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justforbooks · 4 years

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The New Yorker is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Started as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is now published 47 times annually, with five of these issues covering two-week spans. Although its reviews and events listings often focus on the cultural life of New York City, The New Yorker has a wide audience outside New York and is read internationally. It is well known for its illustrated and often topical covers, its commentaries on popular culture and eccentric Americana, its attention to modern fiction by the inclusion of short stories and literary reviews, its rigorous fact checking and copy editing, its journalism on politics and social issues, and its single-panel cartoons sprinkled throughout each issue.

The New Yorker was founded by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a New York Times reporter, and debuted on February 21, 1925. Ross wanted to create a sophisticated humor magazine that would be different from perceivably "corny" humor publications such as Judge, where he had worked, or the old Life. Ross partnered with entrepreneur Raoul H. Fleischmann (who founded the General Baking Company) to establish the F-R Publishing Company. The magazine's first offices were at 25 West 45th Street in Manhattan. Ross edited the magazine until his death in 1951. During the early, occasionally precarious years of its existence, the magazine prided itself on its cosmopolitan sophistication. Ross famously declared in a 1925 prospectus for the magazine: "It has announced that it is not edited for the old lady in Dubuque."

Although the magazine never lost its touches of humor, it soon established itself as a pre-eminent forum for serious fiction, essays and journalism. Shortly after the end of World War II, John Hersey's essay Hiroshima filled an entire issue. In subsequent decades the magazine published short stories by many of the most respected writers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including Ann Beattie, Sally Benson, Truman Capote, John Cheever, Roald Dahl, Mavis Gallant, Geoffrey Hellman, Ruth McKenney, John McNulty, Joseph Mitchell, Alice Munro, Haruki Murakami, Vladimir Nabokov, John O'Hara, Dorothy Parker, S.J. Perelman, Philip Roth, George Saunders, J. D. Salinger, Irwin Shaw, James Thurber, John Updike, Eudora Welty, Stephen King, and E. B. White. Publication of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" drew more mail than any other story in the magazine's history.

The New Yorker's signature display typeface, used for its nameplate and headlines and the masthead above The Talk of the Town section, is Irvin, named after its creator, the designer-illustrator Rea Irvin. The body text of all articles in The New Yorker is set in Adobe Caslon.

One uncommonly formal feature of the magazine's in-house style is the placement of diaeresis marks in words with repeating vowels—such as reëlected, preëminent, and coöperate—in which the two vowel letters indicate separate vowel sounds. The magazine also continues to use a few spellings that are otherwise little used in American English, such as fuelled, focussed, venders, teen-ager, traveller, marvellous, carrousel, and cannister.

The magazine also spells out the names of numerical amounts, such as "two million three hundred thousand dollars" instead of "$2.3 million", even for very large figures.

Despite its title, The New Yorker is read nationwide, with 53 percent of its circulation in the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas. According to Mediamark Research Inc., the average age of The New Yorker reader in 2009 was 47 (compared to 43 in 1980 and 46 in 1990). The average household income of The New Yorker readers in 2009 was $109,877 (the average income in 1980 was $62,788 and the average income in 1990 was $70,233).

According to Pew Research, 77 percent of The New Yorker's audience hold left-of-center political values, while 52 percent of those readers hold "consistently liberal" political values.

The magazine's first cover illustration, a dandy peering at a butterfly through a monocle, was drawn by Rea Irvin, the magazine's first art editor, based on an 1834 caricature of the then Count d'Orsay which appeared as an illustration in the 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. The gentleman on the original cover, now referred to as "Eustace Tilley", is a character created by Corey Ford (1902–1969) for The New Yorker. The hero of a series entitled "The Making of a Magazine", which began on the inside front cover of the August 8 issue that first summer, Tilley was a younger man than the figure on the original cover. His top hat was of a newer style, without the curved brim. He wore a morning coat and striped formal trousers. Ford borrowed Eustace Tilley's last name from an aunt—he had always found it vaguely humorous. "Eustace" was selected by Ford for euphony.

The character has become a kind of mascot for The New Yorker, frequently appearing in its pages and on promotional materials. Traditionally, Rea Irvin's original Tilley cover illustration is used every year on the issue closest to the anniversary date of February 21, though on several occasions a newly drawn variation has been substituted.

