Mastergate

by Larry Gelbart, Ed Asner (Actor), Melanie Chartoff (Actor)

The Tony Award-winning playwright and creator of TV's M*A*S*H has fashioned a wickedly funny satire about the Iran-Contra Senate hearings and their participants. A top-notch Hollywood cast, headed by Walter Matthau, brings this scathing comedy to life.

Recorded before a live audience at the DoubleTree Suites, Santa Monica in April of 1992.

Genres: Plays, Humor

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Larry Simon Gelbart was an American comedy writer and dramatist.

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audiobook version of this play is the way to go; it was laugh out loud hilarious

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This joke-a-minute, laugh-out-loud farce may seem dated, but poking fun at the government never gets old.

[Peter Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious and a great read! Larry Gelbart is a pro at word play.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mastergate is no M*A*S*H, Larry Gelbert's Emmy Award-winning classic television series. Nor is it A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the Tony Award-winning play for which Gelbert wrote the book.

Posited as a parodic version of what the Iran/Contra hearings should have been, Gelbert's Mastergate unveils a series of bad puns. So many possible targets! Pompous senators, slimy weapons contractors, self-righteous ideologues, introverted bureaucrats turned whistle-blowing heroes. Which is tragic, as this work features a star-filled cast: Ed Asner, Walter Mathau, Charles Durning. This could have been a contender instead of a barely tolerable pun-a-palooza.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audio play with a cast including Malter Matthau and Ed Asner. It was laugh out loud funny. I love a well written play and this was just that play. Some time find it dated, but I found it hilarious. This is one audio book I could listen over and over.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was like a Saturday Night Live skit gone too long.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

A real dud. This parody of Iran-Contra and other scandals of its ilk is really the same joke over and over.

[Kirsti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish this one either. It had clever wordplay but not much else.

[Matt G · Rating 1 out of 5]

dated, lame, grating studio audience noise

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of zany one liners.