which would run 15 minutes at most in performance, by contemporary or nearly contemporary Americans, some famous, many not, ranges from the sublime to the tedious. The best pieces in the collection, such as Christopher Durang's divinely insane Wanda's Visit, are comic gems in miniature. Others, such as Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn's comedy-sketch-sized Miss You, show the antic side of writers known mostly for more serious work. Other well-known names to be found in the wide-ranging anthology include Alan Ball, David Cale, David Lindsay-Abaire, Steve Martin, and Elaine May, all represented by rarely collected one acts. Still, the real strength of the book arises from editors Lane and Shengold's spirit of inclusiveness, which allows obscure but hilarious writers to appear cheek by jowl with_better-known funny women and men. --Jack Helbig Copyright 2007 Booklist

It's been said that dying is easy; comedy is hard. Page after page of modern dramatic literature is filled with the grim and the bleak representing life, while the joys and absurdities of existence mostly go unreported by today's playwrights. In their latest collection, playwrights Lane and Shengold (Talk To Me: Monologue Plays) fight the forces of darkness with 34 short plays and monologs by authors known and somewhat known. Advertised as "side-splitting," the book falls just slightly short of that description. Christopher Durang's "Wanda's Visit" is creepy and hilarious; Mark Harvey Levine's "Surprise" is a perfect blackout sketch; David Lindsay-Abaire's "How We Talk in South Boston" is really funny, with a sinister little twist; and Jonathan Rand's "Check, Please" could be a tour de force for two actors with good timing. Wayne Rawley's "Controlling Interest" is the gem of the collection: it's surprising, subtle, and full of laughs in 11 pages. Drama students will love this collection, and all libraries should have it on hand.-Larry Schwartz, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Moorhead (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An Excerpt from Miss You by David Auburn (First published in Fifth Planet and Other Plays , copyright (c) 2002 by David Auburn) Miss You was first produced at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, on January 5, 1997. It was directed by James Eckhouse. The cast was as follows: WOMAN 1, 2 Lisa Edelstein MAN 1, 2 Jerry Levine CHARACTERS MAN WOMAN MAN 2 WOMAN 2 MAN and WOMAN on the phone. WOMAN: Hello? MAN: I miss you! WOMAN: Oh, hi. MAN: Miss me? WOMAN: Uh-huh. MAN: Really? WOMAN: Yes. Yes I do: I miss you. MAN: A lot? WOMAN: Yes. MAN: How much? WOMAN: I told you, a lot. MAN: God, I miss you. WOMAN: Mm. MAN: I wish you were here. WOMAN: Yes. MAN: I wish you were here right now. WOMAN: Mm. MAN: I wish I was there . WOMAN: Uh-huh. MAN: I wish I could be there with you: I mean, I really miss you. I have a-- WOMAN: I know. MAN: I have a-- WOMAN: Can you hold on? MAN: I have a little sur-- WOMAN: Can you hold on a sec? I've got another call. MAN: S (ure)--( Beat. She clicks over. ) WOMAN: Hello? MAN 2: Hey. WOMAN: Oh, God. Oh, God, hi! Oh, hi! God, hi! MAN 2: Hey. WOMAN: Hi, God, you called! I was hoping you'd-where have you been? Hi! Thank you for calling! How are you? MAN 2: I'm fine. WOMAN: Great. MAN 2: How are-- WOMAN: Great. Wonderful. Now! Hi. When can I see you? Are you free? Are you busy? I can get time. Do you want to get something to eat tonight? Or we can cook. I can shop and we can-- We can stay in. We can cook here , I've got wine. Come over . Come over now if you want. I miss you. MAN 2: Listen- WOMAN: I miss you. Yesterday afternoon was-the museum was wonderful (I can't believe I live right here in the city and I never go), and the walk, and the river. And the ice cream! Unh! Nothing has ever tasted so good to me in my life, I swear to God, it was--and drinks by the--and dinner, and God , you looked so--and last night was-- MAN 2: Listen, there's some things I should do, but we ought to try to get together. WOMAN: Try? Try to get together? Yes, I think we should "try"! I mean, yes. Yes . That would be great. Tonight? Do you want to set something up for tonight? ( Beat .) MAN 2: Tonight? WOMAN: Yes. We could-- MAN 2: Look, can I call you back? WOMAN: What? MAN 2: I gotta call you back. WOMAN: Okay, but call me right-- MAN 2: Yeah. I'll call you. I'll talk to you. Okay? WOMAN: Soon. I'll talk to you, okay-- MAN 2: Bye. ( Beat .) WOMAN: Bye-- ( She almost hangs up .) Shit-- ( Clicks over .) Hello? MAN: Hello? WOMAN: It's me. MAN: I missed you! WOMAN: I'm sorry. I couldn't get-- MAN: I'm coming home. WOMAN: What? MAN: I'm calling because I'm coming home. It's my surprise. I'm cutting things short. I'm at the airport! WOMAN: Why? MAN: I'm about to get on an airplane. WOMAN: No, why-you're cutting things short? Can you do that? MAN: Yes. I worked straight through. I haven't slept for two days so I'd get done early because I missed you and I'm-- WOMAN: Wait. Hold-- MAN: We take off in ten minutes. They're preboarding now. I'm carrying my--I want to give you my arrival time so you can come get me. I've only got carry-on, so don't come to the gate, don't park, just pull up at arriving flights and I'll be-- WOMAN: 'Nother call, sorry, I-- MAN: Honey, wait, I'm about to board, I don't want to miss my-- WOMAN: ( Clicks over .) Hello? MAN: No, it's still me. Don't go. I don't want to miss my-- WOMAN: Sorry, hold on . ( Clicks .) Hello? Hello? MAN 2: Hey, me. WOMAN: Oh, hi ! MAN 2: Hey. Listen. I-- WOMAN: That was fast ! You're-- MAN 2: Listen, I just realized, I've got a lot of things to take care of. WOMAN: Uh-huh. MAN 2: So I think we better-- WOMAN: What? MAN 2: I think we better take a rain check on tonight. WOMAN: A rain check. MAN 2: We'll do it some other time. WOMAN: You have a lot of things to take care of? MAN 2: Yeah. WOMAN: What things? MAN 2: I should get some sleep. I have to get up early. WOMAN: We spend the day together yesterday. You didn't have things to take care of. Yesterday turned into last night and it was a long sleepless night and that seemed fine with you then; it seemed wonderful to me-- MAN 2: We'll have to do it another time. WOMAN: I don't have another time . This is the time. Do you see? Let's do this now . I'm sorry. I just mean, while we can. We shouldn't miss this. Yesterday came out of nowhere. We were together. It was great . I loved it. I loved being with you. I loved you. ( Beat .) Did you hear me? I love you. Can you hear me? Are you there? MAN 2: Can you hold on a minute? WOMAN: What? MAN 2: I've got another call coming in. WOMAN: Don't take it! MAN 2: I have to-- WOMAN: They'll call back. MAN 2: I'll just be-- WOMAN: Don't -- ( He clicks over .) MAN 2: Hello? Excerpted from Laugh Lines: Short Comic Plays All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.