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joshuahyslop · 4 years

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BOOKS

The last 10 books I’ve read:

1. Wolf - Jim Harrison I found this book in one of the little neighbourhood book exchanges that are all around Vancouver. They look like little log cabins and it’s a loose “take a book, leave a book” policy. I’ve liked some of Harrison’s other books as well as some of his poetry so I picked it up. It’s fairly well written but it’s one of the most depraved and depressed characters I’ve read in a long time. It’s like a darker more depraved version of “On The Road”. More misogynistic, more obsessed with sex and completely lacking of anything philosophic. One of the reviewers on the back cover said it was (paraphrasing) a poetic depiction of a joyful life. I guess I must have read a different book.

2. The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon The first book of Pynchon’s I’d picked up. This was such an enjoyable read. I’ve steered clear of his books for fear of not being able to understand them. Every time I’ve talked about wanting to read his book “Gravity’s Rainbow”, I’ve been asked if I’ve read anything else by him. As if that’s a requirement. When I bought this book the teller asked me the same question. When I said no, he said “This is a good place to start.” I don’t know why that is, but now I’ve read one of his books and enjoyed it. I’ve eased into the Pynchon. I think I’m allowed to read another one now.

3. Joyland - Stephen King This was incredibly disappointing. I’ve read a lot of King’s books. They’re often hit or miss but they’re almost always enjoyable as brain candy. Books like, “The Shining”, “Carrie” or “Misery” are well written and suspenseful. It makes sense why he’s heralded as the King of Horror. But this one does not measure up. In fact, it falls very short of the rest of his work that I’ve read. I felt myself cringing at some of his dialogue. It was just so cheesy. Even though it was set in the 70′s, no one’s ever spoken like that. There’s very little suspense and the story itself isn’t very engaging. When you finally get to the action it’s only a couple of pages and then it’s done. It’s a very quick read, but definitely skippable.

4. The Truth About Stories - Thomas King A friend of mine who loves to read gave me a bag full of books to check out. This was one of them. It’s one of the CBC Massey Lectures and I love that series. I have a bunch of them already so I was excited to check this out. I also have King’s book, “The Inconvenient Indian” on my bookshelf in my “to read” pile. A pile that does nothing but seem to grow. But it’s still a ways down in the pile. So I thought I’d check out this little book because it’s only 5 essays and it would give me a sample of his writing. I’m very glad that I did. It’s so well written. It’s funny, it’s sad, it makes you think. If you care about stories, politics, religion, and the treatment of First Nations people by the US and Canadian governments, you should give this a read. I can’t wait to get to his book.

5. Deadeye Dick - Kurt Vonnegut In my last post I mentioned liking Vonnegut a lot and being surprised at how few of his books I’d read. It turns out I’m just very bad at using technology. I keep a Word document of all the books I’ve read to avoid reading the same book twice, accidentally. I’d tried using the “find” function and somehow did it wrong, so only a few Vonnegut titles showed up. As it turns out, this was the ninth book by Vonnegut that I’d read. That makes way more sense to me. I enjoyed this one a lot. It’s pretty funny and pretty sad. A good combination, if you ask me.

6. 69 - Ryu Murakami One of my favourite local used bookstores offers store credit if you bring in some books and they decide to buy them from you. You can either take cash or store credit. If you choose credit, you have to spend it all before you go. It’s fun. On this particular visit I had about $60 worth of credit. I’d picked the books I wanted and still had $14 left. They recommended this book. i’d never read anything by this Murakami (no relation to Haruki) so I had no idea what to expect but I was excited to check it out. I loved it. It takes place in 1969 and follows the path of some high school students looking to join or start some kind of counter-cultural movement. The two main characters actually reminded me a lot of my own experience in high school. I’ll be checking out more of his writing for sure.

7. Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace Good lord. This was a mountain I’d tried to climb once before and failed. To have finally finished this book is no small feat. Standing at the top, looking back down I’m actually amazed I made it all the way through. It’s not that it’s an unenjoyable read. On the contrary. It’s very well written and quite enjoyable. It’s just that it’s over 1100 pages and contains 388 footnotes, many of which are several pages long and some even have footnotes of their own. At times it can feel like you’re reading two or three books at once. Another challenge is that there are at least 3 plots taking place all at once. Each story can jump ahead or backwards in time which can be tricky to track, PLUS there are character’s plot-lines that are introduced in great detail (one that comes to mind takes 11 pages to describe a young man addicted to marijuana anxiously waiting for his dealer to arrive) that are never again revisited. The three main story lines are loosely connected but the book takes its sweet time revealing that fact. All of that, mind you, and we still haven’t even mentioned the deep themes of addiction, suicide and capitalism that run throughout the book. I’m very glad I’ve read it. I usually enjoyed doing so. But if you’re not committed, if you don’t have some serious time to lean in, or if you don’t like his style of writing then perhaps you should steer clear. It’s an uphill climb, for sure.

8. Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things - Lafcadio Hearn This book caught my eye while I was taking my son for a walk. It was in the window of another one of our local bookstores, so I stopped in and checked it out. It’s a book of Japanese ghost stories and myths from hundreds if not thousands of years ago. The stories themselves are sometimes scary, sometimes funny, sometimes very confusing, but always enjoyable. Although the last three chapters completely disregard all things Japanese and consist of the authors philosophical rumination regarding Butterflies and the afterlife, Mosquitoes and the taking of innocent life (even when it seems to serve no purpose), and Ants and their altruistic existence vs our individualistic societies. There are other books in this series and I plan to check out at lease one more. I’ve always wanted to go to Japan so I’ve got a definite bias here, but if you like myths or ghost stories there’s a good chance you’d enjoy this book.

9. Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer I know I’m late to the party on this one, but this is a fantastic book. It’s one that I’ll be recommending for years to come. Its subtitle is: “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants”. It is all of that and so much more. I truly loved reading this book. I took notes. I underlined. I had to stop to think and reflect. I’d definitely encourage you to do the same.

10. Masters of Atlantis - Charles Portis This book is hilarious. Very dry, very droll. It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at the people who organize and who believe in secret societies, cults and religion in general. I didn’t know what to expect when I started it. The only other book by Portis that I’ve read was True Grit. This book is absolutely nothing like that. It’s completely it’s own. The only thing it has in common is Portis’ sense of humour. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite so dry as this before. Maybe something by S.J. Perelman or something like that. This book was recommended to me by M.C. Taylor from Hiss Golden Messenger so I was pretty confident it would be good. It’s safe to say I would never have picked it up without the recommendation but also, I’m glad that I did.

more soon, -joshua

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spokenrealms · 4 years

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Afternoon Adventures at My Club

Stephen Leacock (1869 – 1944) is considered by many to be the Canadian counterpart to the better known American humorists Mark Twain and S.J. Perelman. In the early 20th century he was one of the most widely read authors in the English speaking world. Jack Benny and Groucho Marx considered Leacock as one of the funniest writers they had ever read.

