Performing Arts : Comedy

Attending to the dialogue between the comic events in plays by female writers of the 18th century and the plays' more predictable comic endings illuminates the philosophical, political and legal arguements about women and marrige that fascinated the playwrights and the theatre-going public. more...

Price: $100.00

They say that comedy is a serious business; and Bob (R. W.) Klamm is really serious about comedy. ‘Get More Laughs from Your Laughs’ was written for those who want to create laughter, to study and cherish, on stage or in life, no matter if you are a professional or just adding a special touch of zest to a meeting of friends.  Every topic has been analyzed and explained with accuracy and precision, and in an entertaining, example-filled manner. You'll find: Comedy Contradiction, Exaggeration, Rules of Physical Action, Punch-line Sentence Structure, Dual Reality, Innocence and Believability, Timing and the Pause, Building your own comedy characterization, plus much more. You will find comic devices with funny examples and you'll have fun with the game-like exercises included with each chapter. Whether you become a stand-up comedian with an HBO special of your own or not, you'll learn how to use humor to light up the shadows in your life, heal the spirit, lower your blood pressure, fight the traffic and face every day problems with a smile. Laughter is the best medicine. With this book you’ll create a lot of smiles and heal a lot of hearts. more...

Price: $9.95

The outrageously funny, heartbreaking, and suprising story of Tracy Morgan's rise from ghetto wiseass to superstar comedian. Who is Tracy Morgan? The wildly unpredictable funnyman who rocketed to fame on Saturday Night Live ? The Emmy-nominated actor behind the sly and ingenious character Tracy Jordan on the award-winning hit sitcom 30 Rock , whose turbulent personal life often mirrors that of his fictional alter ego? Is he Chico Divine, the life of the party–any party, anytime, anywhere–getting ladies pregnant everywhere he goes? Or is he a soulful, tender family man who emerged from a hardscrabble ghetto upbringing and, against all odds, achieved superstardom, raised a solid family, prevailed over a collection of lethal bad habits, and is still ascending new heights and coming into his own? The answer is: Tracy Morgan is all that. more...

Price: $25.00

It's been said that Jann Arden can bring an audience to tears through song only to have them rolling in the aisles moments later with her off-the-cuff comedy. It's this juxtaposition, the poet's gift for poignant love songs paired with a comedian's timing and self-deprecating wit, that has earned Jann a legion of loyal fans on the stage as well as the page. more...

Price: $16.95

I tell ya, nothin' goes right.Last week I found a guy's wallet ... Inside was a picture of my two kids.Anybody can repeat a Rodney Dangerfield joke, but nobody can tell one like the man himself. That's because his humor, built on the premise that he "don't get no respect," is drawn from a life so hard that the only way to survive was to laugh at it -- though all the drugs and hookers certainly didn't hurt.In It's Not Easy Bein' Me, Dangerfield comes clean (even if he still works blue) about his brutal life and the unlikely triumph he made out of it. His father was in vaudeville, and his mother was from hell, which is why a young Jack Roy grabbed a mike and got up on a stage straight out of high school. He was looking for laughs, some approval ... and a few easy women. He struggled for years, getting by but never getting over, playing dives and opening for strippers, hypnotists, and snake charmers. Then at thirty, Dangerfield walked away from all that glamour. He quit show business, got a "real" job -- as an aluminum-siding salesman -- and started raising a family in Englewood, New Jersey. He was out of comedy for twelve unhappy years, but all the while he was writing jokes, scheming, and dreaming of his comeback.Eventually, he changed his act, changed his name, and changed American comedy forever. He developed one of the most popular characters in all of show business -- the poor schnook who gets no respect. Not from his parents, his wife, his kids, not even from his physician, Dr. Vinnie Boombatz.But his millions of fans not only respected him, they loved him, reciting dozens of his jokes from memory and quoting chapter and verse from Caddyshack, the movie that made Dangerfield into a comedic superstar. Today, Dangerfield stands as a true pillar of American comedy (though at eighty-two, he says, he's crumbling a little) and after the life he's led, it's amazing he's standing at all.Wild, hip, and hilar more...

Price: $10.99