Laugh Lines: Short Comic Plays

by Eric Lane (Editor), Nina Shengold (Editor)

This one-of-a-kind anthology features thirty-six hilarious short plays by major American playwrights and emerging new voices, all guaranteed to send readers and audiences into peals of laughter. From the surrealistic wit of Steve Martin's "The Zig-Zag Woman" to the biting political satire of Steven Dietz's "The Spot," from Christopher Durang's wonderfully loopy "Wanda's Visit" to Shel Silverstein's supremely twisted "The Best Daddy," there's something in here to make everyone laugh. There are plays for casts of all sizes, from monologues to large ensembles, with diverse and challenging roles for actors of every age and type. Even the titles are Mark O'Donnell's "There Shall Be No Bottom (a bad play for worse actors)," Elaine May's "The Way of All Fish," and Alan Ball's "Your Mother's Butt." A bonanza for theatergoers, performers, and comedy fans, Laugh Lines will bring down the house.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction

514 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jerry Jares · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a compilation of 36 one-act plays that the two editors selected from over 400 entries. The caliber of the plays is abysmal. I'm still waiting for a laugh. To let you know how pathetic these plays are, let me give you one title: 'My Mother's Butt.' The play is even worse than the title. The plays are so unfunny that they rely on the f* word for much of their humor.

Unbelievably, Elaine May's play used the idea of killing the president for humor. I thought that Steve Martin's entry was pretty marginal too (The Zig-Zag Woman). I like to read plays but this ensemble is atrocious and filled with @#$%^ language to get the reader to laugh. How pitiful.

[S D · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good chunk of these plays are gold

[Not Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short comedies, some one acts.

[James Binz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific short plays. Some wonderful classics. I really loved this.

[Ena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Callixta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Décidément l’auto-édition continue à réserver de jolies surprises. Nina Lane est une auteure de quelques nouvelles et d’un roman erotica utilisant plutôt la domination. Et elle vient de publier une superbe histoire qui se déroulera sur plusieurs épisodes mais ce premier est intrigant et tout à fait réussi.

Les héros sont deux personnages que nous connaissons bien dans la romance : Olivia est une jeune femme à l’enfance très difficile dont nous allons faire la connaissance alors qu’elle est mariée depuis trois ans et vit avec le même homme depuis cinq. Il a été essentiel dans sa vie pour son équilibre. Dean est professeur d’histoire d’architecture médiévale à l’université. En gros, Nina Lane nous place dans une situation où, en général, la romance ne va pas, là où les autres s’arrêtent c’est à dire dans un couple installé qui n’est même plus dans les affres des débuts d’une passion. Olivia et Dean mènent une vie tranquille dans une petite ville touristique du Wisconsin, il enseigne une matière qui n’a rien de bien excitant. Nous n’avons pas là les bases d’une histoire passionnante. C’est sans compter avec la fragilité des personnes et toute histoire d’amour car si les premières pages peuvent laisser penser à une douce intrigue, le petit grain de sable qui peut surgir n’importe quand et gripper un mécanisme bien huilé va intervenir.

Nous assistons alors à une très convaincante destruction d’un couple qui a pourtant lutté pour trouver son équilibre. Très habilement, Nina Lane nous laisse percevoir des moments des années passées, du début de la relation des deux héros et nous retrouvons ce que nous avons pu lire ailleurs : une étudiante qui tombe amoureuse d’un homme plus vieux ( ils ont neuf ans d’écart), brillant intellectuel alors qu’elle a pris pour des raisons bien personnelles du retard dans ses études. Cela rappelle même certaines scènes du superbe Gabriel’s inferno de Sylvain Reynard. Il n’y a pas de problème de relations interdites mais une belle romance dont nous sommes loin d’avoir tous les détails que l’auteure réserve certainement pour les prochains tomes. Mais que ces scènes en flashbacks sont plaisantes !

Mais le cœur de l’histoire repose sur la fissure qui ne cesse de s’élargir entre Dean et Olivia. L’essentiel du roman est suivi du point de vue de la jeune femme mais lors de la dernière partie, Dean prend la parole. C’est un vrai plaisir de suivre leurs deux évolutions. Et ce qui se passe est très intelligemment vu. Car Olivia et Dean s’aiment et ont construit une très belle histoire à deux dont nous ne découvrons les failles que peu à peu. Ce sont les doutes des deux héros, leur conception de l’autre qui finalement les rattrapent. Dean a littéralement sauvé Olivia d’elle-même, il est son héros, il a assumé ce rôle avec tout ce que ca suppose : c’est gratifiant mais exigeant, cela a aussi contribué à faire d’eux un couple un peu déséquilibré. Et, autre détail très fin, c’est justement parce qu’ Olivia va mieux qu’elle va finalement se poser de nouvelles questions et provoquer un certain nombre de problèmes.

Il ne faut évidemment pas les dévoiler mais le chemin est douloureux y compris pour le lecteur qui s’implique forcément dans cette relation et qui préfère souvent voir un couple évoluer vers la plénitude que la perdre. Evidemment, cela a toutes les chances d’être temporaire mais on ne peut que se demander comment ils vont s’en sortir.

