Who's the Funniest Playwright?

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Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:33pm

Who writes the most deliriously funny stage plays (not musicals this time) you've ever seen or read?

On or Off Broadway or from afar...written in English?

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:37pm

i love the play Incorruptible , by Michael Hollinger. My high school is hopefully doing it this year, and I've read the play and loved it.

I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:38pm

I think everything Chris Durang writes is funny.

I love satire and over the top.

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:42pm

Mr Frayns' Noises Off is pretty gosh darn hilarious
Tom Stoppard has his moments
Alan Bennett's has written some truly hilarious material

I think we can scratch Eugene O'Neil off the list, though.

"Picture "The View," with the wisecracking, sympathetic sweethearts of that ABC television show replaced by a panel of embittered, suffering or enraged Arab women" -the Times review of Black Eyed

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:44pm

Harold Pinter

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:52pm

I read Burn This by Lanford Wilson in a Barnes & Noble and just burst out loud laughing. People had to see what I was reading.

I saw it once in performance and the staging and acting wasn't up to how good I know it can be in my mind.

I never seen a Pinter comedy. Pause. Which Pinter play is funny? Pause. Which?

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:55pm

Oscar Wilde

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/16/06 at 11:59pm

Yup. Love Wilde. The man had style.

David Ives short play Time Flies about the short life cycle of mayflies, who are born live and breed all in a day, is very funny.

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:03am

My first thought was Christopher Durang. He's one of the few playwrights that I know will make me laugh when I read his work. Notable mentions are Martin McDonagh and Neil Simon, of course.

#10

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:09am

John Guare wrote a hilarious one-act, New York Actor. It's a must read.

I'd give a synopsis but I don't want to give any of it away. Suffice to say that it has some comparison of New York vs. L.A. acting, stage vs. televison.

#11

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:18am

I love Neil Simon.

#12

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:20am

Craig Lucas' Prelude To A Kiss is very funny.

Loved the old man taking the skin off his chicken like my grandfather used to do.

#13

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:32am

Martin McDonagh. Hands down.

"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)

#14

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:33am

Updated On: 8/28/06 at 12:33 AM

#15

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 12:37am

Love the new icon, Wanna Be A Foster.

I was so surprised by Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore turning comedic after its quasi-serious beginning, and it was hysterical, and just kept getting somehow funnier.

Fantastic play. May be the funniest one on stage in NYC right now. I mean a graveyard humor kind. I can't think of a funnier one playing here...

#16

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 8:38am

Martin McDonagh is probably the funniest playwright working today. I also love the devilish comedy that Tony Kushner infuses his plays with.

Of course, one must also mention the greats: Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw.

#17

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 8:54am

Tony Kushner and the guy who wrote Moon Over Buffalo. And Shakespeare's stuff is pretty hilarious.

Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you. --Cartman: South Park ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."

#18

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 9:16am

Noel Coward

#19

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 9:51am

I'd have to cast a vote for David Lindsay-Abaire. Both "Fuddy Meers" and "Wonder of the World" made me laugh out loud when I read them. Even the more serious "Rabbit Hole" had its comic moments.

#20

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 10:20am

"Auntie Mame" by Comden & Green. Too bad this show is never revived as a straight play.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#21

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 10:25am

Auntie Mame was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. And yes, it would be great to see it revived sometime, though given the enormous cast, probably only Roundabout (under a LORT contract) could afford to do it. And then, there's the problem of finding an actress who can live up to the incredibly high standard set by Roz Russell, who was pretty much definitive in the role (along with Lansbury who did the musical version).

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#22

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 10:30am

'Man WHo Came To Dinner' and 'You Can't Take It With You' both written by Moss Hart and George Kaufman.

especially with Nathan Lane as Sheridan Whiteside in 'Man Who Came to Dinner'

<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.

-Dre- You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
There's a special kind of people known as show people. We live in a world full of dreams. Sometimes we're not too certain what's false and what's real. But we're seldom in doubt about what we feel.
~Curtains~
It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.
~A Tale of Two Cities ~

#23

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 10:39am

Moliere (then)
McDonough (now)

#24

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 10:51am

I'd have to say McDonough. It's dark and terribly revolting, yet there are so many moments that the jokes are so dark you can't help but laugh.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird

#25

re: Who's the Funniest Playwright?

Posted: 8/17/06 at 10:54am

Another vote for David Linday-Abaire. Love this man's work.

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