Ten Ish Comedies

A killer robot, grieving socks, a hilariously bad job interview, a stressed mother, delicious… crayons. What do these random things have in common? They are just some of the elements that you’ll find in Ten(ish): Comedies - an anthology of short plays by some of the most exciting playwrights working today. Ten(ish): Comedies is edited by Brendan Conheady, and features the following plays: Some Assembly Required by Ruben Carbajal The Last Cookie by Laura Neill Baby Yoga by Elissa C. Huang The Job Interview by Don Zolidis A Stitch Here of There: A Sock Tragedy in One Act by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill Happy Birthday to Me by Alle Mims A Talkback by Patrick Greene The Bargain by Kathryn Funkhouser Eating Crayons by Ryan M. Bultrowicz Muddy Death and Strudel by Jason Pizzarello

Who is student filmmaker Vernon Triumph? Some say a visionary. Some say a madman. But he’s pretty convincing, so everyone from the volleyball team to the custodian gets involved in making his masterpiece, The Crane Man (an important, artistic film about a guy who gets bitten by a radioactive crane and becomes a superhero). The budget is zero, the cast and crew are clueless, and the whole production seems headed for disaster. But the rise and fall of Vernon Triumph just might turn out to be so silly it’s sublime. Comedy Full-length, 75-85 minutes 15+ actors (suggested casting: 1M, 3F, 11 any)

John DiLeo is the author of five other books about classic movies: And You Thought You Knew Classic Movies, 100 Great Film Performances You Should Remember—But Probably Don’t, Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery, Tennessee Williams and Company: His Essential Screen Actors, and Screen Savers II: My Grab Bag of Classic Movies. His website is johndileo.com and his Twitter handle is @JOHNDiLEO.

The intelligent person's guide to the movies, with more than 2,800 reviews Look up a movie in this guide, and chances are you'll find yourself reading on about the next movie and the next. Pauline Kael's reviews aren't just provocative---they're addictive. These brief, informative reviews, written for the "Goings On About Town" section of The New Yorker, provide an immense range of listings---a masterly critical history of American and foreign film. This is probably the only movie guide you'll want to read for the sheer pleasure of it.

The American Theatre series discusses every Broadway production chronologically--show by show and season by season. It offers plot summaries, production details, names of leading actors and actresses--the roles they played, as well as any special or unusual aspects of individual shows. This second volume in the series, covers what is probably the richest period in American theater, the years 1914 through 1930. Bordman includes most of Eugene O'Neill's work, along with playwrights as diverse as Elmer Rice and George Kaufman. Among the era's stars one finds John and Ethel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Katherine Cornell, and Lynn Fontaine and Alfred Lunt. Considering the sheer number of productions, American theater climbed to its all-time high in the 1920s; by mid-decade, nearly 300 new plays appeared on Broadway each year. America saw more theatrical activity--in every sense of the word-- than any time before or since.

Mel Brooks is often regarded as one of Hollywood’s funniest men, thanks to such highly successful films as The Producers, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. His films do have a tendency to turn out much like the jokes that comprise them—hit-or-miss, one minute shoot-the-moon brilliant and the next minute well short of laughs. This work provides a thorough synopsis and thematic analysis for each of his twelve films along with complete cast and production credits: The Producers (1968), The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World—Part 1 (1981), To Be or Not to Be (1983), Spaceballs (1987), Life Stinks (1991), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), and Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995).

"A refreshingly funny and blisteringly unsentimental coming-of-age memoir." -John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Turtles All The Way Down and The Fault in Our Stars In Akilah Hughes's world, family--and life--are often complicated, but always funny. Through intimate and hilarious essays, Akilah takes readers along on her journey from the small Kentucky town where she was born--and eventually became a spelling bee champ and 15-year-old high school graduate--to New York City, where she took careful steps to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer and performer. Like Tiffany Haddish's The Last Black Unicorn or Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? for the YA set, Akilah pens revealing and laugh-out-loud funny essays about her life, covering everything from her racist fifth grade teacher, her struggles with weight and acne, her failed attempts at joining the cheerleading team, how to literally get to New York (hint: for a girl on a budget, it may include multiple bus transfers) and exactly how to "make it" once you finally get there.