The following sketches have been adapted…

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eloiseyat-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel Alan Zweibel Genre: Humor Price: Get Publish Date: August 6, 2011 Alan Zweibel dusts off some hilarious material written years ago that stand the test of time. An original Saturday Night Live writer, award winning author and playwright, Zweibel releases three never before published short stories: “The Prize”, “The Ride Home”, and “Sexting with Alan Dershowitz” pulled from Alan’s Bottom Drawer delivered directly to your eReader. You’ll be laughing within seconds...Okay, minutes...Okay, the next day. But that's still good, right? “One of the best comedy writers around, Alan Zweibel is my bounce guy. We’ve been friends for so long we have our own comedic shorthand. We totally get each other’s sense of humor.” – Larry David “He’s wonderfully funny and very smart and he’s a big guy, but very sensitive.” – Billy Crystal “Alan Zweibel is the funniest writer in the world.” – Dave Barry “Read Alan Zweibel and you’ll be reminded of the likes of Robert Benchley and S.J. Perelman. You can’t help but be moved by his warmth and insight even as you laugh your ass off.” – David Steinberg About the Author An original Saturday Night Live writer who the New York Times said has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture,” Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild, and TV Critics awards for his work in television which also includes It’s Garry Shandling’s Show , Monk , PBS’s Great Performances , and Curb Your Enthusiasm . A frequent guest on talk shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman , Alan’s many theatrical contributions include the Tony Award winning play 700 Sundays which he collaborated on with Billy Crystal, Martin Short’s Broadway hit Fame Becomes Me , and the off-Broadway play Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy which he adapted from his best-selling book. Alan has written the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel The Other Shulman , the popular children’s book Our Tree Named Steve , and a collection of short stories and essays titled Clothing Optional . His humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as Esquire , The Atlantic Monthly , The New York Times Op-Ed page, The Huffington Post , and MAD Magazine . The co-writer of the screenplays for the films Dragnet , North , and The Story of Us , Alan recently received an honorary PhD. from the State University of New York and in 2010 the Writers Guild, East gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Alan is currently working with Billy Crystal on the feature film version of 700 Sundays to be directed by Barry Levinson, executive producing a documentary mini-series for Showtime with Steve Carell and David Steinberg and writing a novel titled Lunatics with Dave Barry which Putnam is publishing in January. And on the TV screen he will be appearing as a new character in the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and in a short film for Funny or Die . But the production that Alan is most proud of is the family he’s co-produced with his wife Robin, their children Lindsay, Sari, and Adam, Adam’s wife Cori, and grandchildren Zachary and Alexis.

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irmaphel-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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berthare-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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sherryharper-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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senkyosakki-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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smartworkingpackage · 7 years

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Thoughts From Groucho, or Re-Marx on Staying Relevant for 100 Years

“I don’t know what you have to say,

It makes no diff’rence anyway;

Whatever it is, I’m against it!” — Groucho Marx in Horse Feathers

To fans of classic comedy, the idea that Groucho Marx is all but forgotten is startling. One of the most popular comedians of the 20th century, he was the quick-witted and sharp-tongued ringleader of the golden age comedy team The Marx Brothers. The siblings conquered every medium, from stage and radio to movies, television, and books. Kids today still recognize his trademark glasses, fake eyebrows and mustache, and cigar, and “Groucho masks” remain popular party items.

Groucho’s stage, film, and television character specialized in insulting the pompous and self-important and embracing the absurdity of life. But beneath the wisecracks was a sharp self-taught intellectual. His public persona was only slightly more heightened than his real-life personality, and his thought processes were governed by a keen assessment of what people expected of him and how he could either fulfill those expectations or subvert them.

His family’s poverty forced him to leave school and go to work at the age of 12, but he had a lifelong thirst for knowledge. Thanks to his fame, he befriended some of the greatest minds of his era (including Nobel Prize-winning poet T.S. Eliot). His papers were even collected by the Library of Congress. Despite his humble beginnings, he wrote six books himself and was a frequent contributor to many magazines, including The New Yorker. His compiled letters have been published in multiple books, and his quotes still make the rounds of social media, this time as memes.

While you might not think a comedian born in 1890 would have much to offer today, consider this: Groucho made your great-great grandparents laugh, and what he had to say is still relevant in the 21st century. He’s more remembered than his once-equally famous brothers. Why? He was better able to adapt to changes in society and technology. And his life and thoughts offered guideposts to anyone savvy enough to apply them.

What mentorship means

When Groucho went into vaudeville at 15, making $20 a week, his mother Minnie realized that if having one son in show business could make that kind of money, having his brothers join him could net a small fortune. She pushed them all into the act — whether or not they wanted it or not — and when she was done, The Four Marx Brothers were one of the biggest acts in show business.

Greatness rarely comes without a struggle, and she willed her boys to success. As one of the few female show business managers in the first decades of the 20th century, she had to be stubborn, somewhat outrageous, and fast-talking to get her boys ahead. She made instant decisions, and never let her errors stop her forward progress. Her tough approach to organizing her five out-of-control sons, stretching money, and staying one step ahead of unscrupulous theatre owners marked Groucho for life. Her legacy lived on in Groucho, who, though he was prone to bouts of depression, kept Minnie’s determination close to his heart. Her mentorship made him what he was.

