Rescheduled from January 23
They’ve skewered history, the Bible, all the Great Books, and the world’s most celebrated playwright. Now, Reduced Shakespeare Company tackles the subject it was born to reduce. From the high-brow to the low, The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) covers comedy through the ages, from Aristophanes and Shakespeare and Moliere (Is Moliere funny? Why not?) to Vaudeville and Charlie Chaplin to The Daily Show and Anthony Weiner.
The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) answers the fundamental questions:
- Which is the least funny nationality? Which is the funniest? Why did the former try to exterminate the latter?
- How do critics describe everything in a way to make it sound unfunny? (“First of all, the premise is weak. No one would ever believe that a baseball team would actually have a first baseman named “Who.”)
- Why did the chicken cross the road? RSC dreams of a day when chickens can travel freely without their motives being questioned.
“You knew they’d get this one right. Audacious, often outrageous and bawdy, the frantic pacing reminds you of an old-time burlesque or vaudeville revue.” – Boston Stages
Tickets to The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) are far more affordable than tickets to an amusement park, but you’ll come away with the same feeling of nausea and motion sickness. From cavemen telling “Rock Rock” jokes to Chris Rock and everything in-between, the bad boys of abridgment leave no joke untold as they deconstruct the entire history of comedy in 90 rollicking minutes.
As one would expect in an examination of the History of Comedy, this show contains occasional strong language and sexual innuendo.