Outre l’analyse fine et les rebondissements qui surprennent, l’histoire est émaillée de très jolies scènes de sexe par une auteure qui sait visiblement les écrire. Elles ont leur importance. Les personnages secondaires sont également réussis, comme le contexte notamment le travail d’historien de Dean. L’auteure donne des détails qui le rendent bien plus crédible.

La fin de cette première partie est en partie rassurante et inquiétante pour l’avenir du couple, les derniers mots prononcés par notre héroïne ouvrant de nouveau un gouffre de questions ! C’est évidemment le but. Nina Lane nous a confié avoir deux autres livres prévus, le prochain sortant probablement en mars. En tous cas, suivez cette auteure qui a publié déjà plusieurs nouvelles situées souvent dans des contextes surprenants. Elle a une culture de la romance mais une façon bien à elle de l’appréhender et dans cette série, c’est totalement réussi.

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for Heritage, Her-i-tage and Hair-itage by Adrienne Dawes

Another cutting is for A Statue of Simon Bolivar
By Eric Lane

Yet another cutting is for 2B (or Not 2B)
By Jacquelyn Reingold

Still another cutting is for Wedding Duet
By Lauren Wilson

Wow, another cutting is for How We Talk in South Boston
By David Lindsay-Abaire

This is insane, another cutting is for Post-Its (Notes on a Marriage)
By Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzman

Geez, another cutting is for Check, Please
By Jonathan Rand

Come on, another cutting is for The Spot
By Stephen Dietz

Insane, another cutting is for Controlling Interest
By Wayne Rawley

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you can imagine, a book with 36 plays will evoke a variety of responses. A couple may have bored me; a few were obvious or simply didn't meet the level of most; but the grand majority were entertaining, and several were fabulous!

I loved "Krispinsky". Post-Its was clever. Tarantino was cute, as was a Bad Play for Worse Actors, and Check, Please. The premise for Controlling Interest sounded lame but it was wonderful, perhaps my favourite! But it has stiff competition from the Zig-Zag Woman. Both of these are excellent.

Everyone should enjoy something in this book. Perhaps you wouldn't buy it yourself but give someone else a treat and buy it as a gift, as I received mine. They will appreciate it.

[Judine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think in some cases this book is mistitled. Sometimes the author seems to think the premise is enough to make the show funny, and they don't feel it necessary to give a satisfying ending (especially true of "No One Can Know the Mind of God"). While many of the funnier (or more engaging/well written) pieces were in the second half of the book, at least one ("Pops") I would NOT have classified as a comedy. While the Lucille Ball imitations would be silly done by a guy, that's totally not the point of the piece. It's worth reading, but some of the pieces are somewhat strange/disturbing ("2B (or Not 2B)").

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of plays wavered between enjoyable and "I wish I hadn't read that" for me. Grown-ups may find some interesting material here. Folks looking for plays to read with teens or younger should skip this book.
I did particularly enjoy two of the plays: "The Spot" by Steven Dietz was an entertaining take on the creation of an "honest" political ad. "Post-Its, Notes On A Marriage" by Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzman was simple, funny, and sweet.

[Ryan Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
Some good short plays in this collection, some not so good. If I had to pick a favorite I could probably narrow it down to "Your Mother's Butt" by Alan Ball and "Wanda's Visit" by Christopher Durang. Both of these are very funny and worth a read.
Check it out if you're into short comedic stage plays.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Not a keeper, but there are a few decent scenes for a high school comedy night. Several duds. Good scenes include "Check, please" by Jonathan Rand (a series of horrific first dates), and "Wanda's Visit" by the dependably funny Chris Durang.

[penelopewanders]

Reading this to try to find a play to do with a class... Skimmed through the plays which would have suited our needs, but finally, despite one I really liked (Collective Bargaining? Something like that), we will be doing a different one.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quality all across the spectrum. A couple of hilarious ones. Elaine May's The Way of All Fish is brilliant. Wanda's Visit is hilarious. Inspiring as a writer because some are so good and others because "I can do that."

[Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

- 37 short plays from Shel Silverstein, Elaine May (of 'Nichols & May'), Steve Martin (his was the worst of the bunch), and others
- from weirdly surreal, to bland, to wonderfully funny
- some were fabulous...in fact I found myself smiling (while thinking about them) months after reading this book

[g_jinx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned that I'm in a published book with Elaine May.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection has some fantastic short pieces. If you are looking to do a scene for a class, or would like to put up a show of one-acts, look through this book.

[HollyAnne Giffin]

Although all of the plays that I have read so far have an element of comedy (or at least satire), I am not sure that I would classify this text as an anthology of comedies.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these are a bit dated in references and/or relevance, but about half of them are pretty good.

[Sa]

Most of the plays were very well crafted and the topics were interestingly creative. I liked it!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

numerous, funny, short plays...

[Alisha Ramos-Epps · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Zig-Zag Woman" written by Steve Martin was hilarious! Short, fast, hysterical read!