Groucho’s other mentor (in the words of talk show host Dick Cavett, “his god”) was playwright and director George S Kaufman, who wrote or directed scores of plays, two of which won Pulitzer Prizes. He loved nothing more than spending time with men like Kaufman or S.J. Perelman, who were brilliant writers with life experiences and points of view that added bite to their writing.

We all need mentors, role models, and people who believe in us. Who are those people in your own life? What can you learn from them? What would you discover if you made lists of the traits they have that you want to cultivate? Groucho was never intimidated by people he knew were smarter and more skilled than he was. Instead, he befriended them, learned from them, and ultimately became someone who was equally sought-out for opinions and advice. Certainly, we could learn to do the same, even if the inspiration comes from a man with a painted-on mustache.

“I find television very educational. Every time someone turns it on, I go into the library and read a book.” -Groucho Marx

A century of not accepting the conventional

Associating with writers like Kaufman helped Groucho develop the trait he was best known for: tweaking authority. Whether it was high society, the government, or big business, he was sure to let anyone who thought they were better than him know that he wasn’t going to stand for it. Audiences loved him as much for what he said as to whom he was saying it. Who wouldn’t want to tell a stuffy socialite, “I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it”? Groucho’s humor worked because it struck that chord in everyone who wants to be bold and to not fear being unconventional but to embrace their own individuality with gusto.

His anti-establishment streak was as powerful in the Great Depression as it was in the 1970s when comedy broke from tired one-size-fits-all jokes to personal observations. Some of that era’s most important comedians — George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and (especially) Woody Allen — were influenced by Groucho’s confrontationally personal wit. Stand-ups today perform material based on their own observations. They make notes about what they see and turn it into jokes that we can identify with and laugh at. Before Groucho, almost no “monologists,” as they were called more than 100 years ago, relied on this technique. Mark Twain may have been among the first.

Groucho didn’t accept the status quo or conventional wisdom, and the good news is, you don’t have to, either. You don’t have to be needlessly confrontational, but when you see things that don’t make sense, say something. The only way anyone is going to hear (or implement) your ideas is if you voice them.

What made Groucho and his brothers stars was their irreverence and spontaneity. By keeping their eyes open to the absurdities around them, they could call attention to them. You may not have the nerve to say after a particularly boring presentation, “I thought my razor was dull until I heard his speech’” But Groucho would — and did.

Those qualities of Groucho’s — staying open and aware of what was going on around him, calling attention to things that are supposed to make sense but don’t, an eager willingness to gather information and experience from others — are qualities that anyone can develop. It may not be easy to do it. Our own inhibitions and social convention can get in the way. But the rewards of personal growth and value as a collaborator are immense.

The more you know, the more valuable you become

Groucho had an immense personal library. Whenever he and his brothers were performing on the road, he brought along a huge trunk filled with books that expanded his point of view and gave him expertise in any number of areas. After all, you can’t properly insult someone whose background you don’t fully understand.

Books and bookstores may not have the cultural impact they once did, but you have an advantage over Groucho. You’re reading this on some kind of a screen, and a world of information is just a click away. There are more e-books, reports, texts, essays, and other media available than you could possibly consume in one lifetime. That tidal wave might seem overwhelming, but dive in. Make and share lists and collections of books, authors, articles, or photos that inspire you. Evernote is a perfect place to store lists like this, so when you’re in need of a little inspiration, it’s always at your fingertips. Plus, you don’t have to carry around all your reading material in a heavy trunk, like Groucho did.

Comedy is based on taking serious topics to extremes. Without a firm basis in reality or facts, humor’s just a series of jokes without context. Beneath his makeup, Groucho was a deeply serious man, capable of debating National Review editor William F. Buckley as to whether the world is, in fact, funny.

Groucho was rigorous in his comedy. Before filming most of their movies, the brothers would do live tours trying out material. As the brothers performed scenes from upcoming movies on the stage, stenographers sat backstage timing laughs, measuring the intensity of audience responses, and tracking whether delivering a line or a physical “bit” of comedy one way got a better response than another. All that data came back to Hollywood, so by the time the brothers committed the scenes to film, they already knew how the movies would perform on screens around the world. Without this meticulous note-taking, their best films may have ended up as slightly incoherent as their early ones in which the laughs came too quickly together and audiences missed some of the best jokes. Because they took the time to record metrics in front of multiple live audiences, the Marx Brothers legend endures to this day.

The timelessness of individuality

When the brothers’ film career faded in the 1940s, Groucho reinvented himself by hosting a television quiz show, You Bet Your Life. (It’s where the phrase “Say the secret word and win $100” comes from.) The show, which still enjoys a healthy following on YouTube, allowed him to interact with “civilian” guests, winning him a whole new generation of fans who expected him to do the unexpected.

Reinventing ourselves and embracing the unexpected are things we can cultivate in ourselves. Groucho was blasé about aging, but a person doesn’t last 70 years in showbiz without finding ways to stay relevant and productive. By using some of Groucho’s tips, you might find yourself having his staying power.

But don’t just take our word for it. See for yourself how Groucho Marx might inspire you to raise a few eyebrows in your own work and life.

And now, the one, the only, Groucho.

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elizabethsta-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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vileart · 7 years

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Margarita Dramaturgy: Richard Sparks @ Edfringe 2017

Margarita Dreams

Underbelly Ermintrude

14:00 (60 mins)

2– 28 August

Dave is on the beach, in Mexico, drinking a margarita. And then another. He drifts off... into a whirl of absurdities.

Cross-dressing, community affairs, phone-induced paranoia, the five-minute detective, a four-way divorce, a spirit-reading summoning a flasher, a singing theoretical physicist explaining string theory with a ukulele, the modern technology-addled brain (with robotic legs), the Geneva Convention's rules of comedy flouted, a very strange romance, disappointed parents – and finally, the Shy People's Encounter Group, where a riot breaks out, ending harmoniously in disco therapy.

Funny where nine margaritas can take you.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

Working with these young talents by Skype from Los Angeles where I live. They have so much to give, so much enthusiasm. And no fear. They love a challenge, and it became obvious they could handle anything I threw at them. I said “Why not Edinburgh?”

They jumped at the idea, and Margarita Dreams came pouring out. It has been an absolute joy writing sketch comedy again, and I can’t thank these kids enough for being the inspiration for all this strange and surprising stuff.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

Yes, it most definitely is. Writers put a lot of thought into their work. They explore their subjects in many directions, and discover many aspects to them for audiences to consider. Our show is lightweight – but many of the writers I love most are lightweight. Damon Runyon, P.G. Wodehouse, S.J. Perelman, Dorothy Parker.

Whereas more earnest writers like Brecht and Shaw are lecturers as well as entertainers. It’s always a mistake to tell the audience what to think. This is show business, not tell business. Show them your story, absorb them in it, and send them off to the pub afterwards to argue about it.

How did you become interested in making performance?

The joy of laughter. My father took me to The Marx Brothers Go West when I was about ten, and I literally – and I mean literally – rolled in the aisles with laughter. Spike Milligan in Son of Oblomov had the same effect a few years later.

There is nothing quite like sitting in an audience which is all rocking backwards and forwards in a completely uncoordinated fashion roaring with laughter at something you and your cast have created.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Everything is done, redone and done again to the best of our ability. I have written and rewritten. We rehearse and change and grow the work and performances. And all this takes place beneath the surface, out of sight of the audience. The audience should never look beyond the moment of performance, at the writer, or at the preparation.

It should see a duck serenely paddling, not the legs churning away underwater. I believe in the art that conceals art. Nothing irritates me more than seeing a show in which everyone on stage or on film is having the most wonderful time amongst themselves, while I’m sitting there in the audience thinking – well, let me in on the fun, can’t you?

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Yes and no. Margarita Dreams marks my return to Edinburgh 41 years after the last of my four shows on the fringe (two Oxford Revues, starring Mel Smith, and two later two-handers with Peter Wilson, producer of Margarita Dreams). One of my best-known pieces is a comedy sketch, the Schoolmaster, which I wrote for Rowan Atkinson.

On the other hand I have written a lot of TV episodes, a dozen stage plays, a couple of books about poker, and a number of libretti for operas (translations and originals), mainly for the Los Angeles Opera. My current commission for the LAO is based on a Woody Allen short story. Placido Domingo will sing the lead. But coming back to sketch comedy after a long time away from it has been like finding a long-lost friend again.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

The joy of laughter, see above. What I write is benign, slightly surreal, and ever-changing. It is easy to write sour comedy, crude comedy, smug comedy. Those prompt different kinds of laughter: embarrassed laughter, awkward laughter, shocked laughter. The purest laughter comes from the stomach. What is laughter a reaction of?

Above all, it is a reaction of surprise. If I tell you the world’s funniest joke, you may well laugh. If I tell it to you again, you probably won’t. That delight, that opening-of-the-eyes and rocking backwards and forwards, surprised (see above): that is the height we aim for. Anyone can aim low and hit.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

Script-writing is all about story structure, whereas sketch-comedy is all about situations and ideas. Nevertheless, our show has a flow. Everything weaves in and out of everything else, and one thing does indeed lead to another, but with the peculiar logic of dreams. It does, in many weird ways, indeed make sense.

As our title song says: Oh, welcome to the world of Margarita – where peculiar is the new normal, and a good, if unusual, time is had by all. What we want the audience to experience can be summed up in one word: fun.

from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2rCZonr

#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

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marthazimmerma-blog · 8 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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eloiseyat-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

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senkyosakki-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel Alan Zweibel Genre: Humor Price: Get Publish Date: August 6, 2011 Alan Zweibel dusts off some hilarious material written years ago that stand the test of time. An original Saturday Night Live writer, award winning author and playwright, Zweibel releases three never before published short stories: “The Prize”, “The Ride Home”, and “Sexting with Alan Dershowitz” pulled from Alan’s Bottom Drawer delivered directly to your eReader. You’ll be laughing within seconds...Okay, minutes...Okay, the next day. But that's still good, right? “One of the best comedy writers around, Alan Zweibel is my bounce guy. We’ve been friends for so long we have our own comedic shorthand. We totally get each other’s sense of humor.” – Larry David “He’s wonderfully funny and very smart and he’s a big guy, but very sensitive.” – Billy Crystal “Alan Zweibel is the funniest writer in the world.” – Dave Barry ��Read Alan Zweibel and you’ll be reminded of the likes of Robert Benchley and S.J. Perelman. You can’t help but be moved by his warmth and insight even as you laugh your ass off.” – David Steinberg About the Author An original Saturday Night Live writer who the New York Times said has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture,” Alan Zweibel has won multiple Emmy, Writers Guild, and TV Critics awards for his work in television which also includes It’s Garry Shandling’s Show , Monk , PBS’s Great Performances , and Curb Your Enthusiasm . A frequent guest on talk shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman , Alan’s many theatrical contributions include the Tony Award winning play 700 Sundays which he collaborated on with Billy Crystal, Martin Short’s Broadway hit Fame Becomes Me , and the off-Broadway play Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy which he adapted from his best-selling book. Alan has written the 2006 Thurber Prize winning novel The Other Shulman , the popular children’s book Our Tree Named Steve , and a collection of short stories and essays titled Clothing Optional . His humor has also appeared in such diverse publications as Esquire , The Atlantic Monthly , The New York Times Op-Ed page, The Huffington Post , and MAD Magazine . The co-writer of the screenplays for the films Dragnet , North , and The Story of Us , Alan recently received an honorary PhD. from the State University of New York and in 2010 the Writers Guild, East gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award. Alan is currently working with Billy Crystal on the feature film version of 700 Sundays to be directed by Barry Levinson, executive producing a documentary mini-series for Showtime with Steve Carell and David Steinberg and writing a novel titled Lunatics with Dave Barry which Putnam is publishing in January. And on the TV screen he will be appearing as a new character in the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and in a short film for Funny or Die . But the production that Alan is most proud of is the family he’s co-produced with his wife Robin, their children Lindsay, Sari, and Adam, Adam’s wife Cori, and grandchildren Zachary and Alexis.

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berthare-blog · 7 years

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From the Bottom Drawer of: Alan Zweibel - Alan Zweibel | Humor |455614706

#Humor

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